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Here's a fun question for today that seems simple but will probably have a huge range of answers: how often do you wash your hair? Do you use shampoo or a separate cleanser every time you wash your hair, or sometimes only rinse it with water or conditioner? What is your hair like — and when does your hair look best? (What's your maintenance like between shampoos — dry shampoo? spraying water?)
Psst: in the past we've talked about how to make a blowout last for days, as well as rounded up our favorite dry shampoos — we've also shared thoughts on bathing routines and tips for curly hair in the winter.
For my $.02, when I was younger I shampooed my hair daily, and if you'd paid me I never would have believed that my answer today is “every four days.”
My hair has always been fine but with a wave — in my 20s I largely used 2-in-1 shampoos (super cheap drugstore stuff — I remember really liking Suave!), John Frieda frizz oil, and spent 15-30 minutes blowdrying it every single day.
After I had kids my “wavy” hair became much curlier, and I started seeing a ton of stories in the news about women who only washed their hair every few days. For me there was definitely a process for washing my hair less, as I've described before — first I cut back to only washing my hair every 2 days (Day 1 shampoo, Day 2 don't get it wet, Day 3 shampoo), and then I went to more days by washing my hair with conditioner in the middle (Day 1 shampoo, Day 2 not wet, Day 3 conditioner, Day 4 not wet, Day 5, wash).
Nowadays (heading into winter, at least) I just don't get it wet and wash it on Day 5 — as the air gets dryer in the winter I may go back to a Day 3 conditioning. (I used to do a dry shampoo blitz before I went to bed on Day 2 or 3, but I recently read an article in The Atlantic about how dry shampoo isn't that great for you, so I thought I'd stop using it and see how I felt — and feel good without it about 75% of the time.)
This year, I've been experimenting with keratin treatments (I haven't had one in months at this point, though — I wanted to see if I missed it before spending the time and money for a third treatment) and aside from shampoo choices it didn't affect my routine at all. I do TRY to do masks (or at least coconut oil!) in the winter because it can get dry and frizzy (we'll see if I go back for that keratin treatment after all!) but I don't have a ton of patience for hair masks.
I almost never blow dry my hair myself these days, usually opting to let it air dry into curls. It definitely looks best the first day — but if I spray the heck out of it with a water bottle* and “plop” it with an Aquis towel* [*affiliate link] while getting dressed and doing my makeup, it looks pretty good. (I still love a blowout if I actually NEED it to look good, just because my curls are pretty unpredictable.)
How about you guys — how often do you wash your hair? What's your hair routine like in general? Do you use masks, curlers, irons, blowdryers, etc? What are your favorites?
Pictured: Deposit Photos / koji6aca.
Anonymous
Mid-back length, medium thick, straight as a ruler. Every other day. Every third day if the third day I’m doing sweaty things. Every day if I’ve been doing very sweaty things.
K
I washed my hair every day since I was a kid through college. I now wash my hair every 2 to 3 days. I was a process just getting to 2 – for months my hair would become a greasy mess on day two. For this I put it in a ponytail or a bun and used dry shampoo to cut down the shine. Now my day 2 hair sometimes looks better than day 1 hair.
I’m definitely happier not having to wash it everyday.
Anon
I have curly hair, so I wash my hair every day but only use conditioner. I toss and turn a ton when sleeping and haven’t been able to find a way to make my hair look decent on a second day without washing it.
Shelly Boehler
I tried doing the “working mom scrunch” do for a while to save time. I’ve got naturally wavy hair that curls easily w some help. Problem is that – by finger combing my hair – it got super tangly after a day or two. Any suggestions?
Leah
Daily hair washing with shampoo and conditioner. Less often is just not feasible for me, given my job duties. I often go on job sites that are dusty, dirty, and smelly. I can’t go to sleep with diesel fumes soaked into my hair.
I offset the dryness by using no heat on my hair at all. I let it air dry into waves and use no styling tools.
Vicky Austin
I have stuck to a routine of tuesday/thursday/sunday for almost a year now, and use a little dry shampoo in between, especially during the work week (I cannot be bothered to GAF on the weekends). I also shower at night and only rarely use heat.
Torin
Mondays with shampoo and conditioner, Thursdays with diluted apple cider vinegar. Then I put gel in it and either air or blow dry with a diffuser.
I have 3a curls, but relatively fine hair. I was taught to shampoo and condition daily when I was growing up and had a lot of issues with dryness and frizz. Since I quit washing it so much I have no issues with dryness, and it’s not frizzy until day 3 or 4 (depending on humidity and sweat levels). It looks best on day 2 usually.
Anonymous
what ratio do you use for the ACV dilution? Do you condition after rinsing with ACV?
Torin
50/50 and no. I put it in my hair, scrub at my scalp with my fingers a bit, let it sit for a few minutes, and rinse it out. No conditioner. I used to really, really overcondition my hair and it made it very limp and flat. For me, less is more when it comes to conditioner.
Clark
I have long, fine hair that I used to be able to get 2 days out of max, with dry shampoo. I started using a 50/50 ACV rinse on Sundays and don’t have to wash it again until Thursday.
Anonymous
I have very thick, coarse, 3A curly hair. I wash once or twice a week. I wear it totally naturally. Shower at night, let it dry overnight. I don’t heat style it, I use very minimal products, and never use silicones. I also wear it up most of the time and keep my hands off of it. This means my hair stays nice and clean longer because there’s no product buildup and I’m not messing with it or damaging it with heat.
The curls are messy and unpredictable, but I’m not trying to perfect them. They’re just the way my hair is, and I embrace it.
anon
I have a pixie cut and my hair is fine-textured, so daily is almost a necessity. Sometimes I’ll skip a weekend day, but it looks too grungy for work. Even when my hair was longer, I could maaaaybe skip one day, but never more. It just doesn’t work with my hair texture. (I also reallly hate the smell of oily hair.)
Drago Cucina
This is my hair and routine.
MeToo
Yes! The smell is what keeps me washing so often. Is the ACV the best solution?
Xarcady
Fine, thin hair here. It gets washed daily with shampoo. No conditioner because conditioner tends to weigh my hair down.
Because my hair is so fine and thin, I was always told to never have layers, just keep it in a blunt bob, which I blew dry every day. Well, about a year ago, I threw caution to the winds and got a pixie cut. Found out that my hair is curly–just so fine that any length causes my hair to straighten out from the weight of the hair.
I can’t quite go two days without shampooing. By noon on the second day, my hair is greasy and unkempt-looking. I wash it daily, wrap it up in a microfiber turban for 15 minutes, then use some mousse and scrunch it up to form curls–it will not stay curly without some product in it. When it’s dry, I rub a little texturizing paste in it, scrunch again, and forget it for the rest of the day. Easiest haircut I have ever had.
anon
Same, though mine isn’t short. All of my friends are on a crusade to get my to stop washing my hair every day and they refuse to believe what a gross mess it is if I don’t. I’m not willing to go 5 months with nasty hair to retrain my pores or whatever and I’m not convinced it would even work.
anon
I have to say, I really don’t understand this sudden cultural resistance to washing hair. It is so odd to me.
Ellen
I agree. We blond women with fine hair need to be careful that we do not dry out our scalp with to much washing and brusing, but I get bi-weeklyblow out treatments at my hairdresser to ensure my hair does NOT dry out from the shampooing. I know it is the right thing to do b/c men love my hair just the way it is and I would NEVER cut it short, or else I would NOT be distinguishable from so many other women with a tuchus. This way, I have my hair to lead me, kind of like a thoroughbred horse, dad says! YAY!!!!
Anom
Very straight hair in a jaw length layered bob. I wash daily with shampoo and conditioner. I wake up with total bedhead 99% of the time.
Anonfor this
Daily washing & finger scrubbing with water only. Actual shampoo only about once a month. Use only non-silicon products (mainly a styling putty daily, once in a while hairspray), blow dry maybe twice a week.
Used to shampoo and conditioner every single day but my hair was so dry and brittle with no volume. Since dropping shampoo it has so much volume, is easier to style, and looks alive again.
Rainbow Hair
I used to be able to like never wash my hair. Well like twice a week. Now it’s like 5 times a week. Usually there will be one day where I’m just too tired and go to bed without washing it. But the day after a skipped shampoo I feel gross. I think I ruined what I had going when I, y’know, bleached the #$%& out of it and dyed it rainbow. Ah well.
Anonymous
Medium length, thick hair. Like, really, I have tons of hair that people just don’t understand. It’s neither straight nor curly and is frizzy. I wash twice a week on average. Less often in the winter, when I blow dry and straighten it. I can get a solid 3-4 days out of a good blow out. Wash more often in the summer when I use mousse and blow dry with a diffuser for a couple minutes (as compared to the 20+ when I straighten it).
Anon
Once a week, sometimes twice. Scrub with a round rubber brush thingy and lots of shampoo, then condition the ends. Blowdry and straighten or get blowout. Frequent restyling during the week (refresh with a straightener or use curling wand to add waves mid-way through the week). Drybar dry shampoo only if necessary on the 4th-6th day.
Anonymous
My hair is super long, pretty fine, and naturally curly. I wash everyday and then blow dry straight and use a curling iron on the ends. I have a good blow drier and it takes me 10 minutes total to dry and curl. My hair gets oily by the next morning. I sometimes want to try and get through that and wash less, but always end up annoyed with how oily it gets so I just wash it. I have washed my hair daily since middle school. Every now and then on the weekends I will skip washing and just put it up. In the summer I skip blow drying often and wear it curly.
InfoGeek
I have long (~down to my waist), wavy/curly hair.
I wash it daily with conditioner (no shampoo). No heat ever.
I wear it pulled back and braided most days, with a little gel to control frizz.
Anne
Short pixie here. For more than 6 years now, I’ve been washing 6x week with only baking soda in the shower, and once/week with a keratin-based shampoo. At the beginning I tried doing it with the vinegar, but hated the smell, and saw no benefit, so just dropped it. No heat or drying tools are needed for this cut, so my hair’s shiny and full. Styling product added at whim. The only one horrified with this approach was my long-time hair stylist when I finally told her. She couldn’t believe it and said she couldn’t tell. But horrified she was with the whole approach. Haha.