Table of contents:
- How do shampoos work?
- How do I determine whether I should wash my hair every day or not?
- 1. Hair texture / type
- 2. Hair thickness
- 3. Skin type of hair
- 4. Hair styling
One of the activities most often done while bathing is shampooing. Shampooing or washing hair is a treatment for hair by washing the hair and scalp with shampoo mixed with water, then rinsing with water until clean. However, you may have wondered how often you need to shampoo. Every day, once every other day, or even once a week?
To find out how often you need to wash your hair, here are some things you need to know about shampoos and how often you need to wash your hair.
How do shampoos work?
When you wash your hair, the shampoo you use will trap the oil in your hair and scalp, so if you shampoo too often (say once a day), it will dry out your hair and become prone to hair damage. What you should know is that your hair produces a natural oil known as sebum; and the shampoo you use will trap any excess oil, dirt, and product residue that can clean your hair and scalp.
Another fact is that everyone produces sebum or oil on your hair and scalp. The production of sebum is influenced by genetic and hormonal factors. In fact, it turns out that this hormone is responsible for the spike in sebum production during puberty, which will cause you to have lots of oily hair and pimples.
How do I determine whether I should wash my hair every day or not?
Everyone's shampooing needs are different. Some people might be fine without shampooing for a few days; but there are also people whose hair will smell or become limp when not shampooing even for just one day. However, the average person usually shampoo at least 2-3 days.
Therefore, here are some things that you need to understand before deciding to determine the frequency of your shampooing.
1. Hair texture / type
The texture of your hair actually affects the speed at which the sebum or oil in your hair and scalp goes to the hair roots. On coarse or curly hair, sebum will be slower to reach the roots of the hair, so if you have coarse or curly hair, it is recommended that you wash it for three days. It is not recommended to wash your hair more than twice a week in people with very curly hair, to prevent hair loss.
For those of you who have wavy hair, it is recommended that you wash your hair three times a week. And for those of you who have straight hair, you have to wash it more often, that is, every day.
2. Hair thickness
People who have thin and very fine hair types, people who often exercise, or people who live in damp places are encouraged to wash their hair frequently. The reason is simple, namely because these people are more prone to having excess oil on the hair and scalp, so to reduce it it is necessary to shampoo every day. If not, then their hair will look very greasy or limp. Then, if you are a person with thin and thick hair, then you are allowed to wash your hair every few days.
3. Skin type of hair
How often you need to wash your hair really depends on the skin type of your hair. According to American Academy of Dermatology, if your scalp is naturally very oily, you can wash your hair more often, even every day, without worrying about damaging your hair. If your skin and hair type is normal (not super oily and not super dry) or tends to be dry, you only need to wash it once or twice a week. If you have an oily scalp but not too much, you can wash it at least once every two days.
In addition, age plays a role in influencing the amount of sebum produced, because as you get older, your scalp will produce less sebum, so you don't need to wash it as often as you used to.
4. Hair styling
Not infrequently, in this modern era, many people, especially women, try various new hairstyles with various hair styling such as coloring hair, straightening hair, and so on. Of course, if you are one of those who do hair styling, you are advised not to wash your hair frequently.
