I recently went to a hair salon here at Penn State to dye my hair and had a terrible experience that ended up destroying my hair. Before this incident, I always washed my hair every night when I showered. Now, my hair is too brittle and ruined to shampoo it every day…says the hair stylist. So, was it bad that I used to shampoo my hair that often? Or does it all depend on the person and their specific hair type?
Well surprisingly enough, WebMD is the first website I looked at for an answer. The article stated that, “Experts say there’s no single answer to how often people should shampoo. You may not need to do it as often as you think. It usually comes down to personal preference.” However, there are certain reasons as to why one should or should not wash their hair every day and the article continues to state, “The experts agree: Only a small group needs to shampoo daily, like those with very fine hair, someone who exercises a lot (and sweats), or someone living in very humid place, Goh says.” So really, it all comes down to what an individual’s hair is like.
Okay… then what is shampoo made of and how does someone determine how he or she should treat their hair? The Chemists Corner was helpful when answering these questions. Although the majority of shampoos are make up of 70-80% water, each shampoo has a different make up with different amounts of certain ingredients, but in general all are, “cleaning formulations made up primarily of chemicals called surfactants that have the ability to surround oily materials on surfaces and allow them to be rinsed away by water. While there are numerous types of shampoos the majority are low viscosity, solution formulas delivered from a plastic bottle. Often they are marketed towards different hair types or conditions.” Determining how much you shampoo is truly a preference, on how your hair feels and reacts to the amount of washing, but it is also important to take into consideration that healthy hair also includes natural oils from your body that should be left in your hair for period of time to allow growth and strength, and you will personally be able to feel and see when these oils become too profound. Again, each person produces a different amount of bodily oils so you must determine that individually.
I did not find any formal experiments testing how often a person should wash their hair because every person’s hair is different and all conclusions would be drastically different. However, in the comfort of your own home, you can always conduct your own experiment super easily to find out how your hair personally takes to shampoo. Pay attention to the ingredients in the shampoo you use, and record how much you use and how often you shampoo. Then, after using a certain shampoo for a certain amount of time you will be able to compare what your hair feels like and alter you shampoo usage and which shampoo you use according to your preference.
This is a very interesting blog post because I always think a lot about my hair and what will make it the healthiest it can be. Personally, I only wash my hair every other day because my hair is thicker and wavy. If I was my hair every day, which I have tried, all it does is get drier and more “straw” like. Also because I have darker hair it is harder to see the oil that is in my hair than if I had lighter colored hair. As you said one person cannot compare themselves to another person due to the fact that each person has different hair and different things that their hair needs to be the healthiest possible. http://healthyhairdimensions.com/?page_id=71
As weird as it sounds I actually did conduct my own experiment to come to a conclusion on how often I needed to wash my hair. I came to the conclusion that I only needed to wash it every other day because I have very thick hair. This agrees with your conclusion that some people perceive dry, thin, brittle hair as the only hair that needs to be washed. This blog post was very interesting because it opened up the field to different questions that people had regarding the hair type that needs to be washed the most. There are also outside third variable factors to those who need to wash their hair more than others, such as people who work out a lot, as you stated. Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
This post is amazing because I am a hair freak. But deciding whether to wash your hair everyday depends on your hair texture. Most white people have either naturally curly or straight hair which builds up a lot of oil, and the texture of white peoples hair requires them to get rid of the oils by washing there hair everyday. But on the other the other hand the way black hair texture works is that they need that oil for moisture. So they normally wash their hair once a week or even once every 2 weeks. The type of texture that someone hair had determines if you should wash it everyday, It doesn’t necessarily matter the shampoo, however, certain shampoos help different textures of hair. There is a lot of factors that determines when it is best to wash your hair. But people who don’t wash their hair everyday aren’t dirty, its just a different hair “lifestyle”. Very good blog post!
This was a great topic for a blog post! I definitely struggle with finding the best way to care for my hair. Like yours, my hair is fragile and limp. I struggle to find a shampoo that will not weigh my hair down, but also will help repair the damage. I have found that shampoos labeled anything like moisture, renewal, hydrate, ext. work the best for me.
Like you said, every person has very different hair and have different expectations as to what their hair should look and feel like. Other than natural differences in hair texture and volume, one major difference from person-to-person is how they style their hair. I am guilty of blowing my hair dry almost every day. I try to avoid it, but I prefer to shower when I wake up in the morning, so I then have to blow my hair dry before starting my day, which I know has been terrible for my hair. I also like it to be really clean, so not washing it every day is difficult!
I found this post very interesting and informative. However, I know that you said that you couldn’t find an article but it definitely would have made this post more reliable. Something that would have been interesting would have been if you randomly asked 100 students at Penn State how often they wash their hair and what their hair type is like. This would have provided you with more evidence and would therefore lead to a better conclusion o the topic. I do agree though that at the end of the day, it comes down to the individual and their type of hair.
I enjoyed reading your blog a lot. It is very useful and informative. I always thought that shampooing my hair everyday would just destroy it but i guess it all depends on the type of person you are. Personally, i wash my hair every other day because i feel like the natural oils in my hair keep it shiny and not so dry. Along with how frequently you should shampoo your hair, i think that the temperature also is as important. An article i read really helped in putting the pros and cons of hot and cold water into perspective. In the article, it states that the only con to cold water is less volume in the hair. The article then describes three pros which are shinier hair, cleaner scalp, and better circulation of blood throughout the scalp. The reason to shower with hot water only has one pro which is helps clean the hair better but the cons consists of weakens hair roots and makes hair more breakable. So besides how often one should shampoo their hair, the temperature also determines how clean or healthy the hair can be.
I use shampoo to wash my hair everyday, and it becomes a habits. I can’t sleep without washing my hair. But if it really damage the hair, then I think I need wash my hair less. I find some sources about people gave up using shampoo No Shampoo For 5 Years, live without shampoo ,and most of them said that their hair looked nicer and shiny. Although they all said it is better not to use shampoo, there is only a few people who had tried this. Good post, this is a very interesting topic.