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:

• Smell: Fresh and clean.
• Feel: Soft and silky.
• Frizz: Contained…
• Volume: Just the way I like it.
• Scalp: Not itchy or flaky.

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.

• Smell: Actually better than yesterday since the dry shampoo smells so good HAHA!
• Feel: Pretty course and not smooth.
• Frizz: Eh…. Day 2 of rain today so it’s starting to “grow”.
• Volume: The dry shampoo adds tons of volume to the roots. It’s amazing.
• Scalp: Slightly itchy, skin is a little red around my hair line (I don’t know why this happens to me?).

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…

• Smell: Not bad at all since the detangler and dry shampoo smell great.
• Feel: Course, not smooth at all. It felt pretty oily so I used a substantial amount of dry shampoo.
• Frizz: There just might be a bird living somewhere in my hair…
• Volume: Big.
• Scalp: Itchy, skin is a little red around my hair line, flakes/”scabs” on scalp.

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…

• Smell: Not bad at all since the detangler and dry shampoo smell great.
• Feel: Soft but so frizzy it’s annoying.
• Frizz: I had tons of “fly-aways” in the front of the face but my typical “crown” of curls you can often find was not as big as it could be. This hair was not acceptable for me to wear down in public. I ended up putting it in a braid/low bun pictured below (it was no wear near as messy when I did it in the morning).
• Volume: Big.
• Scalp: Itchy but not as terrible as I thought it would be. My scalp is also showing visible flakes.
• Overall: Must. Be. Patient.

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.

• Smell: Smells like Pantene detangler and Batiste dry shampoo… Can’t complain at all.
• Feel: Surprisingly, pretty soft!
• Frizz: Most of the time when I wear a bun like this my crown is POPPING so I’m really surprised that it’s not right now.
• Volume: Big when it was down.
• Scalp: Not really that itchy at all. I can’t see many visible flakes at the moment… I massaged my head when I got it wet this morning so that might’ve helped get rid of them for the meantime.
• Overall: I’m starting to understand why people don’t like washing their hair… It saves so much time if you have the right dry shampoo! I think if my hair was a nice texture to begin with my situation would be much easier and my hair would look much better. However, it’s not so I find a way to deal!

Day 6:

• Smell: I had Caroline smell my hair and she said it smells “normal”. I guess that’s not bad, right?
• Feel: Not soft… Pretty oily feeling.
• Frizz: Poppin’.
• Volume: Big but not as big as it can be…
• Scalp: My head isn’t too itchy during the day. I don’t know if that’s because I’ve had my hair up for most of it or because my scalp is getting used to it. However, before I went to sleep last night it was pretty darn itchy.
• Overall: I’m excited to wash my hair tomorrow. I understand how people can go many days without washing now but I think 7-8 days would be my max. It’s not that my hair is very oily because the dry shampoo does a GREAT job at fixing that… It’s more so that I feel like I have so much “build up” going on at my roots that I NEED to wash it to feel clean again.

Day 7: I CAN’T WAIT TO WASH MY HAIR!

• Smell: Like dry shampoo… Aka good.
• Feel: Heavy.
• Frizz: Pretty tame.
• Volume: Big but not as big as it can be…
• Scalp: Really itchy before I fell asleep last night. I can see visible flakes on my scalp but I can’t figure out if it’s just dry skin or “build-up” from the dry shampoo or both. I don’t have red around the crown of my hair like I normally do.
• Overall: I’m excited to get my run over with this morning so that I can wash my hair this afternoon. Even though I’ve showered daily, I feel pretty dirty because of the “build-up” on my scalp.

A few things I’ve learned from this experiment:

• I only need to wash my hair twice per week, MAX.
• Buns and braids are my best friends. They can look professional and like there was a lot of time put into them if done properly.
• Not washing my hair saves a lot of time.
• Batiste Dry Shampoo is THE BEST I have ever used. It smells fantastic, takes care of ALL of the oil, and considering it took me about 6 days to feel bothered by the build-up, I think it does a pretty darn good job. This product will definitely become a staple for me. I used the Cherry and the Medium and Brunette varieties. I’ve read online that they don’t sell the Cherry anymore so I would suggest getting it while it is still on the shelves! I purchased mine at Ulta (link is Day 1 or Day 2 posts above) but I also found it at TJ MAXX (for cheaper of course) last night which is a GAME CHANGER!
• I shed SO MUCH LESS when I don’t shampoo my hair every other day. I shed like crazy and usually have to clean my drain every time I shower. I have yet to clean my drain this week and that’s not because I’m lazy… HA.

A few questions I still want to research:

• If I didn’t play football in the rain on the first day of the experiment, how long would my hair stay styled?
• If my hair stays “styled” for more days than one would the oiliness be more obvious?
• What is the easiest way to deal with sweaty, frizzy, post workout hair? To just get it wet and restyle it? Or to dry the sweat, use dry shampoo, and restyle it? I feel like all of these women work out in a pony tail, take it out once they finish the workout, and BAM there hair is magical. I know for a FACT that would not be the case for me!
• Will my hair be healthier in the long run (haha, long run) if I only wash it once/twice per week?
• Does washing my hair frequently have an impact on the speed of hair growth?

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.

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