Am I Washing My Hair Too Much or Not Enough?

This seems like a simple answer, but in truth, it really depends on you hair texture, thickness, if your scalp is oily or not, and most importantly, how you clean you hair and scalp! When I’m with my clients, I always ask a seemingly simple question - how do you wash your hair? Often we don’t actually think about the wash process, we just “do.”

Washing our hair is broken down into two main steps: shampoo & condition. If we focus on these individually, they can actually be broken down into more than just two components.

Shampooing
When you shampoo your hair it is important to know how much product to use based on each products own lather and whether or not you are using a professional brand or a drug store brand! Most often I have found that people are using way too much shampoo. When you plop on product and the mush it around, rinsing it out becomes an issue. If your shampoo isn’t rinsed out thoroughly enough, you can cause product build-up on your scalp which can lead to an oilier scalp, follicle suffocation, and even scalp diseases such as: psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff).

Conditioning
Conditioner is meant for the mids to ends of your hair. When you apply conditioner to your roots and then work it downwards you actually add extra oils and moisturizers to your scalp that can, in turn, cause product buildup and cause your scalp to feel “un-rinsed” or “product-y.” So, to condition your hair properly, work your conditioner from the ends upwards (just as your would brush your hair to avoid extra tangling). Also, don’t be scared of using conditioner! Often I hear that more shampoo gets used that conditioner in the washing cycle. This should be the opposite way around. As long as you are applying conditioner to the mids to ends of your hair, don’t be scared to load it up (just make sure you rinse it out enough)…those ends need as much moisture as they can get!

PRO TIP: Before you condition, use a face cloth or small towel and blot out any excess moisture from your hair. This allows your hair to more effectively absorb the moisture from your conditioner instead of slipping off your wet hair and just going down the drain.

So, the answer to this question…Am I washing my hair too much or not enough?

Shampooing your hair every day can cause overactive sebaceous glands (oil production) and should be avoided. You are washing out the natural oils that are essential to maintain a healthy scalp. If you are washing every day, try just giving your scalp a wet scrub on day two (without shampoo) to move those natural oils off your scalp and then condition the ends.

If you only shampoo once per week, or even stretch it out longer, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Do you use dry shampoo most of the week? This may not good as it could cause a lot of product buildup which can suffocate to your scalp. Be sure to wet scrub (without shampoo, or with just a tiny bit) your scalp to take off that buildup so your scalp can breathe and condition your hair in between using your shampoo. Without having conditioner on your ends more often, you may cause more dryness to your hair and your colour and cut will begin to look dull…unless you’re luck enough to have that gorgeous silky hair!

Take a look at your current routine and see if there’s any adjustments you can try. It will take some time for your scalp to adjust to less or more washing, but be patient and you will start to see results!