Hair Care 101: How Often Should You Shampoo Your Hair?

Are you washing your hair every day? Chances are, you don’t need to. Lathering up those locks can actually damage some hair types, so lighten up on the laundering and read on to figure out if you can cut back on the sudsing. It will answer your question: how often should you shampoo your hair?

So many people believe that unwashed hair means having dirty, smelly hair. But how often you shampoo is not only a matter of personal preference, it’s also about determining if your hair needs that much care.

The longer, thicker, curlier, and more processed your hair, the longer it can go between washes. Since the oils from the scalp don’t travel down the hair shaft as quickly, the hair tends to dry out and requires less frequent shampooing. You can keep this type of hair looking great and manageable between shampoos with daily conditioning and scalp massage to break up oils and loosen dirt.

People with fine hair might need to shampoo every day to every three days so their hair doesn’t look greasy or flat. Also, if you tend to have a more oily scalp, you may need to shampoo once a day.

Since shampoo removes oil and excess skin cells from the scalp, it’s important to maintain hair’s moisture. Switching from traditional shampoos that lather up with lots of bubbles to a non-foaming, sulfate-free cleanser will also go a long way towards improving the look and feel of your hair.

Day-old hair generally styles better, so if you want to freshen up your locks in between shampoos, you can use a dry shampoo to help absorb excess oils. Using hair care products that contain alcohol and harsh detergents will dry out the scalp’s natural oils and eventually dry out hair, leading to split ends and frizzy hair, so steer clear of these products while remembering to condition the ends.

Roots get greasier than ends, so just cleanse the scalp; that’s where sebum, which is responsible for keeping the skin and hair moisturized, is concentrated. Sudsing up the entire length of your hair can dry it out.

The damage to our strands can likely be minimized by skipping a shampoo here or there. Talk to your hair stylist about how often – or not – you should be washing your hair and with what.