A Guide To Washing Your Hair Less
Clean beauty industry maven Mary Futher founded kaia naturals® after spending 20 years working for global beauty companies. Mary now shares her weekly column, delivering a quick fix, home remedy, or clean beauty product suggestion for a variety of human discomforts that some may find too embarrassing to discuss.
You Need to Start Washing Your Hair Less!
Does your hair look lacklustre and dry? Noticing dandruff and uncontrollable frizz? Do your roots get greasy at the end of the day? You may be shampooing your hair & scalp too often!
Over-washing your hair with shampoo can leave it weak and brittle because you are stripping your hair of its natural oils. This leads to your scalp going into oil production overload trying to replenish the oil that was stripped away thanks to sulfates in shampoo. The good news is you can actually train your hair to be less greasy, and I asked my stylist to share her top 4 tips that will help the transition:
START EXTENDING YOUR WASHES
If you wash your hair every day, try to make the switch and wash your hair every other day. As you extend the time between washes, your hair will gradually produce less and less oil as you are no longer stripping your strands of the natural and essential oils your scalp produces. If you continue to do this for the first few weeks, eventually you’ll notice that you will be able to last days until the next hair wash.
Here are a few tried-and-true tips from the kaia naturals® HQ, that has helped them train their hair to be less greasy:
TIP #1: USE DRY SHAMPOO THE NIGHT BEFORE
If you washed your hair this morning, spray your roots tonight with the overnight dry shampoo so you are able to skip tomorrow morning’s wash. This non-aerosol dry shampoo will help absorb oil sweat and odor while you’re sleeping as this is when your scalp produces the most oil. When you wake up on the second day, brush through your hair and your hair will feel fresh and clean as if it has just been washed.
Note: To avoid build-up and clogging your hair follicles, you will want to ensure that you are not packing on too much dry shampoo powder onto your scalp day after day. Always shampoo your hair the day after using dry shampoo. Avoid using dry shampoo more than once between shampoos.
TIP #2: CO-WASHING
If you want to rinse your hair and still get it wet, skip shampoo and instead, thoroughly rinse and massage your scalp and hair with warm (not hot) water. Apply conditioner to your ends and rinse. To read more on this method called co-washing, click here.
TIP #3: USE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
If you are brave enough to go an extra day without washing your hair (Yes! You can do it!), try an apple cider vinegar hair rinse. Mix ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar with 1 cup water. Work it through your scalp and roots. Rinse well with warm water. ACV helps to restore the scalp’s pH levels and removes buildup without stripping them from its natural oils.
TIP #4: SCALP SCRUB
If you want to skip your next shampoo in the shower, instead try gently exfoliating your scalp with a salt scrub. A salt scrub is best used to help remove product buildup from dry shampoo or any other hair products and to slough away dead skin cells. Doing this at least once a week is also ideal to unclog any hair follicles that may be causing scalp pimples.
WHAT YOU NEED:
¼ cup of ground Himalayan pink salt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut oil
5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil
Do you have any hair tips on not washing your hair daily? Please comment below!
