We all love that fresh feeling on hair wash day - there’s no doubt about it. But we don’t want to wash our hair too frequently for our own good. We’ll go into detail soon - just keep in mind more isn’t always the merrier.
In this hair care article, we’ve done the hard work for you and will give you the best way to care for your hair, whether it’s fine or thick, if your scalp is oily or dry, all the way down to what kind of work you do in a day.
Follow this guide to get a rein on your hair health, and to start the best schedule for you.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
How often should you wash your hair? This topic may be up for heated debate. But here’s the answer: less often than you think.
Our team at Peaky Barbers has suggested “you don’t need to wash your hair every day, but instead every few days because washing strips away the protective oils”.
Let me explain.
The more you wash, the more it strips your hair of the natural oils that it fights hard to produce. Our body produces an oil called sebum which mostly appears on the face and scalp, and gives your hair that oily feeling after a few days. It is essential for healthy growth; helping to maintain the pH of your skin, hydrate your hair and protect it from getting brittle and breaking off.
When you wash your hair, sebum is stripped with the use of shampoo. If you don’t then replenish these oils with a good conditioner, or if you simply don’t condition at all, our hair can overproduce oil in compensation.
So, it may sound ridiculous but over-cleansing can actually cause greasy hair.
Then, How Often Should I Wash?
Now that we know less is more, we now need to figure out how often you, individually, should wash your hair.
Even though the temptation is there to wash every day because of that squeaky clean feeling - you need to resist!
The mantra work smarter, not harder also applies to hair care for men. How good is that! Using a high-quality product that provides gentle hydration, such as our Mr Muk Shampoo, will help you cleanse without creating excess oil that causes serious greasiness.
Starting out, aim to do a full wash 2-3 times a week depending on your hair type (we’ll address this next). This can be as simple as thinking “did I wash my hair yesterday”, or if you’re all optimising your time and energy you could lock in set days into your weekly routine.
This should be a good starting point for most. Next, aim for once a week, then see if you can stretch it out even longer.
With this being the end goal, it may take some time for your hair to get used to. Allow for a couple of weeks to train your hair to get to your ideal place. This means you may need to suffer through some greasiness at first before it gets better. Make sure to trust the process.
Hair Types
Your hair type is something to also keep in consideration. Although the mantra less is more applies to all of us, understanding the thickness and oiliness of your scalp can help you know what’s best.
Here’s a general guide:
The thinner your hair, the more often you must wash it. This is because it has the tendency to feel oily much faster than those with thick hair, and it doesn’t hold as much volume. Start off washing three times a week.
The thicker your hair, the less often you must wash it. Thick hair relies on natural oils, which means they only need to wash roughly twice per week at most. This goes the same for those with curly or wavy hair, as the build-up of sebum helps avoid under-nourished hair becoming uncontrollable, frizzy and damaged - so we don’t want to wash it away too soon.
For those of you in between, start with twice a week and see how your hair responds.
But I NEED to Wash!
Whether you work in an office, are an athlete, tradesman, hospitality worker or anything in between it all influences how often you wash your hair.
It is of course, okay to take into consideration what your hair goes through every day.
All in all, trust your own judgement.
If you get down and dirty most days we recommend washing or at least rinsing your hair every day. That’s right, you can always opt-out of a full wash and just rinse your hair with water.
Just because you aren’t washing your hair doesn’t mean you must keep your head dry altogether. Sometimes rinsing with water is enough to get sweat and excess oil out of your hair.
This ensures that your scalp doesn’t harbour sweat and bacteria that could cause irritation, infection and blemishes. But, make sure you use a conditioner after every shampoo to rehydrate and help replenish those oils.
(To find a conditioner that contains all the right nutrients for your scalp to stay healthy, ask our team in-store)
Alternatively, if you work in an office, wash your hair as little as often - just enough to stimulate the scalp and cleanse the strands. One of our barbers at Brisbanes’ best barbershop is at a point where he rarely needs to wash his hair at all! If you're willing to stick it out and let the oils build up this is an option to create the perfect slick look minus the products.
Advice
Depending on whether your hair is thick, thin, oily or dry - we have the best hair care tips from the team at Peaky Barbers for you.
For further advice on finding the right products, talk to our staff in-store or head over to our Facebook or Instagram. We have plenty of other hair-care products beyond just shampoo and conditioner to keep your hair at its healthiest!
Now you’re all over when to wash your hair, check out our other great blogs for more tips on styling and the best products to use for your hair!