How often should you wash your hair? It’s an age old question that has a different answer for everyone!
Your hair gets oily because glands in your skin produce an oily substance called sebum. It’s what moistens your hair to keep it from drying out. Interestingly enough, this is the same reason your face gets oily!
Now that we know the reason behind the oil, we can easily come to a conclusion as to how often we should wash our hair so as to not strip these oils, right? Unfortunately, not. Everyone produces different amounts of sebum (which is why some people’s hair and face gets oilier than others).
There is no universal answer as to how often people should wash their hair, however we do know that no one should wash their hair every single day.
Like we said earlier, washing your hair every day can strip your follicles of the natural oils, which can do more harm than good.
There are a couple of other things you should keep in mind when determining how often you should wash.
Skin type is a huge factor. If your skin and hair are anywhere from normal to dry, normal meaning not incredibly oily or super dry, you may only need to wash your hair once or twice a week. If you have a greasy scalp, you may need to wash a bit more often.
Hair texture matters because it affects how quickly sebum works from your roots through the length of your hair. Curly or course hair slows how quickly it spreads, which means you curly and course haired people probably only need to shampoo your hair once a week. People with fine, straight hair will likely need to wash two or more times a week.
What you put your hair through in terms of styling and treatment could affect your washing schedule. If it’s processed or has damage due to styling, washing it less is your best bet.
The old saying “less is more” can definitely be applied to how often you wash your hair. Don’t be afraid to go a couple of days without shampooing!
