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There’s nothing worse than waking up late, running to go out the door to work, and realizing you probably should have washed your hair. How many times have you just popped into the grocery store with your hair piled on top of your head in a messy bun because it’s a disaster and you pray that you don’t run into anyone you know? The struggle is real, but it doesn’t have to be. If washing your hair is getting to be a bore, we’ve got some exciting news for you: you can train your hair so that it doesn’t need to be washed every day! Here’s how. (See also: How Your Lifestyle Can Impact The Health Of Your Hair)
Take the Weekend Off
Rather than try something new in the middle of your workweek, pick a weekend to leave your hair unwashed. Wash your hair on Friday morning and then don’t plan to wash it again until Monday morning. Rather than just tie it up and hide it all weekend, take the time to comb out your hair and style it as you normally would. If you normally use a flat iron to make your hair smooth after washing, conditioning and drying it, try using the flatiron without all the lead up to it. Yes, your hair might feel a bit strange and you might even have a bad case of bedhead, but a good ironing tool can help bring your hair back to life.
There’s a lot of research that suggests washing your hair every day is not good for it. Plus, what a pain in the you-know-what! So rather than take chances and waste precious morning minutes, start with a weekend of training your hair and take it from there.
Use Dry Shampoo
You might be tempted to wash your hair after a couple of days of going Au Natural, but stick with it. Hair was not meant to be washed and dried all the time. It doesn’t need all the chemicals and fancy conditioners we put on it to make it shiny. Natural hair is shiny, but we cake on so much stuff that it loses that shine and relies on the products we use to bring it back to life. Rather than washing your hair on a daily basis, use dry shampoo sprays in between washes to keep it from getting greasy. Grease is the number one complaint of women – and men – and claim it is the reason they wash their hair on a daily basis. But you can train your hair to avoid the grease as well. That grease is build up from your shampoo and hairstyling products. Our bodies release sweat and oil and that builds-up on our hair as well, but it is less so when there’s no chemical build up on the hair strands. So if you stick with it, you can go from washing your hair every single day to maybe just once a week.
Comb it Out
Before you go to bed each night, take the time to comb your hair. You might braid your hair if it’s long enough, or you might use a steam machine to help keep the hair moist before bed. Combing your hair also helps remove any build up and keeps tangles at bay. If this all sounds too good to be true, just try it for yourself and see how easy it is to get your hair under control. Remember, you can hop in the shower and wet your hair and give your scalp a good scrub, but there’s no need to use products to clean your hair. Combing it and keeping it healthy with steam can help lock in your hair’s natural moisture and keep you from having to wash it all the time. (See also: Top 5 Hair Styling Tips For Women With Thin Hair)
Try it a Few Times
Before you go the cold turkey route and quit washing your hair altogether, try it a few times for longer periods of time. Four, five, six days at a time to start and see how that feels. If it starts making you uncomfortable, give it a quick rinse and let it air dry. Rather than keep it in a hair tie all the time, let your hair down and loose. It is better for it anyway. Hair ties and hairbows just break your hair where you wrap the tie around it. As part of your self-care routine, you can allow yourself time to get used to this and do your hair some good.
Whether you decide to just give your hair a break once in a while or you want to go all in and stop washing your hair with harsh products altogether, this technique can help you get there. Back off on the conditioners and products for styling too. They just leave residue and grease in your hair that shouldn’t be there.
About The Author:
Evan Kaden: Easily entertained by the simpler things in life, Evan likes to spend most of his free time enjoying the outdoors with his Golden Retriever, Skeeter. As a freelance writer, he’s thankful for the many opportunities he’s been given to express his passion for writing.
