How Often Should You Shampoo Your Hair?

"Don't shampoo every day? ARE YOU CRAZY?" This is the response I get from most of my first time clients. Along with a look as if I have two heads.  "Yes that is correct," I respond. "If you want you're hair to produce less oils it is best to not shampoo your hair everyday." Sounds a little backwards I know, but let's explore the origin of shampooing and oily scalps.

In 1908, The New York Times published an article recommending women shampoo their hair every two weeks. At that time once a month was normal.  In the 1970's an ad campaign by Faberge for Farrah Fawcett Shampoo encouraged individuals to shampoo more often. There slogan "something beautiful happens to your hair" gave the impression that if you wanted voluminous, flowing, bouncy locks this was the product to use.

Shampoo ad campaigns continued to convince customers that shampooing every day was good. According to Procter & Gamble Americans wash their hair more than four times a week compared to people in Spain and Italy who shampoo on average twice a week.

My Hair is So Oily I Have to Shampoo Everyday

The easiest way to stop your hair from becoming oily is to stop touching it. Think of it like your skin. If you continuously touch your face it starts to get more oily. Our sebaceous gland produce sebum on our scalp. Sebaceous glands are what keeps the hair and skin moisturized. The sebum created in the sebaceous glands moves up the skin through the hair follicle. When the oil combines with external pollutants it creates a build up on the hair and scalp. This is what creates an oily slick appearance on the hair.

There is a popular belief that the best way to rid your hair of oil is to shampoo it. This is a Myth. Shampooing your hair actually encourages oil production. The sebaceous glands produce a sufficient amount of oil needed to moisturize the scalp. Once the hair is shampooed the sebaceous glands immediately produces more. This happens time after time again until the sebaceous glands are now working overtime to keep an accurate amount of oil on the hair and scalp. This is when most individuals feel they have to shampoo or else they'll look like an oily grease pit.

How Do I Stop My Hair From Producing So Much Oil?
The answer is simple. Shampoo less. I know, it's not what most people want to hear. However, shampooing less is the easiest  way to rid your hair of overactive sebaceous glands. The less you shampoo the less oils are produced. If you are one that shampoos everyday it is not recommended to stop cold turkey. The best approach is to slowly wean yourself off your shampooing addition.

Steps to wean yourself from daily shampooing:
First 2 weeks

• Shampoo your hair every other day.
• The days that you are not shampooing you can rinse your hair for 3-5 mins. (if it makes you feel better you can pretend you are working up a lather just don't pick up the shampoo bottle.)
• After rinsing Condition the midshaft to ends. Do not apply conditioner to the scalp as this will weight the hair down.

Second 2 weeks

• Shampoo your hair every other day.
• On the day after you shampoo do not rinse or shampoo at all.
• If you find that your hair gets oily on your non-shampoo day you may use dry shampoo or baby powder on your scalp only. This helps soak up any excess oil.

After a period of four weeks you should notice a significant decrease in oil production. Your hair will be healthier, more moisturized, have more shine and less oil.