What's with the trend of not washing hair everyday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to my hairdresser, and she was appalled that I wash my hair every day. She strongly advised me against it. My DD is also against washing hair all the time.
I remember being a teen with greasy hair and not washing it, and I feel gross just remembering it. I know some of my coworkers do not wash their hair as much, and honestly, if you are close, their hair stinks. Where is this new "hair mantra" coming from?
I am talking about a white woman's hair here. I know that different types of hair need different care, but I know that white women in the U.S., in my circles, used to wash hair every day in the 90s and 2000s.

It's so weird that you're lumping all white women in together, as if we all have the same kind of hair. I'm white and my hair is curly/frizzy/dry. It definitely looks better when I wash it every few days as opposed to every day, which only serves to dry it out. You must have very greasy hair to require washing it every day. It's generally understood that unless your hair is super oily, it's much better not to wash it more than a couple of times a week.

Agreed. It's not like there are just two kinds of hair and all white women have one kind and all black women have the other.

I have wavy hair that is prone to frizz. If I wash it daily I can make it look nice by blow drying it straight and curling it or using a flat iron. Every day. Or I can wear it very short and use a ton of product.

But if I want "wash and wear" hair that I can let air dry and will look good with less effort I can't wash it daily. It doesn't look perfect every day but it looks reasonably good (and *great* on the days I do wash it). It's not frizzy and looks healthy and also I can grow it longer so that I can put it up on days where it doesn't look great so I don't have to wear it in a pixie or a short bob.

There is just a broad spectrum of hair in the world and what works for one person might not work for the next.
I find all the pearl clutching on this thread about "dirty" hair ridiculous. Are you rolling around in the mud or visitin sand dunes on a windy day. If the thing that is making your hair "dirty" is just existing and the natural oils and some sweat from your scalp moving into your hair then it is not dirty. Depending on your hair type and your habits it might looke better or worse with more of these natural oils in it. That's it.

+1
OP is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Guy here - just stumbled on this thread and very confused. I'm happily married 15 years and DW showers every day. That includes hair, of course, and shampoo.

How is this a controversial topic? It seems obvious that all women should shower and wash their hair every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guy here - just stumbled on this thread and very confused. I'm happily married 15 years and DW showers every day. That includes hair, of course, and shampoo.

How is this a controversial topic? It seems obvious that all women should shower and wash their hair every day?

Stick your lane. You know nothing about long thick hair.

[Anonymous]

Trend? I’ve been told not to wash my hair everyday since I was reading YM Magazine in 1997.

[Anonymous]

Obviously it depends on your hair type, porosity, and oil. My thick coarse Scottish hair would look like dried out Brillo if I washed it daily. Once a week only! I’m always shocked that I get the most compliments on days 6-8 post-wash.

I will say that many white women have super dry, faded looking hair. Maybe because they’re stripping the oils out with a daily wash.

Also OP- you’re nuts about smell. It smells like hair. It’s not gross. Just a natural soft smell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously it depends on your hair type, porosity, and oil. My thick coarse Scottish hair would look like dried out Brillo if I washed it daily. Once a week only! I’m always shocked that I get the most compliments on days 6-8 post-wash.

I will say that many white women have super dry, faded looking hair. Maybe because they’re stripping the oils out with a daily wash.

Also OP- you’re nuts about smell. It smells like hair. It’s not gross. Just a natural soft smell.

Nothing natural about the smell of dirty hair. You all who don’t wash daily just can’t smell how bad it is.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it is a trend. My grandmothers got their hair "done" at the salon once or twice a week, depending on what was happening (more often for an event). They didn't smell or have dandruff or anything weird.

I wash my hair as needed. I wash my body more often than my hair. My scalp isn't oily or gross or ... anything, really. It is just 'normal', but my hair is curly and dry. In winter if I am wearing a hat on long walks, I definitely wash because it gets a bit funky under there. In summer, not as much.

[Anonymous]

I stopped washing my hair every day about 15-20 years ago, on the advice of my hairdresser, and my scalp quickly adjusted/became less oily. I do shower and wet my hair every day and, for lack of a better descriptive, “lather” without shampoo, which I think is also important for avoiding an oily look and any scalp smell. And I condition the ends every day. I shampoo once or twice a week. There is very little difference between the look on day one and day four.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My curly girl daughter washes her hair 2x a week. The other days in the shower she gets her hair wet and puts conditioner on the ends.

I have straight hair and I wash every other day (hair). I think a lot of people who wash their hair daily have really dry and damaged hair. You can tell.

Yes, you can see the damage.

What’s funny in these threads is that it’s usually the people with thin, fine hair who talk about how it has to be washed daily and they never see the connection.

I’ve got very thick hair that I wash every day with tons of conditioner. It’s not dry or damaged but I definitely use way more shampoo and conditioner than most! It’s a huge issue when I travel but I don’t like the way it looks when I don’t wash it.

There are always exceptions but usually the people in real life I run into who believe white women should wash their hair every day have awful hair. You can visibly see the damaged hair. It’s brittle and fragile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guy here - just stumbled on this thread and very confused. I'm happily married 15 years and DW showers every day. That includes hair, of course, and shampoo.

How is this a controversial topic? It seems obvious that all women should shower and wash their hair every day?

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Showering every day is essential, of course, but daily shampoo for some people’s hair is extremely damaging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously it depends on your hair type, porosity, and oil. My thick coarse Scottish hair would look like dried out Brillo if I washed it daily. Once a week only! I’m always shocked that I get the most compliments on days 6-8 post-wash.

I will say that many white women have super dry, faded looking hair. Maybe because they’re stripping the oils out with a daily wash.

Also OP- you’re nuts about smell. It smells like hair. It’s not gross. Just a natural soft smell.

There is a scalp smell for some people (of all races), I’ve smelled it too. But it is not really related to daily shampooing. I’ve smelled it on people that I know shampoo daily. I actually think it’s a small fungal infection that’s resident on their heads. OP is right that some people do have a scalp smell but is wrong about tying it to daily shampoo. Actually, I think for some people daily shampoo makes it worse, because it strips off healthy protective oils and leaves fungi to grow.

Agree with you about over-washed hair. You can see the damage. It’s ugly.

Really what you need to know is how healthy your scalp is and what works best. For some people that will indeed be daily shampoo, for some it’s every other day, for some it’s once a week. OP is wrong about insisting that the same health routine works for all.

[Anonymous]

Do you all not exercise or do anything active? I’m a runner and an equestrian, and I can’t imagine not washing my sweaty helmet head daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, but I’m never doing every other day. It’s never the same. I grew up in a culture where cleanliness and freshness is a priority. I know a woman that insists she only needs to wash her hair every three or four days, because her hair doesn’t need it. Trust me, it does. She always looks…not so fresh. And then can’t understand why other women look so put together and she doesn’t.

Your scalp is dry. You are confusing shiny hair with oily hair. Dry hair is not attractive. My mom has the same attitude as you and her hair looks dull and terrible. I am not trying to be rude, but “squeaky clean” dry locks are not healthy attractive locks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you all not exercise or do anything active? I’m a runner and an equestrian, and I can’t imagine not washing my sweaty helmet head daily.

I run 6 miles 5-6 times a week. I rinse and massage my scalp with warm water or co-wash. My hair does not smell. Honestly there are only a couple parts of me are smell of dried sweat after a run, and those are cleaned well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wash mine once a week and it looks great. Used to wash every day but it’s bad for your hair and scalp.

Ok, but what about the smell? People around you can smell the grossness.

Don’t know what to tell you, but my head doesn’t smell bad. I guess my scalp doesn’t overproduce oils. Tbf if I didn’t wash my face every day it wouldn’t develop a smell either. So it’s a weird question.

maybe you can't smell it? but others can.

No, you really cannot. Sorry but it’s simply not true. I worked as a shampooer at a hairdresser and many women came in with hair that had not been washed for days. They were fine; they did not smell. And I am super sensitive to perfumes, room sprays, candles, etc. This is in your head and you are not regularly close enough to random people to know one way or the other.