I color my hair. Teri, the girl who sat behind me in high school French class, plucked a white hair from my head when I was 14. When my roots grow out, I see that I am almost fully white haired. I suppose some day I will take the awkward plunge into the white-hair pool, but not quite yet.
One plunge I took last year that has had great results, though, is no longer washing my hair every day. For as long as I’ve taken care of my own hair, with only a few exceptions, I washed it daily. Three moments within a few weeks of each other made me change that practice: Sarah, whose hair is beautiful, told me that not washing every day was one of her secrets; Dr. Oz, whom I occasionally watch while biking inside, said that washing every other day was much healthier for hair; my amazing stylist, Em, encouraged me to change my habit.
At first, it grossed me out. I felt greasy, but this is natural. According to this article, over-shampooing leads to over-secretion of oil. I don’t know if I got used to the feeling or less washing led to less oil (or a combination of both, which is most likely), but now I time my washings so that my “off” days coincide with when I want my hair to look best. The day I wash, my hair, naturally fine and, I always thought, stick straight, seems lifeless. First day sans shampoo is better. Second day (or what I think of as three-day hair), my hair is wavy, feels thicker, and looks its healthiest. It might be hard to tell, but that’s a three-day hair shot. There are waves in my short tresses!
The next step I want to take is to go even longer without shampooing in the shower. I’m going to give dry shampoo a try. This doesn’t mean I’ll never wash my hair again, but I can’t get enough of that three-day hair. It looks like beach hair, which is about the best hair in the world in my book!
What are your dirty little (hair) secrets?
I try to wash my hair only every couple of days as well. But I think my hair looks best on the day first washed so sometimes I use some water to then use the blowdryer a bit to fix it. I’ve tried the dry shampoo and don’t really like the results. My challenge is when I exercise, my head perspires like crazy and I need to wash my hair. But often on the weekend, I don’t bother – I put it up in a ponytail or clip so I can skip the washing after exercising.
I am in the same routine as you – I only wash my hair about twice a week (whenever I tell people this I have to hastily add that I do shower more than that!) and I very rarely use conditioner. The day of washing is fairly sad – my natural wave is not apparent at all, so I am now taking the additional step of only using a wide tooth comb.
I will be VERY curious about your experiences with dry shampoo – I have been very curious, but dubious! Can’t wait to see how it goes.
These days I’m going at least 3 days between washes. Having three babies has done bizarre things to my hair. It used to be very thick and stick straight. Now it is very thick, extremely coarse and very, very wavy. I, too, have been curious about the dry shampoo, so I’d love to hear about your experience when you try it!
I gave up bottled shampoo almost 2 years ago! I use an all natural bar shampoo (NOT Lush because they use sodium laurel sulfate) with a dilute white vinegar rinse. I shampoo once every 5-7 days and use the vinegar rinse every day that I shower. My hair is in the best shape it has EVER been. It has more body and life. I no longer get stringy-looking bangs. AT ALL. And I save a ton of money in the process. I’m a convert!
My new dirty little secret is making my own deodorant. I mix 1 Tbsp each coconut oil, baking soda and cornstarch, adding a few drops of essential oil to give it a nice scent. This batch, I added another tsp. or so of cornstarch to make it a bit thicker. Rub a little on in the morning. It works better than any deodorant I’ve ever bought. Yes, I still sweat, but I smell like whatever essential oils I’ve added!
Have you tried WEN Cleansing Conditioner? My friend washes her hair about once a week, and it looks amazing!
Your hair looks great! As for washing , I never wash my hair daily. It is extraordinarily thick and takes forever to dry. I usually wash on day 3.
I used to be a militant wash hair every day person too, but a few years ago decided to try every other day and my hair became much healthier. Now, I go 2-4 days between shampoos and I also plan my washes so that “good hair days” fall on days 2 or 3. I tried the Lush shampoo bars and wasn’t pleased as my hair never felt clean.
Recently I also stopped washing daily and my head and hair feel much better. I use SylvieL’s bar shampoo and find it kinder to my hair. I’d love to have a little body and wave to my hair. Yours looks marvelous!
I don’t use shampoo 🙂 I actually only wash my hair with conditioner, and even then, it’s only about once every 3 days. My naturally curly hair is much happier this way 🙂
I wash my hair twice a week. in between, if I’m really sweaty, I’ll rinse it out – and maybe use conditioner while I shower, but that’s it. my hairdresser says it’s the shampoo that’s the problem, so even daily rinses are fine. like Clara, I have really curly hair and it’s much happier dirty, I guess!
I wash and blow dry my hair every day. It’s a chore and I’d love to give it up but I hate how limp and flat my hair looks without that blow dry.
Your hair looks wonderful, Bev! When you’re ready to stop coloring your hair, let me know. I stopped a few years ago and love it. I’m all black and white now. 😀
As some one with naturally curly hair, I only wash my hair maybe two or three times a month. But every time it gets wet, I put conditioner on it and than rinse it out. Mostly on the ends since that is where curls suck in moisture.
Even when I used to run fire calls as a fire fighter, I would not use shampoo to get the smell of smoke out. I used conditioner as my shampoo as it were. It would be very rare for me to actually have to shampoo my hair. My hair is never greasy and never feels weird. If anything it has become healthier as a result. I have had stylists want to know what I use on my hair. And these are not stylists who have ever cut my hair.
And I color my hair too. Even do my own most of the tie since my roots grow out so fast. Alternating between a warm and a cool color works to keep it natural.
Hi Bev!
I’m melting in New Mexico this summer. I still only wash my hair about once a week. I don’t do anything with it so it just sits in its braid or ponytail.
This summer seems to have been one long hot-flash for me- sweaty hair neckline and all.
We finally got some rain this past week. Not quite an inch of precip for the year (?!) but still wonderful! Now the humidity…
My hair likes it, gets wavy and not so fly-away. I’ve been using John Freida’s Root Awakening products for the last year or so. I like those very much. My hair is so gray now it makes it really shiny. :0)
I also use the “old lady purple stuff” every month or so. The beauty supply place can tell you about the purple stuff when you’re ready to “go gray.”
I love your West KAL shawl – looks really pretty.