How often should you wash your hair? It’s the eternal question that’s nagged hair buffs for decades. To address the issue once and for all we’ve put together our personal opinion on the subject.
Basically, we wash our hair to keep it clean, moisturized, yet oil free. So how does your hair get dirty? As well as environmental factors, oil also builds up as a result of skin glands releasing sebum. This is intended to moisten the hair and prevent it from drying out.
Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands that exists in the layer of scalp skin called the dermis. The glands are connected to hair follicles with channels that transport sebum to the strands. It’s important to understand that everyone’s scalp will produce a different amount of sebum. Amounts depend on many factors, from genetics to hormones.
Can You Wash Your Hair Until It’s Too Clean?
Well not necessarily too clean. But, believe it or not, washing your hair too often can actually be counterproductive. Certain shampoos can dry out your hair. This will cause the scalp to compensate by producing more oil. So, the more you wash your hair, the oiler it becomes.
All hair is different. Wash your hair according to your skin type. If your skin type is normal to dry, your scalp will produce minimal sebum. This means washing your hair once or twice weekly will suffice. For oiler skin, up your wash schedule to three times a week.
Hair texture is also an important factor. It takes longer for sebum to travel down the follicles for curly, thick or course hair. This means washing your hair once per week is adequate.
Super fine hair tends to get oily faster which means shampooing may need to occur more often.
Now for the grand finale. To wash, or not to wash your hair every day? With all factors considered, our final answer is no. Yes, shampoos can make your hair smell, feel and look, amazing. But they should be saved for every few days, NOT every single shower session. While it may take some time to ween yourself off the daily shampoo routine, your hair will thank you in the long run.
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