about washing hair. No, really.

[chelseagirl]

I don't know if this is a thing for other people or not, but since I was 12 or 13, I have washed my hair every day. I know it depends on type of hair. I have very fine hair and when the ravages of adolescence hit, it was super-oily and really needed to be washed every day. Every morning, even -- I can still remember the 7th grade trauma of washing it at night and having a kid at school the next day ask me if I was a "greaser" (this was in the heyday of Happy Days and nostalgia for the 50s) because my hair was already oily again. From then on, I got up early to wash it before school.

Flashforward many decades, and I am still in the habit. My last two hairdressers have strongly suggested I shouldn't, because I'm stripping out the natural oils and damaging my hair. But I always felt like my hair was good for about a day and a half, not two days. And my scalp feels icky.

This summer, since I'm mostly working from home, I decided to try to make the break. My hairdresser said it would take about a month for my scalp to stop overproducing oils and then all would be good. It actually looks fine, and I'm starting to feel less icky, though it's weird showering with a shower cap on during non-hairwash days. I'm doing it four times a week, because I run MWF early morning, so then, and then once over the weekend, whenever I most need the confidence of it being fresh washed.

So I don't know if this is a thing for a lot of people, or not. I also wonder how I'll feel in September when I'm back to campus.

Comments

[manoah.livejournal.com]

Wonder if on the days you don't wash, you could at least get it wet? That might help with the "icky" feeling. As long as you don't dry it with the hairdryer I think. Just thoughts.

I just got my hair cut super short for the summer and went to the Beauty Supply store to buy the 'purple' shampoo so my white streaks will really show up! Embrace that white hair!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

If I don't dry it, though, it may dry into not-the-shape I want (curling out when it should curl in).

My grandmother and great aunt used to use a purple rinse in their hair. I'm weird -- I'm still light-medium blonde, no gray, at 54. (I have grey in my eyebrows, though.) I figure I'll go pure white at some point, probably.

[syderia]

I never had to wash them every day, but during my teens I washed them everyday, and until two years ago every three days. Then I got to talk with my best friend about it, because she was working on spacing out her hair washes, and I started doing it too.
I took baby steps on it, starting by using the week-ends (where I don't work, and care very little about my appearance) to help with spacing. Like, I'd wash my hair (in the evening) on Wednesday, then on Sunday (instead of Saturday), then I'd try to go until Thursday. Before I cut them I had managed to go to five days between washes (and they didn't look more oily) meaning that a week was just around the corner.
Then I cut them very short, and for a while I was back to one wash every two or three days. Now, a year later, I can go four or five days between shampoos, or a whole week if I rinse them out with only water in the middle.
I think the most difficult thing for me was to bear through the days where they felt icky even though they weren't (it helped to have my best friend around to reassure me of that.)
It also helps to get a shampoo that washes without being too aggressive (shampoos for greasy hair actually attacks the skin strongly enough that it makes it produce more oil.)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

My hairdresser -- well, now my ex-hairdresser, because she just took a position in Brooklyn and it's too much of a hassle when I already commute from Manhattan to New Jersey during the school year -- washes hers once a week. I'm not ready for that, and probably never well be. She recommends dry shampoo if you get the "icks" on a non-washing day. I'm finding that mine does last the two days without much problem, but usually the day after not-washing, when I go for my run before showering/washing my hair, I'm feeling icky.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

I used to wash every day but three or four months ago I decided to wash every other day and haven't noticed much difference except in how long my shampoo lasts :D

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Sounds good! I was just thinking that I felt icky this morning, and then realized that it's hair-washing day, but I haven't been for my run yet, so I haven't showered yet . . .

[the-moonmoth.livejournal.com]

I can usually get away with three, sometimes four days without washing, which is convenient because my hair is super thick and takes forever to wash and longer to blow-dry. It was less when i was a teenager, but only by a day or so. But i generally wash it more than that anyway because of swimming, getting sweaty etc. Tend not to blow-dry at this time of year though.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I've always thought thick hair probably lasted longer.. But as you point out, there are other factors

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

I wash mine every other day. if I go to every day, it starts looking worse, sooner. It doesn't look great on the second day, but who am I trying to impress?!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I was always happy with what mine looked like on the first day, but I kind of feel like I was conditioning to put in what I was stripping out by washing every day. Of course, I'm still conditioning; I was thinking of trying to skip that and see how it goes.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_tweeter_/]

I wash my hair every day out of habit. It's always been thick and I never noticed a problem. I also washed it because I wake up with bedhead, not suitable for work. Wetting it just makes it look funny, not washed, for some reason. Now that my hair is shorter and curlier (did you see my pics?) I have EPIC bedhead. It doesn't matter because I have nowhere to be, but I still wash it. Sometimes I'll skip, and it looks just fine. That made absolutely no sense! I'm so helpful!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I always enjoy standing under the water, so I actually like washing it. I don't really have a bedhead issue, which again may come from it being straight and fine -- it brushes right back into shape.

I did see your picture -- I thought I'd hit "like" on FB.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

My hair is the same way, it is fine and it starts to look dirty if I don't wash it after 24 hours. But I've never had a hairdresser say anything to me, except when I complained that it won't hold color and she told me it was "too healthy". LOL.

I think the big problem for me is that I tend to get hot when I sleep and sweat a lot so that just makes it all worse. I think Tim's daughter alternates days she washes but her hair is not fine at all LOL.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Since I've had more than one tell me I was overstressing my hair, I figured I'd listen. And I'm finding it's not really looking greasy even by the end of day 2 anymore. But ten years ago it did, so maybe I'm just getting old! At the moment I'm feeling icky, but that's because it's the day I will wash it and I haven't gone running yet this morning.

I always wash it in the morning, though.

[teragramm.livejournal.com]

When I was in my early twenties I washed my hair every day or at most, every other day. After I had kids I noticed I didn't need to wash my hair as often, if I did wash my hair every day my scalp started to "feel tight". So I unconsciously started to cut back. I now wash my hair 2-3 times a week.

I don't always use a dryer for my hair, I sometimes comb/ towel dry it. That might work your you.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I rarely use a hairdryer -- mostly when it's cold out and I've got to get to the train! (Once or twice I did freeze my hair going out with it wet -- no harm done but it was strange!)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I always washed my hair every day until I started getting my hair dyed professionally (about eight years ago, I guess). I usually don't wash my hair on weekends or on days I'm not going to teach or in to the office. It looks horrible, though, and so I always put it up on those days if anyone will see it. My hair looks best if I wash it every day, but I want to preserve the dye job for as long as possible.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I've heard that about preserving dye. I've never dyed mine, but I went through a brief phase of getting "body" perms in high school, and I remember that changed everything. I actually destroyed my hair because I'd never needed to condition it and the perm dried it out. Once it grew out it was healthy again.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Your hair is such a lovely color; I can see why you've never had the urge to dye it.

My mom is a redhead and while the color is not as vibrant as it was in her twenties, she's a beautiful strawberry blonde now at 65. She's never had any urge to dye her hair either.

I started getting grey hair in my early twenties; I think all-over grey hair is quite attractive (ala Helen Mirren or Judy Dench), but brown hair threaded through with grey is not attractive to me. So I've been dying my hair for quite some time.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I feel like I"m missing out on the fun of transformation, trying different colors, but I can't complain.

That seems to be not uncommon -- your hair looks great, anyway. My mom's a brunette but didn't go grey really 'til her 50s-60s, but my dad, who I got my blonde from, went bald very young, so I don't have any real precedent there. ;-)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Awwww, thank you.

You have the kind of hair that will always be awesome. It will just gradually add in strands of silvery white until you have awesome whitish grey hair.

[marishna.livejournal.com]

I wash my hair every day, although sometimes on weekends I'll skip it and will only condition. I'm a hot sleeper and I've got hair that looks a hot mess when I wake up EVERY day so I usually don't have a choice in the matter. I have dry shampoo but without wetting it down I won't be able to make it look anywhere near acceptable and like I didn't stick my finger in a light socket.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I've never conditioned without shampooing; that's interesting!

My hairdresser recommended dry shampoo, but I think if I felt like I needed it, I'd just go back to washing every day. I'm not sure; I guess I'd try it first.

[the-moonmoth.livejournal.com]

I can usually get away with three, sometimes four days without washing, which is convenient because my hair is super thick and takes forever to wash and longer to blow-dry. It was less when i was a teenager, but only by a day or so. But i generally wash it more than that anyway because of swimming, getting sweaty etc. Tend not to blow-dry at this time of year though.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

That's the only advantage to fine hair, I think, is that it dries quickly. Otherwise, I'm nothing but envious of thick hair!

[space-oddity-75.livejournal.com]

I have super-thick hair and wash it once a week during the winter and 2-3 times a week during the summer. I must admit I only do it because nowadays my hair is coloured professionally and my hairdresser has told me to avoid washing it every day otherwise I'd stress it out too much, causing the skin to produce too much oil.

There are also many external factors that lead to having oily hair. The first one, of course, is smog: living in a busy city certainly doesn't help. I'm lucky enough to live in the countryside, but whenever I go and visit a big city like London or Rome, I immediately feel the difference on my hair and skin, and I have to shower as soon as I get back home.

Moreover, even our diet plays a great part in our hair's health. I'm now following a more healthy diet as compared to a few years ago, and the results on my hair and have been astounding. Of course, it would be even better if my stress levels were lower, but anxiety is the curse of modern life isn't it?

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm so envious of people with thick hair. Mine isn't thin, just fine, but oh there are so many things I can't do with it . . .

[silme.livejournal.com]

I have fine, yet thick, hair. It's weird. When I used to perm it, hairdressers would only notice just how thick it was then -- they'd need more rods than they thought! However, it is fine without any body. I still wash it daily. (If I didn't wash it, I'd still wet it. I need to wet my hair after sleeping on it because it's so short it sticks up the way I don't want it to when I wake up. Bedhead indeed.) I still wash it daily with shampoo for oily hair. We'll see for how much longer. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

The one time I had a proper Louise Brooks bob, with the back wedge, it was surprising how much hair there was in the wedge.

I've just been hearing not to do it daily for ages now, and I'm noticing it's really not oily the second day, just . . . it seems to have more body. And then I think about the old adage "I just washed my hair and I can't do a thing with it." I wonder if I styled it, if it would hold better than it does when fresh washed.

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

I hit the gym 4 days a week, so I wash my hair the morning after because it gets so sweaty when I work out. I may or may not wash it over the weekend - it all depends. I have a lot of hair and it takes forever for it to dry!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous! My hair isn't thin, just fine, but yeah, it dries on its own in 30 minutes or so. I'd love to have thicker hair, but, alas . . .

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

Two magic words: dry shampoo.

I got a sample size of Bumble & Bumble at Sephora first just to see if I could stand it - I assumed the powder would make me itchy, or it would look like I just got out of a low-budget production of a play in which I played an old lady - but I LOVE IT. COMPLETELY. The powder can be brushed in, or because my hair is curly, sort of rubbed in from the roots outward; and if I do it in the evening before going to bed, it's completely invisible by the morning. I only apply it along the few lines where my hair parts, and around the face, so a little bit goes a very long way. I'm now at the point where I wash my hair once a week on average, which I would not have believed possible since I used to wash daily - and every other day was rrrreally pushing it. Dry shampoo has made a HUGE difference for the quality of my otherwise terribly dry hair, too; it looks and feels fuller/thicker, the scent is discretely fresh, and my curls look better than they had since I was a child. I warmly recommend giving it a try, at least; it might help!

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

My hairdresser recommended I try it, too. I should probably pick up a sample, like you did. But my hair is not dry, and I think every other day is probably as far as I'm likely to get. Still, I've been delighted that I seem to be making it quite well through the second day -- it feels different, but not bad . . .