Good morning! I’ve been told so many times and read all over that washing your hair frequently is a bad, bad thing to do. I started to do some research on the topic and realized that there is no clear recommendation. Everything pretty much says, “It depends on the hair type, person’s preference, etc.” Of course, we’re all different but why is it so bad if I wash my hair every other day (I feel like my hairdresser freaks out every time I tell her I wash it at least 4 times a week) or even every day? Furthermore, there is no definition on what “washing hair” entails. Does a wash mean that shampoo has to be used? Or is it considered washed if I use just conditioner? Beats me…
It’s officially winter and everything is bone dry. My skin definitely takes a toll at this time of the year… Especially my scalp. It gets super itchy and flaky. For that reason, I’ve decided to do an experiment. People that talk about washing their hair minimally say that it has made their hair so much healthier. I really can’t stand not washing it because I feel so dirty… I don’t know if I sweat more from my head than the average person or if it’s because I wear hats when I workout but my head is soaked by the time I’m done lifting/running/biking (gross, I know… Sorry!). Anyway, people also say that after a while, the scalp gets used to it so it stops itching, producing so much oil, etc. Shampoo dries out the hair/scalp which results in higher oil production. I wash my hair mainly for this reason… To stop the itching for a day or two maybe so if this works it will be awesome sauce.
I’m going to test this theory… For the next week I will not wash my hair at all. I’m defining washing as using shampoo + conditioner. One of my favorite things to do is shower and wash my hair so this will be tough for me. However, I think that if I can figure out how to deal with this it will save me a lot of time and help my scalp a ton. So, there will be no soap involved except for dry shampoo (I use Batiste). Another reason why I’m doing this experiment- my hair takes so long to style. “So long” for me is 20-30 minutes… Maybe you don’t think that is long but I don’t have that time! I feel so much better when my hair is styled and not its typical frizzy, wavy mess. We will see if I can keep it looking decent only using dry shampoo and maybe touching up the ends with a 2-inch curling iron (my go-to tool).
I washed my hair last night and I will post every day about my “condition”. This is crazy… But hey! I’m a curious person!
Day 1:
Day 1: Flag football game in the mist/rain.
Day 1: Did I even do my hair this morning?
Day 2:
I played a football game in the rain/mist type of nastiness last night so unfortunately my hair is no longer smooth and styled. I put some dry shampoo in it this morning just to feel a little “cleaner” (I went with cherry this morning). My hair will go up in t-minus 15 seconds… I can’t stand the way it looks and how it gets all up in my grill while I’m trying to work.
Day 2: Hair is frizzy and annoying.
Day 2: Post 4 mile run… Not amused. See all of that head sweat?!
Day 2: We won our semi-finals game so we’re going to the championship! Hair is a mess but I’m too excited to care.
Day 3:
Last night after the football game I was so cold that I had to get my hair wet in the shower. It was also just a mess so I needed to tame it down a little. I didn’t use ANY SOAP on my hair… Just water. I noticed in the shower that my head was pretty darn itchy and that I had some flakes/scabs (I call them scabs because they feel tiny scabs on my scalp but it’s really just “hard” flakes). After I got out of the shower I sprayed it with Pantene detangler and combed it out. My hair this morning was a MESS as you’ll see in the picture. I sprayed the dry shampoo all over my roots because my hair looked oily and put it in a braid. It doesn’t really help that it hasn’t stopped raining here since Sunday…
Day 3: WE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! Hair is gross…
Day 4:
WE WON THE FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! I’m still so excited I can’t believe it.
Onto the hair… My head is actually not as itchy as I thought it would be. However, I can definitely see flakes of skin when I look at my hair in the mirror. I’m hoping that over time they start to go away. Every now and then I feel pretty dirty and just want to get in the shower and wash my hair. BUT towards the end of the day I realized I’m getting kind of used to this fast shower, just wash your body and shave your armpits type of deal…
Day 4: I wore my hair in a low braid/bun because I couldn’t stand it down.
Day 5:
When I woke up this morning and walked into the bathroom the first thing I thought when I saw myself in the mirror was, “Oh my gosh, my hair.” It looked so oily and made me feel so dirty. I was going for a run so I decided to put on a hat and told myself I would shower after my run (without putting any soap in my hair) and then blow dry my hair to style it a little bit. I might have mentioned this before but I just feel so much better and more put together when I actually dry my hair with a blow dryer. Time slipped away from me this morning so I ended up just getting my hair wet, using detangler to comb it out, and then put it in a bun.
Day 5: Hair when I woke up… Feels and looks oily.
Day 5: Hair after run… Sweaty and gross.
Day 5: Bun (notice the lack of frizz crown).
Day 6:
Day 6: AWW YEAH CHECK OUT THAT OIL!
Day 6: Notice my frizz/fly-away crown?
Day 7: I CAN’T WAIT TO WASH MY HAIR!
Day 7: Run then I get to WASH THIS HAIR!
A few things I’ve learned from this experiment:
A few questions I still want to research:
I still have so many questions that I still want to answer so I’ve decided to do another round of the dry shampoo experiment! This week I’m going to focus on how to style my hair while working out frequently. Last week it was kind of a bust since my hair got wet on the first day and I didn’t want to style it after that. Hence, all of the buns/braids. So many women work out during their lunch break and then come back and their hair looks like a million bucks. I need to figure out how to do this and pass it along to you all.
I hope you find this post helpful! If you are one of those super humans that works out a lot while maintaining your beautiful locks I would love to hear how you do it! If you have any suggestions for things I should try please let me know.
[…] okay! At least it might answer a few more questions. In case you didn’t read my post on the first experiment here are the new questions I would like to […]
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You might want to consider using baking soda/apple cider vinegar to wash your hair. Best decision I EVER made.
The baking soda lifts the follicles and cleans the shaft while the vinegar closes and locks in moisture while also stabilizing the hair’s pH. I only use baking soda whenever my hair feels greasy or I notice product build up but I use the ACV with every single shower. Sometimes I’ll use it on lightly misted hair just to freshen my hair up and tame frizz.
Tip: when you add the vinegar during a wash, make sure your hair is SOAKED. You’ll retain the most moisture.
Also, the initial smell from the ACV might be strong at first but it’ll disappear as soon as your hair dries.
This is great!! Thank you so much I’ll have to try it out. 🙂
Thanks, looking forward to the day to day update.
Love the post, thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂
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