Once and For All—This Is How Often You Should Shampoo Your Hair
It really depends on what kind of hair you have and how oily your scalp gets. There's one nugget of grooming mythology that I abide by, even though it isn't scientifically proven. It's the answer to the perennial question: How often should you shampoo? When we wash our scalps less, the theory goes, we actually train it to produce less oil. As in, the body understands that there is an equilibrium of oil that can be reached, and it will work to reach this point faster if we continually clear the slate. So, more washing means more oil, and less washing means less oil. “If you shampoo every day, it will strip your scalp of all its natural oils and can lead to dry, brittle hair,” says Julien Farel of the Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa in NYC. Farel hasn't found scientific evidence to support this phenomenon, but that he has noticed his own clients become far less greasy when they shampoo less. And there's no better anecdotal wisdom than that of someone dealing in hair every day. It’s in good form to shower daily—to scrub down all your sweaty, stinky parts and to deep clean the pores on your face. And instinctively, after using both soap and cleanser, you probably reach for the shampoo next. That’s because logically you want to wash your hair just as you did the rest of your body. Not so fast. Different body parts have different rules. Pretty much everything below the neck can stay healthy and clean on a once-a-day routine. The face needs to be washed both morning and night. As for the hair and scalp? It’s not the same for everyone, but you probably only need to do it 2-3 times per week. That’s because shampoo can do as much bad as it does good. The scalp produces far more sebum—the natural oils that Farel mentioned—than the rest of the body. These oils are then distributed to each hair, keeping it all healthy and soft. You can typically rid of the excess sebum and product with a simple rinse, says Farel. This flushes away most of the excess, and lets your hair absorb the nourishing benefits of this sebum production. As for a suggested regimen, Farel says to switch to an every-other-day or every-third day shampoo, if you can.