Hair Training 101
As a stylist, I’ve heard it all. Every single hair horror story, hair shortcomings, and of course, hair goals and dreams.
When I tell clients that I average 4-5 days between shampooing my hair, the most common response is “I could never do that. My hair is (insert reason here)”.
Here’s a confession; I was just like you years ago. If I didn’t wash my hair every day to other day, it was awful. I lovingly refer to my hair as combination hair. My scalp had a tendency to be oily, and my ends were dry and damaged. I tried everything, but my hair would not cooperate. I envied people who could seemingly go forever between washes. I never thought I could be one of those people, my hair just did not cooperate.
But here’s the big secret every shampoo company doesn’t want you to know: You do not need to wash your hair every day. Our bodies are amazing. Plain and simple. We are all born with our bodies prepared to care for and cleanse without help. Sure, soap, shampoo, etc has helped us smell nice but it also has conditioned us to need it.
Our scalp produces sebum, or oil, to protect and cleanse itself. When we use shampoo, we strip away this oil, so our body works hard to replace it. You guys, our bodies are smart. Our bodies predict our schedule of stripping away oil, and magically replaces it. So, if you’re with me here, when you skip your normal wash day, your body produces extra oil because it thinks you’re going to wash it away. Hello greasy hair!
So how do we train our hair to slow sebum production and go more days between washing? Start out by adding ONE extra day to your normal schedule. It’s going to feel uncomfortable at first. You may not like it. Girl, throw your hair up and suck it up. Good things come to those who wait. I’m going to say to give this new routine a solid two weeks. You will feel a difference. It will start to feel, dare I say, normal.
Next, once the two weeks are up, add an additional day, and continue this for another two weeks. Voila! You’ve just added two additional days between washes. Think of all the time you have saved. From here, the world is your oyster. Go crazy. Add another day, and another. Just stick with your “new” routine for a minimum of two weeks to allow for your body to adjust.
If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen me document my days between washes in preparation for this post. If you missed it, you can watch below. And for heaven’s sake, be my friend on the gram (@style_by_nic), so you’ll never miss content.
Get creative with styles between washes. USE DRY SHAMPOO! QuickieME Dry Shampoo comes in two forms, one for light hair and one for dark hair. Read my post about all things dry shampoo related, here.
Give your scalp and your body the credit it deserves, and give yourself a break from over styling. You can do this!!!
As always, if you have topic specific questions, comment below or shoot me and email. I am here to help.
