Asking how often should you wash your hair sounds like an awful conversation starter.
My experience of doing the no poo method since the last few years has got me into some awkward situations.
Some have given me judgmental eww looks, while some have distanced themselves from me.
Though in the first instance, no one could guess that I do not use shampoo. But the moment they get to know that I have been shampoo-free, they look for faults in my hair.
Some find them not bouncy enough, not clean enough, or they find them messy and dirty. Though many expect my hair to smell gross.
None of the above is true.
My hair is clean, strong, manageable, and does not frizz. Though the best part is that I wash them once in 10 days.
The last sentence might freak you out. But the truth is that in the last few years, I have never washed more than once in a week. This is when I live in a tropical country that is high on pollution, dust, and hard water. Plus, I have an active lifestyle that involves running and frequent travels.
The truth is that how often you wash your hair depends a lot on how much you are dependent on SLS based shampoos.
If you care to know more about the connection between frequency of shampoo and the health of hair. Then, you must read further.
What Happens If You Wash Your Hair Every Day
If you use a regular SLS shampoo, then, washing your hair every day becomes a habit.
The strong cleaning powers of these shampoos wipe out the scalp’s natural oils. That puts the body’s ability to produce oils in a state of dilemma.
That leads to the overproduction of oils, and thus, the need to wash hair daily.
The truckload of elements in the shampoo piles up on the scalp as the buildup. Thus, the need to use shampoo to keep the scalp and hair clean increase.
Moreover, if you have the habit of using a lot of products like conditioner, serums, mousse, gels. Then, the need to wash your hair every day is pertinent.
So, long and consistent use of washing with a lathering shampoo leads to dry hair and a flaky scalp. That explains frizzy hair and an itch on the scalp.
How Often Should One Wash Their Hair
So, if you use a lathering shampoo, then try breaking the frequent washing cycle. That way you will train your scalp to calm down.
This will produce less sebum and will cause less buildup.
You can amend the cleaning cycle by going longer in-between washes. So, you can skip a day or two between your regular shampoo routine.
Also, if you reduce your dependence on other hair products like conditioners. Then, adjusting to the less shampoo lifestyle becomes easier.
With gradual skipping, you can bring down your usage to once or twice a week.
But if you live a no poo lifestyle, then you can even manage once in a month shampoo. It also depends on your hair porosity, your lifestyle, and the environment where you live.
So, soft water only weekly washing is fine for someone living most of the time indoors. While weekly clay/soap nuts/flour shampoo will work for someone with an active lifestyle.
For geographies with hard water, soap nuts work the best. That is why I use them every 10 days to wash my hair.
A no poo lifestyle simplifies the process. So, the dependence on conditioners and hairstyling creams also reduces. Thus, the usage of products loaded with strong chemicals becomes minimal.
Thus, the hair of people who do not use shampoo does not get much dirty. So, they can afford to go weeks without shampoo.
But as a general rule of thumb, do not wash your hair more than once a week.
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How Should One Wash Their Hair
I am not sure if you wish to try natural ways to wash your hair. But if you are considering making a switch, then reading a good no poo resource will help.
Else, you will waste a lot of time trying various products that may or may not work for you.
But irrespective of your hair type and the quality of water in your location. You can always use soap nuts or clay to wash your hair.
Both these 2 products give wonderful results on low porosity hair too. Moreover, they also work on hard water. That is why they both are my absolute favorite ways to wash hair the no poo way.
But if you are not ready to take a plunge to no poo. Then, you can give low poo a try.
Most of the low poo products are handmade shampoo bars that use oils as a base. They do not have nasty and unnecessary chemicals that are not good for the hair in the long run.
But if you are stuck with sulfate and petroleum-based shampoo. Then, please try to reduce your usage to at least half. So, if you wash your hair every day, then try to wash every other day. If you wash every alternate day, then, reduce to every 3rd day. I hope you get the idea.
Conclusion
You would bother to know how often should you shampoo your hair only if you have some hair issues.
Else, cleaning your hair seems like a trivial topic that does not even require a mention.
In recent times, consumerism has made us dependent on a lot of hair care products. There a lot of complex ingredients in shampoos and conditioners.
The use or the overuse of these lab-made ingredients in the shampoo creates problems. The complex sulfates rip off the natural oils making the hair frizzy. Furthermore, the scalp keeps over-producing the oils to overcome the lost suppleness. Thus, the cycle of over-cleaning and overproduction of oil continues.
Furthermore, the corollary ingredients like serums and pomades coat more oils. That leads to more and more use of shampoos.
To break this cycle, you have to reduce your usage of commercial hair care products. Natural hair care products make an easy replacement for the usual hair care products. Plus, they do not abuse the hair and scalp. That way you can reduce your shampoo usage to once in a week. After the reduction of shampoo, you will notice better hair and a healthy itch-free scalp.
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