The Case For Not Washing Your Hair

Today, as textured locks and full hair begin to eclipse the ironed and Japanese-straightened styles that were previously in vogue, weekly visits to salons are more common among women who were born since the Eisenhower administration. Women say it cuts down on bathroom time by eliminating daily blow-drying and is an excuse for more pampering when everything else has been polished and waxed.

Read the entire New York Times story here.

Experts have been advising that we skip the shampooing since... uh, probably since the invention of shampoo. Read more arguments here and here and here.

And, really, not washing your hair is so on-trend because blogger Verena von Pfetten just recently declared frizzy the new fabulous.

Check out a woman who has not washed her hair in 11 years.

Tell us in comments below: how often do you shampoo? And, please, be honest. We're not here to judge.

Comments

[foodtube]

When my hair is short I shampoo it about once a week. When I don't have money to get a haircut, I need to shampoo about every third day, otherwise I look like a homeless person. Now you know!

[fantagor]

Daily shampooing makes my hair a bit puffy looking. But it's a small price to pay to avoid smelling like a muskrat. Or a dog. A caribou. A dead bird. An elephant..­.

Randy

[RuthAlice]

I was the "I have oily hair so must wash every day" speaker a few years back, but read an article about how frequent washing increases hair oiliness, so I have it a whirl. Now I wash once a week and my hair is thicker, shinier and holds it shape much better.

There was a short transition of about 4 weeks where my hair got pretty oily, but then it began responding to the lack of shampoo by kicking in it self-cleaning. I frequently get asked what shampoo I use, what conditioner, how does my hair get so shiny. Try it!

[lhsouthern1988]

i use brunette goddess by bed head. i used to have to wash daily, but now its every other day. all my daughters (18, 13, 6) use salon shampoo since the otc stuff is only good for stripping wax off the floors. the blond shampoos are the best for my younger two since they get wonderful blond highlights and these shampoos keep them way into fall.

[DLSteinhardt]

I have shoulder-length curls and use Vermont Natural Soap every few days, and brush and comb regularly. I only need conditioner after I've used shampoo, which makes my hair squeak unnaturally.

I tried going a month without shampoo once when I was 15, and my hair got very greasy, despite being rinsed daily, and swimming in the ocean almost every day.

The British woman in the article said she too had greasy hair for the first month. I'd try her method, but I don't have a free month to look so dirty! And I feel good about using natural soap on it, same as I use on the rest of my body. And yes, after any time with smokers, it's essential.

[Pippilangstrumpf]

This is what I don't understand about the whole 'don't wash your hair everyday' thing: I work out every day.
When I'm done working out my head is a sweaty mess.
How can you NOT wash your hair when it gets all sweaty from working out every day?
I have long hair and it is a long process of washing, blowing dry, and either using hot rollers or an iron or whatever..­.so I would love to know how I could get by without washing it every day.

[amanda85]

Cut your hair? ;)

Seriously, I have shoulder-length hair and I also wash it every day, but I try to reduce the amount of shampoo and hair dryer time to the bare minimum.

[Economike]

Rinse it with hot water when you shower it will eliminate any odor.

[Abbily]

I shampoo every 3 days, but use conditioner every day...and my hair looks and smells fine.
I have a weird curly, wavy, frizzy, sometimes oddly straight hair texture.

[rini]

I did the condition, but don't wash thing, you know, about every third day, I'd wash it. My hair got so frizzy from product buildup it was incredible. It was getting to the point where I didn't even look professional at work. I couldn't figure it out, until I washed well one day and realized my hair felt better.

[nevadagirl]

I used to wash it every day when I was a teenager, but now it looks better and holds the color much longer if I only wash it twice a week. Girl who thinks it smells musty might be a smoker (?). I don't even know any smokers, so I'm sure I don't have "musty" hair.

[rini]

I think my scalp starts to have an odor after about 48 hours.

[desertdweller]

What does her scalp smell like?

[kyoput]

I'd say it smells fine. If you really need to "clean" your hair use soap. Same thing as what's in your shampoo, minus the fruity smell and 7 dollar price tag. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body gel, and on and on. It's all the same. The soap you put on your body is no different than the one you put in your hair. But many people won't accept this having these products drilled into their head. But whatever. No one's saying stop bathing, just maybe reconsider how much cash you put into your hair. By the way, that oily feeling after you go a few days without soaping your hair? It goes away. That's your hair readjusting to not having piles of soap rubbed into it everyday

[workingboy]

now that NYC is being bought up by people from outside the country, the city smells like dirty hair. sorry, unattractive.

[WriterGuy]

Oh please. New York has ALWAYS been "bought up by people from outside the country," ever since the days of $24 in beads. My hunch is that New York smells a lot better now than it did a century ago.

I wonder, however, if your views are any fresher than the racists who railed against the Irish, the Jews, the Italians, the Chinese and everyone else whose been a part of The Big Apple.

[Economike]

Yeah, what writer guy said. NY has always been a melting pot, since the 17th century. You want a homogenus white puritanical culture look at Boston.

[lezlie]

I wash my hair usually once a week... but then I work @ home and don't go out much. Still, it looks fine.

[rmetz74]

I shampoo about every other day, maybe every 3. My hair is curly, brushing or combing it would be a disaster, and without regular shampooing, it would turn into dreads.

[Evelyn]

Well that lady's hair doesn't look as bad as you'd expect for 11 years of no shampoo, but she's hardly an advertisement for natural beauty either.

[JScott]

I get oily hair quick so I do it every day altho I use an everyday gentle shampoo like Neutrogena and the assoc. creme rnse. I remember a barber saying if you use Prell or some other similar shampoo everyday it's like washing your hair with Comet cleanser.

[clintonius]

once every two weeks. hair is way healthier that way. no dry, frizzy, cracked shite on your head.