How I Went From Washing My Hair Everyday to Once a Week!
Confession: I only wash my hair once or twice a week! In this picture I hadn’t washed my hair in 5 days! I used to wash my hair every single day. I have very long, thick hair, so needless to say that this was becoming very time consuming. It took me about an hour every night to shower, wash and blow dry my hair and after years of having that same routine, I knew I needed a change! Why did I wash my hair every day? The oil! My hair was notorious for becoming oily extremely quickly.
I recently shared on my Instagram stories that I went from washing my hair everyday to once or twice a week and was surprised by how many questions I got about this process, so that’s what this post is all about! I will share how I went through this process along with my favorite hair products that I have used ever since!
The Process
Stage 1: The Detox
The first thing you will need to do is decide when you want to do this. Basically, you need to find 3-4 days where you don’t really care what your hair looks like and can get away with throwing it up in a messy bun or pony tail or wear a hat. The first couple of days can be rough, especially if your hair is notorious for getting oily quickly like mine.
For this stage, you will want to first give your hair a good wash (pro tip: shampoo your whole head and only use a small amount of conditioner on the ends). I use the Beautycounter Daily Shampoo and Conditioner.
After washing, you will want to blow dry your hair out in sections. Don’t overthink this step. A lot of people become intimidated by the thought of blowing out their hair. Let me tell you, it is not that bad! Promise. I use this round brush, but you can use a flat brush as well if that is what you prefer! The most important part of this process is making sure you get your roots the most dry. That is where the oil is the most concentrated.
The next part of this stage is basically just accepting that your hair is going to be oily and dirty for the next few days or so. The longer you wait to wash, the quicker the training process will go for you!
Stage 2: Continuing the Training
Depending on your hair, the length of this stage can be different for each individual. During this stage, you will want to continue the process of Stage 1 until your hair gradually becomes more used to only being washed twice a week. I recommend going about 3-4 days without washing at the beginning and then as time goes on, you can get away with about a week! YAY!
Again, I highly recommend blowing out your hair after you wash. This will help keep it cleaner and fresher for a longer period of time. I have been using this hair dryer for over a year now and I absolutely love it! Don’t know where to start when blow drying your hair? There are SO many tutorials on YouTube! If I had some more video editing skills, I’d make one myself!
To get you through those days that are still a bit oily or you when you have lost all of your volume from blow drying, I highly recommend using this dry shampoo. I have tried so many dry shampoos and this one has by far been the best for me and it worth every penny. To use the dry shampoo, shake well and spray a small amount about 10 inches away from your roots. I like to part my hair in different sections and spray it right at the part. If you have dark hair, it’s going to show up as a white powder in your hair. I let it sit for about 30 seconds and then just brush it out and the powder becomes blended it where you can no longer see it. You will need less and less dry shampoo once your hair has become fully trained.
Stage 3: Maintaining
YAY! You made it through the hard part and can finally enjoy your new (and much easier to maintain) hair! Think of all you can do with that extra 30-60 minutes every day! I still can’t believe that I spent so many years spending all that time just washing and drying my hair! Now I can actually enjoy it and even have some fun focusing on styling!
Here is a general day by day of how I get through the week. This changes depending on my schedule or if I want my hair to be clean for something specific.
Day 1: Wash & Dry
Day 2: Wear it down with no styling or product
Day 3: Sometimes at this point I will curl my hair. This is the curling wand I use. If my hair is in a good mood, it will have a nice and loose curl for the next day. This is my favorite hairspray! It has a good hold without being sticky or stiff.
Day 4: If my curls look decent after brushing through them in the morning, I will add some dry shampoo and call it a day!
Day 5: By this day, I will usually throw in a headband or hat unless I can get away with another day using dry shampoo. I swear, the better you blow dry it (focusing on the roots), the longer it will last.
Day 6: Okay, now we are on the fence of being gross haha! Depending on what I have going on this day, I may decide to wash again or I might throw in a headband or hat and get away with one more day!
Day 7: Time to wash!
Shop the Products:
Click here for Beautycounter Daily Shampoo & Conditioner
I hope you found this helpful! I wish I would have known this process was possible years ago and that I wasn’t just doomed with oily hair for the rest of my life! If you have any questions, leave a comment below or reach out to me via Instagram @shophillarycripps
XO,
Hillary