It’s true.
Avid hair washers can sometimes feel guilty if they don’t reach for the bottle of shampoo every morning.
If that’s you should you cease and desist?
How do you know?
Is daily washing really all that bad?
Well it depends.
According to WebMD if you wash “too frequently, you may dry your hair out, leaving it prone to breakage”.
Or perversely you may trigger your scalp to go into oil production overdrive. Should that happen it will only make the problem of greasy hair that much worse.
Yet your inner control freak may be complain that to skip the lather, well, it all sounds so gross and disgusting. Like you are left to walk around all day with a giant grease ball on your head and who wants that?
If Not Daily Then How Often?
Great question.
One that deserves a great answer before you board the less shampoo train.
For starters Good Housekeeping magazine points out that “Stylists say your hair looks best when the natural oils that start in the scalp are allowed to reach the ends. That’s why they recommend shampooing every other day — or even every third day.”
Okay.
But three days?
Let’s not go crazy here!
Still on the plus side second day hair is going to be easier to style.
It also more readily does what you want and better stays in place.
It has texture to spare.
And it saves you time and money compared to the drama of your daily soap opera.
Plus as the video below shows it doesn’t necessarily have to scream “I wasn’t washed today!”
Oh yeah and your color will last longer if you don’t expose it to shade sapping chemicals and hot water daily.
Not to mention the inconvenience of it all.
Look at how much time you must invest to keep up with the daily washing routine. Ugh!
Aside from shower time there’s the firing up the styling tools, that overabundance of products, towels everywhere, the list goes on and on.
So there are good things that can come from giving your mane a break.
Yeah But, How Often?
Okay so back to the “how often” question….let me ask you …
Do you work out?
Sweat a lot?
Are high humidity days the norm?
If the answer to any of those queries is yes then it’s true your hair may require more frequent shampooing.
Also the type of hair you have goes a long way to determining the best answer. As it all depends on the speed of oil movement down the shaft.
Obviously coarse or curly hair can be washed less as the oil naturally travels down your strands more slowly.
While fine thin hair may mean more frequently as oil moves down those skinny strands like greased lightning.
Interestingly Columbia University’s Go Ask Alice health column offers the rule of thumb that suggest “people with normal or dry hair only need to wash once or twice a week”.
Still the only way YOU will find out how often is best for YOU is to experiment.
All the while being willing to live with the less than glamorous results as you retrain your locks to a reduced cleansing schedule.
Because as Shape magazine advises “If you are trying to train your hair to go from daily washes to every other day, give your hair a couple weeks and a lot of dry shampoo to adjust to the transition.”
Which is easier to do when you know the likely long run outcome is hair that has never looked healthier.
Anyway so while no one can say for sure in your case I’ll bet “how often” is likely “less often” than you wash your hair now.
Which is easier if you know some tricks of the second day hair trade.
Or as the video below shows, you know four quick hairstyles that work especially great with second day hair.
5 Tricks To Make Your Strands Look Clean When They’re Really Not
Okay at this point all this may sound kinda good and all.
Or hopefully at least interesting, no?
But what can you do when day old hair looks like it’s seen its better days?
What can be done to easily revitalize it?
Well it can’t hurt to have a few no poo tricks up your sleeve.
So why not try these five tricks on for size? You’ll find them to be a mix of imagination, ingenuity with a dollop of insanity thrown in.
Sop Up Any Excess Oil
Any? Just kidding. Most likely there will definitely be oil to get off your scalp.
The product of choice will be no surprise – dry shampoo.
- Section your hair and apply to the roots of each section.
- Also spritz to your hairline and the front part of your scalp maybe on back to the top of your head.
- Then brush it in.
This amazing stuff works wonders to revive limp, flat hair plus will give it a bit of a volume boost too.
Now some will suggest doing this after your hair is all greasy is doing things backwards. That you might want to spray dry shampoo right after washing your hair to prevent the oil onslaught in the first place.
For sure you’ll get a texture bump by doing so.
This technique is definitively something you’ll have to play around with to figure out the timing that works best for you.
Another approach would be to apply an oil absorption product at night when you don’t plan to wash your hair the next day. You know? before you go to bed. Maybe even using baby powder instead of a commercial product.
This way the powder will be soaking up the oil from your scalp all night long giving you cleaner, more voluminous second day hair in the morning.
Speaking of which acceptable alternatives to dry shampoo would be the already mentioned baby powder and corn starch – which is a primary ingredient of many drugstore brand dry shampoos to begin with.
Volumize
Dirty hair tends to lack volume. Shocking I know! One cure is to tease your hair at the roots around the crown to generate some added lift.
Of course the gold standard of volume may be the blow out whether talking clean or not so clean hair. Listed as one of the tricks to make your hair look clean when it’s not “spending a few minutes max with the hairdryer on medium heat using a thick, round brush can refresh hair on shampoo-free days.”
Then there’s the Blowout-Refresh Method again from Shape. It basically involves sectioning your hair into six or seven smaller sections. Wrapping each around a finger, section by section, and blasting with your blow dryer for like half a minute. Then letting each cool before brushing out to reveal surprisingly refreshed hair.
Velcro rollers are also good for instantly volumizing less than freshly washed hair too.
Here’s how.
- Blow dry your mane on a lower heat setting first.
- Then stick the rollers in your hair.
- Apply your makeup.
- Take the rollers out and your locks will almost look like they just had a fresh blowout.
Finally one somewhat unexpected way to add volume involves aerosol hairspray. Apply to your roots and brush through. This too can also work to rejuvenate dismal looking hair.
Selective Washing
This selective washing trick is especially great for those with super thick locks that take like forever and a day to dry when only the crown or your bangs need help.
Luckily your bathroom sink is perfect for washing out bangs. When done grab a round brush and blow them dry.
Viola!
In no time you’ll be left with a much improved hair situation. All because you’ve washed the part of your hairstyle that is front and center which makes your unwashed hair overall look more than presentable.
Headbands
Here’s one last simple solution for unwashed hair that is past its prime. Headbands. You know sometimes I think the sole reason cute headbands exist is as the perfect cover-up for particularly hideous second day hair.
Or in less dire situation as an alternate you can always slide sunglasses on like you would a headband. Ingenious idea since they don’t press your already somewhat flatten hair down – perfectly disguising those greasy roots.
Change Your Part
Another stylist trick is to simply change the side you part your hair on.
This technique works because it usually flips the cleanest hair out to create the illusion of fresh, flowing, more voluminous strands.
Easy enough.
A little maneuver like this combined with a spritz or two of texturing spray or dry shampoo often produces cleaner looking hair even when your tresses are in desperate need of a shampoo.
Quick Hairstyles for Dirty Hair
Still if you’re going to truly rock second day hair it’s essential to pick styles that best disguise the dirty truth.
Sure you can round up the usual suspects for styling second (or third – don’t judge) day hair after shunning your beloved shampoo bottle.
For example you can braid it up – crown braids anyone? Because we all know cute braids are your dirty hair’s best friend.
Besides braids always seem to hold together better with second day hair, don’t they?
Another old standby would be a messy yet flirty pony tail. The extra texture makes for a good fit here. And being pulled back keeps the unruly reality hidden below the surface of this perky style.
But if you have somewhat longer hair this quick three minute video shows you four flattering styles you may not have considered that can have second hair looking totally chic in no time.
Tutorial: 4 EASY Hairstyles to SAVE DIRTY HAIR
As you’ll see those four hairstyles include the
- Low Messy Bun
- The Clean Bun
- The Half Up Halo
- The Braid Bun
Which one is your fav?
Leave a Reply