Washing your hair doesn’t damage it as long as you a mild shampoo so you can wash your hair as often as you like.
This will usually mean every day if you exercise, have oily hair or live in a big city with lots of pollution about. Your hair picks up outside smells and dirt as well as producing it’s own oils. And any dust or dirt will coat the hair shaft and reduce shine. Clean hair is shiny hair! In any case, it’s time to shampoo when your hair looks dull, limp or oily or when your scalp itches.
It used to be thought that shampooing oily hair would make it oilier but actually leaving it days between shampoos just makes it look lank so it’s better just to wash it and have it looking clean and healthy all the time.
If you wash your hair in the bath like the lady in the picture, don’t rely on the bath water to rinse it. You will end up with an itchy scalp from the soap residue. Always rinse in clear fresh water, preferably with a hand held shower attachment.
If you have oily hair you probably only need to apply conditioner to the ends of your hair every time you wash it and every few days to the scalp. One tip I read recently is to apply conditioner to the ends of the hair before you wash it and then shampoo only your scalp. As you rinse the shampoo off it will run down the hair and remove any conditioning residue leaving the ends soft and not too dry.
It’s actually drying your hair with a hot hairdryer or other heated appliances that can damage it, so pat it as dry as possible with a soft towel and then air dry it, if you can, or dry with the coolest setting. Use heat only for final styling and try not to pull your hair too much as you dry it as this can stretch and break it.
For more tips on keeping hair (of any length) in tip top condition see 50 Tips: How to Grow Your Hair Long (And Look Gorgeous!)
How Often Should You Wash Colored Hair?
If your hair is colored you may find that the color fades faster if you wash your hair everyday but better a few extra trips to the hairdresser than a dirty, itchy or smelly head! Try some of the many color protection ranges of shampoo and conditioner around to help keep your color as long as possible.
Washing Hair Without Shampoo
If you would like to shampoo your hair every day but just don’t have the time for washing and restyling, try dry shampoo which will soak up any excess oil and help neutralize odors. There are a few different products around so experiment to find the best one for your hair.
