How often do you wash long hair?

[hineshm]

I have long hair past my bra strap and I wash my hair every other day.

 

[libinatorsmom]

I dont stiaghten but my daughter (7) and I both have long hair and we wash it daily! Well once and a while on the weekend we might skip a day but I cant imagine going to work without washing it... I dont really style my hair or anything but want to look presentable.

 

[PaulaSue]

I wash mine every 2 or 3 days, depends how often I exercise. I also dont blow dry or curl my hair but 2 times a year. It would never be healthy if I did more often since I color it. (my hiar is almost to my waist)

 

[Havana]

I have hair past my shoulders and wash it every 3 days. The 3rd day is usually a pony tail day. I have noticed an improvement over when I was washing it every day.

 

[danabalana]

I have hair just to my shoulder blades, but even with that length, I wash every 3 days. As I age, my hair is drying out.

I also blowdry AND straighten - I can't afford the damage that does to my hair every day)

On the 3rd day I will usually put my hair in a shower cap and just wash the bangs since they get oily faster.

Me too!
The bang washing thing works really well. It saves my highlighted locks

 

[rockundergirl]

I think what you should be doing varies from person to person. I have long dark thick curly hair. If I was to wash my hair every day I would have clown like frizz all over my head. ( I know this because my mother , bless her heart with her naturally thin straight blond hair, would wash rinse repeat nightly as I grew up, this caused me to have a boy cut by the time I was in 5th grade because it was so brittle it just broke off and would knot so badly it had to be cut. ) I wash my hair 2 times a week, and one time I only wash the roots. ( put hair in bun, in a cup mix shampoo and warm water , pour through hair at crown, pat head all over except bun, use cup again with only warm water to rinse). My hair is not greasy, it only gets greasy when I straighten it.
If you keep your hair coated in a good for hair product, you can just rinse your hair when you shower and condition the ends. When the water rinses off the product, it rinses off what ever funk got on your hair, like bad smells.

 

[SandrA9810]

I could never wash it every day, my hair would be standing on ends, like I had balloons all around my head. I totally miss the humidity of Florida, the weather is so dry in California. It gets tangled so easily. I like having a bit of natural oils in my hair. Keeps it smoother, makes it a million times easier for brushing, and my hair isn't in knots at the end of the day. Especially now in the winter time, my hair knots up so easily from my jacket being on. I love the feeling of it all soft from the conditioner, but it doesn't last more than that day. Then I have to deal with it standing on ends till natural oils work their way back in.

There is a difference between having natural oil in it, and being greasy. That's just a nasty feeling on any one's head. But it doesn't happen overnight for me. I'm with Pintamino and dmslush, every day or every other day just doesn't work for me.

My aunt had a huge problem with using too many specialty shampoos like T-gel and Head and Shoulders it left her scalp so dry and flaky and painful. Now she's cut back on how often and rotates between a dandruff and regular shampoo.

Chlorine is the only thing worse than a greasy head. If I go swimming every day, then I wash my hair every day with a swim/chlorine shampoo.

My hair is naturally very thin/fine, I keep it trimmed at my waist. I also do not use anything other than shampoo and conditioner on my hair. No mousse, hairspray, curling irons, blow dryers, leave in conditioners, hair color or the such.

 

[LSchrow]

That how I am too! Its just me but I would feel like such a skank if I didn't wash my hair everyday-sometimes twice a day. I make my daughter wash hers everyday too because after a day the head smells...and she is not a sweaty kid either!
If I couldn't wash it everyday that would be the only alternative I would go for--getting it wet and washing it without soap but still rinising it off....I could not/would not go days without washing my hair!

add me to the daily wash....i use matrix and/or paul mitchell shampoo and conditioner, and proclaim serum. add in blow dry (fhi dryer) and flat iron (chi) daily. my stylist always comments on how heathy my hair is (no split ends, very soft and pliable, etc, even after a year of no trimming).
do try to use a dry shampoo though; as pp noted, hair that is unwashed for a few days can really stink. i know quite a few ppl who have proudly announced that they only wash their hair every few days, and it has taken a lot of self restraint for me not to say "i can tell" . those that didn't have that "aroma" state that they use a dry shampoo in between.

 

[ilovebassets]

I think what you should be doing varies from person to person. I have long dark thick curly hair. If I was to wash my hair every day I would have clown like frizz all over my head. ( I know this because my mother , bless her heart with her naturally thin straight blond hair, would wash rinse repeat nightly as I grew up, this caused me to have a boy cut by the time I was in 5th grade because it was so brittle it just broke off and would knot so badly it had to be cut. )

Ha ha! This cracks me up because this was so me when I was younger. I have long, almost black, wavy to curly but rather thin, very dry hair. My mom has this head of dead straight, super thick almost blond hair. When I was young, she would use shampoo for oily hair on me with no conditioner and my hair would look awful. As I got older, she'd always tell me my hair looked messy and would grab a brush and try to brush it and then get mad when it looked even worse after brushing! And the knots! (I don't even own a hairbrush as an adult. I just use tons of conditioner in the shower and work my fingers through it.)

Back to the OPs question, my hair goes to about my bra line on the back and I wash it every 2-3 days. If I wash it every day, it definitely gets frizzy and out of control.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Every other day. Unless it is a week end I can go longer if I am not doing much. I sometimes use a dry shampoo.

 

[disneyofcourse]

I have very thick hair and its kinda wavy. I've washed it daily or twice daily since probably the day I was born. (I had some help back then) It's length falls in the middle of my back . Anyways, I can't stand it falling near my face if it doesn't feel clean. So, I end up washing it daily. I condition maybe once a week and it gets chopped off maybe twice a year up near my shoulders. It just varies because I have a friend with similar hair who go two days without washing it. Everyone else is a daily washer. I don't have split ends and think its because I only blow dry and straighten a couple times a week. Or maybe its the lack of styling product I use...

My hairstylist said it was fine and just try to condition more often. She washes and conditions hers daily and then styles it. It looks fine to me.

 

[AJA]

My hair isn't really that long, just past my shoulders and I wash it every 2-3 days. I can't imagine washing it every day, it would be extremely dry!

 

[anetty]

I have long, thick hair. I wash it every other day. Sometimes I go 2 days without washing it if I can get away with using dry shampoo.

 

[si-am]

My hair is past my shoulders (sometimes mid-back, but I recently got a haircut) and I have to wash every day. It's kind of oily. Even if it weren't, I just couldn't wake up in the morning without washing it!

I blow dry it usually during the work week (except for lazy days when I pull it back) but on weekends I usually let it air dry.

 

[tigger_mommy]

My hair is right to my bra strap, so not too long but long enough, and I wash mine every other night during the winter and summer as needed. (sometimes 2 times a day depending on how long I spend in the garden) I have super fine hair so if I over wash it I have straw on my head. If I could get away with 3 days I would love that but it is too greasy for that.

 

[Luvdancink]

What kind of dry shampoo do you all use? I'm thinking about trying it.

 

[mumto3girls]

I'm curious for those that only wash every few days what kind of hair do you have? I have thin, curly hair but a ton of it. I don't mean length wise, but just the amount. I have medium length hair, and for years had hair to the lower part of my back. If I don't wash and condition every day I'd never get a comb through it! I could go to every 3 days on washing my hair but by day 3 I'd have a hair style similar to Ronald McDonald. Just skipping a day usually results in a nice ratted up chunk on the underneath side by the next day. I don't have oil issues either with washing every day. I tried to have it straightened once and that was a nightmare. The curls just won't go away and I have to laugh at the people that tell me they'd die for my hair.

This sounds like my hair. Mine is probably 6 inches below my shoulders and curly. Everyone says I have thick hair, but my stylist tells me that it is actually just that I have a lot of hair, the individual strands are thin which leads to it becoming very knotted. I can comb through my hair in the morning and within a few hours it is knotted up underneath such that I cannot get a comb through it. My solution is that I wash my hair only a few times a week, but I do wet and condition it every day in the shower. I only comb it with a wide tooth comb while in the shower with conditioner on my hair. I usually use a bit of mousse or curling spray and then let it air dry as much as possible. It does take a really long time for my hair to dry so sometimes I do have to use a hair dryer or I'd never get out of the house. If I would try to comb/brush my hair when it is dry it would just lead to a frizzy mess. I don't have issues with oiliness at all-my hair tends to be on the dry side.

 

[amykathleen2005]

I do every other day. I have bangs though, which are the real problem they get greasy by that point as well as when I am sleeping I wake up with them sticking up!

 

[ysprincess]

I just started to try washing every other day. I know that shampooing really does strip hair, and I am basically a daily slave to heat styling, so I'm hoping that my hair will be slightly more healthy. It's relatively healthy as it is - I use a lot of product to keep it so, but I'm hoping I can get past the "24 Hour Oil Slick Mark".

A friend of mine tried this, and was pretty successful by using Dry Shampoo to keep it looking fresh. She ended up having to use less and less, and then she could spend more time between shampooing. She also said that her "Dirty Hair" held up to styling better. My stylist also said the same thing - hair with oil will hold a style (curling) better!!

I basically going with her method. Dry Shampoo, and then a heat protector (I'm using Chi Iron Guard 44 Thermal Protection Spray). It looks great when I'm done and lasts the whole day looking good. I wash and condition the next morning, and follow with my usual products, then dry and straighten.

I tried the TRESemme Dry Shampoo, and didn't have much luck. The friend I mentioned above used it no problem, but I got two bottles, and basically they stopped spraying on the first or second use. I'm thinking now that they may have just been clogged. I just got the Salon Graffix brand, and it's working pretty well. I think that I end up using more than I was with the TRESemme brand, but who knows.

Any recommendations for brand??