I never wash my hair more than once a week. Sometimes even less than that. Gross, I know. I'm disgusting. I'm a dirty hippie who lives in a forest.
Actually, it's less repulsive than you might think. I don't do it to be unclean or out of laziness, I do it for the health of my hair. I started weaning my hair off washes about five years ago and it's changed my tresses so much for the better. So much so, in fact, that I figured it was time to break my silence about the fact that I shampoo so infrequently, and also address why and how I do it. Trust me, you can do it too if you're interested.
When I first decided to chill out on the washes, I thought I'd cut down to every other day. I had heard that you strip too many of the oils that your scalp produces naturally when you shampoo every shower, and as a busy girl with long, thick hair, I frankly didn't have time to.
The every-other-day washes dwindled down to a Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday-only schedule that I kept for years until I finally decided to take a leap to a mere once a week that I'm very happy with.
What usually happens for me is that I use a moisturizing hair mask, like Shea Moisture's Deep Treatment Masque that you can find here, then conditioner, and shampoo on Sunday, let it air dry naturally and begin my week. This keeps the moisture in and keeps my hair from overproducing oils.
Monday and Tuesday go fine for me. I wear it down with ease and lack of grease build up.
I find Wednesday to be a day where I need to spray on some dry shampoo and wear it up, but I'm personally okay with that. By this time in my washing schedule, it's not unbearable yet.
My favorite dry shampoo of all time is Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original, which you can pick up at Target or Ulta or right here.
Thursday, I find myself accumulating some grease and sweat, so I like to give it a rinse in some water only during my shower, but I don't use any products on it. Still no washing, no sudsing. I'm also someone who likes to exercise, so I find myself running some water through my hair during my post-workout shower no matter where I am in my washing schedule. I'm not a total hygiene heathen.
Here's my hair dry shampooed and up on a day when I had absolutely no time to do anything else, and the results are not the worst thing in the world. Friday and Saturday I make sure my hair is completely combed out before popping it up in some French braids or a bun. By now it's as greasy as it will get, but since I've trained my hair over a longer period of time to be less oil-stricken, it's not half bad. Trust me, I've asked, and people don't think it's totally unfortunate looking, or at the very least I surround myself with tactful people.Here's me on a Sunday after having not washed my hair in a week, of course after quite some time training it to be less greasy.
Now I get it if this wouldn't work at all for some. Tons of people have more professional jobs than I do where they need to wear their hair down and clean far more often than I, a lot of people might find this method repulsive, and the schedule just may not be the right fit for every lifestyle. But pros for me come from a lack of maintenance, a better exposure of my hair to natural healthy oils and spending far less money on shampoo and conditioner. My hair is also basically "trained" at this point to produce less oil because my scalp stays a little greasier a little longer. I'll at least concede that it's taken me years to get to this place in my hair washing life
