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A few years ago, I got hair extensions and started putting off hair washing days because it took FOREVER for me to do myself. I’d spend 2-3 hours twice a week (ish) on washing, blow drying and styling my hair, which is roughly 24 hours a month. I WAS SPENDING 24 HOURS A MONTH ON DOING MY OWN HAIR! I can think of a lot better ways to spend 24 hours of my time so I started getting blowouts. I found myself doing everything I could do to avoid ruining my amazing blowout and one day I realized I had gone two weeks without washing my hair! Over the past year, I’ve gotten minimally washing my hair down to an art. I’ve also spent an embarrassing amount of time reading about what happens when you stop obsessively washing your hair and how the heck my hair could possibly be less greasy on day 11 versus day five.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
- Extending the time between washes isn’t the same as the “no poo” movement. There is a group of people who don’t wash their hair ever (called no poo) which is NOT what I’m suggesting to you. If you use any sort of product on your hair (dry shampoo included), at some point you’ll need to scrub that stuff off. Over-use of products can cake onto your scalp and cause dandruff and irritation. Other than dry shampoo on day seven, I don’t use any products and I don’t find my scalp itching.
- My hair produces oil on an as-needed basis. As an add-on to that, there are a lot of shampoo brands on the market that can do more harm than good to your hair. If you’re washing your hair every day and using a shampoo that is stripping your hair of the oil it needs, your hair will produce oil you stripped it of, meaning: you wind up looking like a greasy mess! WOAH. I KNOW. In theory, if you wash your hair less, your hair will realize it has enough oil and will stop over-compensating. Celebrity hair stylist and owner of J. Gold Salon, Jessica Goldstein, recommends Pureology shampoo and conditioner.
- Be prepared to power through the grease! I get a blowout every two weeks. On day four I start to look a tad greasy but let it be. When you start “training” your hair, it will be greasy. POWER THROUGH! If you wash every day, try to go every other day, then every two days. If you wash every third day, then go to day five. Once you have a few weeks under your belt of extending time between your washes, you’ll notice your hair getting progressively less greasy. I used to be an every fourth-day washer.
- The less often you can use dry shampoo, the better. This goes back to your hair thinking if’s too dry. If you’re actively trying to change how much oil your hair produces, you’ll want to stay away from constantly using dry shampoo. If you’re just trying to not shower, have at it sister! You may notice that daily dry shampoo irritates your scalp and that’s a sign you’re ready for a wash.
- You can work out, sweat and still not wash your hair. However, I’m not a massive sweater and never have been. Even in hot yoga, you won’t see me dripping (I actually saw a doctor about that worried I had a medical issue). When I do sweat, I immediately take my hair out of a ponytail post-workout so it doesn’t dry in a pony. If you work out hardcore and majorly sweat, my bestie Jessica Ross wrote a blog post about how you can wash your hair less even when you’re a heavy sweater. She sweats hardcore every single day and only washes her hair once a week. It’s a thing. Read more about that HERE.
- Sleeping on a silk pillowcase is a GAME CHANGER. I will says this until I’m blue in the face. INVEST IN A SILK PILLOWCASE! There are a ton of benefits to sleeping on silk but here’s the skinny on how it helps your hair. Unlike cotton, it doesn’t absorb your hair’s oil. Repeat from earlier: stripping your hair of natural oil is NOT a good thing. Sleeping on silk also helps you hang on to how it’s styled. Think of it this way: when you sleep on cotton, your hair sticks to cotton and overnight, as you’re tossing and turning, your hair becomes a hot tangled mess, AKA bed head. Silk is so smooth that your hair slides right off of it, which helps you hold on to your style a bit longer! When you’re looking for a silk pillowcase, the important thing is to find one that is 100% silk. I’ve tried a few and my favorite, by far, is the Slip Silk pillowcase. It’s made with the highest grade of silk and is truly luxurious. It’s worth every penny. It comes with washing instructions that I loosely follow- I wash mine on delicate with my normal detergent then hang to dry. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, the Dry Bar silk pillowcase is about half the price and a solid alternative, but it’s not as soft as Slip’s version. I sleep with my hair down but if you’re someone who needs their hair off their neck, a silk scrunchie is a great option!
I book my blowouts every two weeks with Isis Aguilar at J. Gold Salon. You can DM her to schedule an appointment!
When I shower, I throw my hair on top of my head with a cheap clip from CVS.
For every article supporting my hair theories, there are people who say the opposite. There are scientists and doctors who support what I say and scientists and doctors who says it’s all a bunch of bull. Basically as everything on the internet goes: there is every opinion EVER out there and there are no absolutes on this. This blog post is based on what has worked for me. Here are a few of my favorite articles from reputable sources on not washing your hair if you want to read more. Bottom line: experiment and see what works for you to find your best combo!