Myth 3: Dirty Hair Is For Dirty Girls

My name is Kate and I’m a dirty-hair-aholic. That’s right, I love it. I have trained my hair to go about 3-4 days between washings and still look great. And guess what? My hair is the thickest, healthiest, and shiniest it’s ever been. And I’m being completely truthful when I say that not shampooing your hair everyday is a big reason as to why.

I have to go back to science to explain exactly how it works. Long story short, you have hair follicles in your head that your hair strands grow out of. In those follicles are glands that produce a natural sebum or oil that naturally cleanses your hair. These oils cleanse your scalp, hydrate your roots, and travel all the way to your ends through hair-brushing to moisturize and add shine. When the sebaceous gland is allowed to secrete oils for a couple days at a time, it can properly do it’s job. But when it is washed out everyday (whether by store bought shampoo or salon professional), you’ll run into a couple problems. The first is that you will constantly be washing out these oils before they can effectively do their job, meaning you are never getting the natural benefits your body wants to produce. The second is that by replacing your “natural cleanser” with your shampoo, you are creating the perfect formula for greasy roots. You should be allowing your sebaceous gland to build up and only using your shampoo to wash out that particular build up. By not doing so, you are not allowing your sebaceous gland to secrete anything at any point and relying on your shampoo to do the deep cleaning, which it isn’t made to do. So you walk around with greasy roots, dull ends that never see natural moisture, and a huge bummer of a problem.

I recommend to all of my clients that they wash their hair about every other day. And be sure to note that when switching your routine in this way, it will take anywhere from 6 weeks to 2 months to fully adjust. I invest in a good dry shampoo (and recommend them to my clients as well) and use that on the days when my hair is just a bit too greasy to handle because I worked out that morning or the climate is a bit more humid. But on a typical day, I can just get up, add some curls, straighten my ends or do a quick blowout and I’m all set. And it’s also important to note that different hair types take to this routine differently. Ladies with curly, coarse hair can go longer than those of us with finer, wispier strands. But the important thing is that you are giving your locks enough time in between washing to naturally cleanse and hydrate, whatever that timing ends up being for you.