How To Keep Your Hair Clean Without Washing It Everyday

If you've ever wondered how to get a week washing your hair, you lot're not alone. Whether yous're making a conscientious attempt to relieve water, want to cut down on hair damage or simply don't have the time to deal with the rigmarole of very frequent pilus washing, there are ways to spread out your shampoos.

While in that location are no rules on how ofttimes yous should wash your pilus, many people prefer to lather upwards daily or every other day. Spacing out shampoos is not only more convenient for most of us, but this 'lazier approach' could really be better for your hair.

Experts frequently wax lyrical about the benefits of preserving the hair's natural oils (strip them with sulphate shampoos at your peril!), and surely one of the easiest means to keep those oils on the hair is to go longer is to get a week without washing your pilus? Improving your shampoo and conditioner and technique, and using our recommended styling products can really help keep hair looking fresh and good for you in the acting. We grilled the experts their advice. Beauty Editor Stephanie Maylor's shares her feel of going 7 days without washing her hair – and reveals the one product that got her through it.

How to go a week without washing your hair

1. Shampoo your hair twice

There's a reason why your barber gives you a double shampoo in the salon bowl. Clue: information technology'due south non for the fun of it, these experts know how to get rid of greasy hair. Take a tip from those in the know and get into the habit of shampooing twice at home.

The first cleanse removes oil, dirt and product build up, while the second rinses it all away and then hair feels fresh and clean. By shampooing twice in the i shower session, you lot tin can spread out the time between washes, which is kinder to your pilus in the long-run. L'Oréal Professionnel Serie Adept Pure Resource Shampoo, £xiii.40, lookfantastic.com, is designed specifically for a double shampoo. If you detect your scalp becomes dry, irritable and flaky, utilise Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, £vi.thirty, Boots.

Before you hop in the shower, it'due south a adept idea to brush through your hair to loosen any dirt and tough knots. Dampen hair with lukewarm h2o then apply your shampoo to your fingertips and piece of work into the roots and scalp, non forgetting the nape of the neck and behind the ears. Rinse thoroughly and so echo the whole process. Don't get caught up on the soap. It'due south normal to not accomplish much cream during the offset shampoo as information technology'south working to deliquesce build-up.

L'Oréal Professionnel Serie Expert Pure Resource Shampoo

2. Avoid applying conditioner to your roots

Think of conditioner equally a moisturiser for your pilus. Focus it on those drier parts of the hair meaning the mid-lengths and ends. Never apply information technology to your roots – this will make hair feel and look lank, which means you'll have to wash it again pretty apace.

Afterward you've shampooed, squeeze hair dry with your hands to remove excess water. Utilise conditioner to the mid-shaft down to the ends, leave for a minute then rinse. Those with fine pilus might baulk at the thought of using conditioner, for fearfulness it will make their hair apartment and lacklustre just conditioner is essential to salubrious pilus, closing the cuticle dorsum down later washing so pilus feels smooth.

Fine hair should merely need a one pence slice-sized amount. Choose a volumising formula like The Pilus Lab by Mark Loma Conditioning Foam, £8.99, Boots. This light and airy whip that adds shine without weight.

The Hair Lab by Mark Colina Conditioning Foam

3. Rinse pilus thoroughly

It might sound obvious, but most of us are probably guilty of not rinsing off our shampoo and conditioner well enough. If whatever product is left on the pilus, it'southward going to counterbalance it downwardly and then you won't be able to become longer without washing your hair and tin cause a dry, itchy scalp. Every bit a general rule, if you think yous've rinsed enough, proceed rinsing for another 30 seconds. Avoid using hot water, which stimulates the sebaceous glands to produce more than oil.

A lukewarm rinse is best and if you can bear it, terminate off by turning the water right downward. Cool water also helps seal the cuticle so hair looks mega sleeky and healthy. If you have a fringe, you may find this part becomes greasier quicker than the rest of your pilus. If you accept a longer pilus style, pull your hair dorsum in a ponytail and give your fringe a quick wash separately. It'due south quick, doesn't take long to style, and makes your whole hairdo look fresh.

4. Use a swell dry out shampoo

Dry shampoo is not a total replacement for a traditional shampoo and rinse – we still need to properly wash the product build up and leaner from our scalps, even if those washes are spread out. However, for not-wash days when hair is looking a piffling lank and flat, it's a boon. Don't become mad and use more than you require. Yous can ever add together more if you demand but once y'all've gone a bit dry shampoo-mad, you won't be able to take abroad and can take the opposite effect of making the hair wait flat and greasy.

"If you haven't used dry shampoo earlier, start by using a niggling fleck at the roots over the course of a calendar week or two when your hair needs information technology," says Michael. "Requite yourself time to get used to information technology – a guitar doesn't piece of work till yous learn how to play information technology and it'south the same with hair products, you but accept to learn how to use it so it works for you!" Michael recommends Sebastian Professional Drynamic Dry Shampoo, £17.35, LookFantastic. "The fundamental to undetectable application is directing the dry shampoo at the roots and spraying from between 15 and 20cm away to prevent build upwards," he says.

Sebastian Professional person Drynamic Dry Shampoo

5. Add trunk and bounciness with styling hacks

Ane of the biggest giveaways that pilus isn't freshly shampooed is flat roots so if you want to become longer without washing your pilus, flip your parting over to the other side – instant trunk and bounciness! You can repeat this step every 24-hour interval, alternating which side you flip your hair to amp up the volume. When hair starts to look a little more slick, embrace it, and whip hair dorsum into a one-half-up half-down 'do, a chic ballet bun at the nape of the neck, or a sleek loftier ponytail.

The natural oils in your pilus volition help keep flyaways at bay effectually the hairline too and then you'll save on hairspray. Hair accessories such equally clips and Kirby grips will become your new staples, and headbands can be a boon, also. The padded variety, loved by the Duchess of Cambridge, look elegant and chic, and help disguise greasy roots.

vi. Distribute the oil

It sounds well-nigh counter-intuitive but brushing your hair with a boar bristle brush, such every bit Stonemason Pearson Pocket Bristle Castor B4, £57, Escentual, helps to spread the hair's natural oils from the root through the mid-lengths and down to the ends to provide actress nourishment where hair needs it nigh. A silk hair wrap does the same task, and has the added benefit of preserving your style. Plus, tossing and turning confronting abrasive pillowcases can damage the cuticle, causing frizz, separate ends and breakages, not to mention slower pilus growth. That's why nosotros recommend slipping on Silke Pilus Wrap, £50, SilkeLondon, a cocooning wrap that prevents friction and helps your pilus'due south natural oils distribute evenly from the scalp to the ends. It'due south an investment buy for sure simply blow-dries last longer, pilus looks smoother and you'll be able to get longer without washing your hair.

Silke Hair Wrap

What it's REALLY like to get week without washing your hair

Beauty Editor Stephanie Maylor can go a week without washing her hair. This is her experience.

Day 2 vs Day seven

"When I fantasise about winning the lottery, it's not a Lamborghini or yacht I'm dreaming of – but the thought of having someone launder and blow-dry my pilus twice a calendar week. That's how much of a chore I see shampooing and styling my hair. It's become particularly hard to manage since having children. The only realistic time I can wash my hair is in the evenings, simply by the time the children accept been bathed and read to and put to bed, and the grown-upward dinner is chopped and cooked and eaten, I am in no mood to launder my pilus, let lone spend an 60 minutes styling information technology. And this is how my washes have slowly crept further and further autonomously. One time a regular twice-a-weeker, I am now more probable to go six or vii days without washing my hair.

To those in the daily or every-other-day washing camps, this probably sounds disgusting. But I assure y'all that I would never skip a nightly bath, and I am fastidious with removing my makeup and double-cleansing. When I tell people that I haven't done my hair for four, 5 or six days, they are shocked at how 'fresh' it looks. This, of course, will not be the case for everyone, and those with fine hair may need to wash theirs more regularly, only I have thick brunette hair, and lots of it – equally i not-then-tactful hairdresser told me, "you lot have fibroid, wiry hair like a horse!' Well, every pony-shaped cloud I suppose…

When I do wash my pilus, information technology is nigh likely to be in the evening. I whorl it with my straightening irons a little tighter than I would commonly like so that subsequently sleeping on it, information technology becomes softer waves. Days ii and 3 are the sweet points in my hair launder cycle. By mean solar day 4 my hair can start to look a little flat – a quick swap of the parting from one side to the other usually sorts this out in a thing of seconds. I bring in the large guns by day 5 – my Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo, £20, LookFantastic which not only helps to reinstate volume at the root, only makes my hair smell as if it'south been properly shampooed. It'south an absolute hero when you desire to get rid of greasy pilus!

Living Proof Perfect Hair Twenty-four hours Dry Shampoo

I'll echo this pace until I somewhen wash my hair. Past day six and 7, I embrace the greasy roots and work with them, slicking downwardly the front role of my hair and pinning behind my ears, or sweeping into a depression ponytail. Here are some of the other tips and tricks I've used to eke out the time between shampoos so you too can go longer without washing your hair."

How to become longer without washing your hair, according to the experts

Hairstylist Michael Douglas and trichologist Stephanie Sey

Consider your hair blazon

Opinion is oftentimes divided on how often we should be washing our hair, and the answer has a lot to do with hair type. Those with fine hair might demand to hop in the shower than those with thick or Afro-Caribbean hair types. And glory hairstylist and Clairol Skilful Ambassador, Michael Douglas agrees: "Very thick or curly hair tin can often look better i or ii days subsequently washing every bit the natural oils help to smooth the surface, reducing fluffiness and frizz, and making curls more defined."

Coloured and heat-treated hair could do with a pause

Coloured pilus may also benefit from spacing out washes. "If y'all have coloured hair and wash information technology daily, then you tin can expect the color to fade a niggling quicker, especially if you are using heat to mode your hair later every wash," argues Michael. Plus, many shampoos contain harsh ingredients like sulphates (they're what give your shampoo its satisfying lather), which can rough up and damage the cuticle.

Watch out for scalp issues

But co-ordinate to trichologist Stephanie Sey on behalf of Nizoral, going too long without jumping in the shower could cause scalp issues, such equally dandruff. "If you are not washing your hair enough, your scalp will tell you about it. It volition itch and possibly go flaky; your pilus will look lank and volition not hold styles very well." Information technology makes sense. Scalp health is big news right now. A healthy scalp means more than cute hair, and if we neglect information technology, it can cause inflammation that disturbs the growth cycle and lead to pilus shedding.

Does washing your pilus more frequently go far greasier?

According to both experts, it's a complete myth that the more you wash your hair, the greasier information technology becomes. "Some people just tend to produce more sebum," says Stephanie, but does acknowledge that using strong clarifying shampoos likewise often could increment oil product.

How oftentimes yous need to wash your pilus will also depend on lifestyle factors. Equally Stephanie says, "The requirements of someone who uses public transport, works out and has an oily scalp volition be vastly different to a person who works from home and does not work out."