If you suffer from greasy hair you probably can’t resist the urge to wash it, to make it clean, manageable and healthy looking again. The only problem is that this isn’t a long-term solution and is in fact making the situation worse.
Let’s first start with understanding why your hair gets greasy in the first place.
Hormones play a major role in affecting your hair since something called sebum, which is your body’s own natural grease, is released in response to hormones. Now, having greasy hair is generally a normal and common complaint – it’s just the way your hair is. But if you haven’t always suffered from greasy hair and it’s come on suddenly it’s probably worth a quick trip to the doctors to check there are no underlying hormonal issues.
Assuming you fall into the first category and greasy hair is just a part of who you are, you simply need to figure out the correct way of managing it properly. When you wash your hair you’re stripping it of its natural grease – something called sebum – and so your body works extra hard to replace the oil that was lost. So the more you wash your hair the harder your body needs to work to replace the lost oils which are used to hydrate your hair.
Stop washing
Therefore you need to break this cycle and the only way to do that is by decreasing the amount of times you wash your hair. You shouldn’t be washing your hair more than two to three times a week. Understandably, you’re worried how you’ll look in between washes but it’s only a temporary discomfort. Maybe try wearing a hat those days, just until your hair settles back down. Once you’ve broken the cycle your hair will eventually become a lot less oily and you won’t feel the desire to wash it as much.
Remember, this is not going to change in just one week. Give yourself at least a month of only washing your hair two to three times a week and see if there’s any improvement. You need to give your hair a chance to do its job.
Using the right shampoo
It’s also important to pick a shampoo that isn’t going to strip off your natural oils when you do wash your hair. Using a natural shampoo is a gentle and effective solution since the harsh chemicals contained in your regular shampoo actually damage your hair more than you may realize. This is true even if a shampoo says it’s “gentle.” If it uses chemicals (just look at the ingredients – if there are ingredients you can’t pronounce you know it’s not a good sign) then your hair isn’t receiving the best treatment. Instead you need to turn to something natural that uses essential oils as a gentle way of moisturizing your hair without stripping off the sebum and creating more grease.
