Care for Your Hair
Washing your hair is an important part of your hygiene routine. It keeps your hair healthy, removes dirt and oils, protects the skin on your scalp, and keeps it shiny, soft, and smelling good!
How often should you wash?
It’s not as important to wash your hair every day as it is to wash your body. In fact, experts say it’s not a good idea to wash it every day. Overwashing your hair can make it brittle and dry because it strips the natural oils that protect it and make it shiny and soft. This is especially true if your hair is curly.
For people with coarse, coiled, or curly hair — which is often the case for many People of Color — washing every 1 to 2 weeks is typically recommended to maintain healthy hair and scalp.
Semi-coarse hair should be washed every 2 to 4 days.
If your hair is fine, dirt and oil will affect its appearance more quickly. Fine-haired people should wash their hair about every other day, unless your scalp or hair is oily or greasy, in which case you may want to wash every day.
If your hair is chemically treated — for example, it’s colored or permed — this can dry hair out, so you might want to wash it a bit less, perhaps every 2-4 days.
What if I exercise?
It may feel like you need to wash your hair every day if you get sweaty regularly or do daily exercise. However, doctors say that isn’t necessarily true. Usually, a schedule of washing your hair every few days is still appropriate, but use your best judgment.
Hair-washing basics
First, be sure to use shampoo and conditioner, which are specially made for hair, rather than soap, which can be harsh and can damage hair. Be sure to read the instructions on the bottles, which will tell you how much of the products to use and any special details about how to use them.
Shampoo is for hair roots while conditioner is for ends. When you wash your hair, first add a dollop of shampoo to your hand, rub your hands together to create a lather, then massage the shampoo into the roots of your hair and scalp. Then rinse thoroughly, running your fingers from roots to tips to push all the shampoo out.
Once the water runs clear and your hair no longer feels slick with shampoo, add a little conditioner to your hands, then rub it into the hair starting about midway down and running it down to the ends. Conditioner helps repair damage to the hair, but if it’s applied to the roots, it can make your hair look and feel greasy, so be sure to concentrate it on the ends. Then be sure to rinse thoroughly until your hair no longer feels very slick and slippery.
Dry and comb
Use a towel to squeeze the water out of your hair. Be sure not to wring the hair out roughly, which can damage it. Then use a wide-toothed comb to remove any knots or tangles. Wide teeth keep the comb from pulling your hair too much, which can be painful and cause damage. Then you can either air-dry your hair or use a blow dryer. Then you can style it as you like.
Care between washes
To keep your hair looking and smelling fresh and clean between washes, or to soften it when it feels dry, be sure to brush it every day, which not only keeps it neat but also removes tangles and pulls out dead skin cells from the scalp and roots.
You can also try a dry shampoo, which comes in an aerosol can. You spray it onto the roots of your hair and rub it through to absorb dirt and oil. You can also just apply conditioner to the ends when you shower to add moisture, or just shampoo the roots instead of the whole head of hair if it’s feeling greasy. Pay attention to your hair’s needs and adjust your routine to suit it.
