It hasn't been its usual shiny and lustrous self lately, but I chalked it up to motherhood, heat, humidity, and old age.
Still, I didn't think much of my enormous lampshade head until the other morning when the V-meister enthusiastically noted, "Mama! Your hair looks like a giant mushroom."
She meant it as a complement, I think, for who doesn't love a giant mushroom?
Still, I took it pretty hard.
Suzy Stylist confirmed that things were amiss when she took one look at my poofball coiffure and declared that I was tragically overwashing my hair and stripping (STRIPPING!) it of it's natural oils (Ew).
I do appreciate honesty in a hairdresser, but getting "the talk" is almost as bad as being reprimanded by the dental hygienist for not flossing.
Turns out that Suzy and her minions at the chi-chi salon where you have to wear all black just to step foot inside and lookout! if you happen to be wearing a banana clip (just sayin') only wash their hair every three days. AT MOST.
"For realz?" I asked, dumbfounded. "How do you avoid Squiggyhead and the second day kinks?"
That's when Suzy let me in on the second part of the dirty little stylist secret: baby powder.You rub it through your hair at the roots on the days you don't wash it and voila! Instant Pantene commercial.
Also, since you are not spending the extra twenty minutes washing and blowing your hair out, why, you can use the bonus time to smooth out your unruly locks with your handy dandy ceramic flat iron, which you'd never have time to employ otherwise.
Who knew?
I suppose the French did.
(They wear the same outfit for four days in a row, you know. On day five, they wash their hair and change outfits. Honest to Pete. I was there and I saw.)
Anyway, even though I noticed she had a bit of a femme 'stache and you should always take whatever someone with a mustache says with a grain of salt, I took Suzy's advice to heart and went three days without washing my hair. (I did shower! GOSH! Get off my property!)
And you know what?
The world didn't end, my hair was all sleek-like, and it smelled like a baby's butt.
Rimarama recommends: dirty hair.
I'm curious, though. Am I the only person in the blogosphere who didn't know this bit of wisdom?
I mean, for serious. How often do you lather up, reader?
36 comments:
Yeah, I'm an every day hair washer. Mostly.
I'm tempted to try this little known beauty secret, but first I must know... Does the baby powder make it look like you got a bad case of uber-fine dandruff? (Or even worse... "hey lookit, I remembered to put my flea powder on?")
Daily! I have very oily skin/hair, so if I don't wash it daily it is a ball of grease. Occasionally I won't wash it if I know I am going to be in the house all day - but that is the only exception.
I recently just stole a trick from someone elses blog...I wash every other day but condition daily and on the no shampoo days rub and rinse with brown sugar. I may have to try the baby powder. But I am a bit afraid of looking a bit dangerous liasons.
I have never washed my hair every day. I just can't do it. I turn into a dried out frizz head. It is scary. I usually wash it every other day, some times every three days. Though I haven't tried the baby powder, I have heard of it. I just don't know, it doesn't sound appealing to me. For some reason it seems like it would be itchy. I don't know why. ??
I lather daily. I once TRIED to skip every other day because I was TOLD it would become fuller and more manageable. Bullsh*t. Not so much.
Every other day a lot of the time but mostly out of pure laziness (the days I stay home with Charlie I can lay in bed an extra 20 mins while Ryan feeds him breakfast OR I can take a shower). I have not tried the baby powder trick. Does it work with the new "no-talc" baby powder or does it have to be the good stuff?
Oh no. I don't think I could handle that! I'm really, like REALLY greasy. Doesn't the powder leave a few dandruff look-alikes behind?
Every other day for me.... and I have used the baby powder trick. It's a gem for camping.
I about fell off my couch reading your post.... you make me laugh too hard.
Rima, you've got a lot of greasy-headed readers -- and I'm one of 'em. I'm a daily-douser because my hair is thin (NOT thinning) and oily, so I actually try to dry out my hair, get the frizzies etc., so it will be fuller. I'd rather have full fried hair than Olive Oyl hair.
But I'll try your little trick on the weekend to see what happens because I hate the time spent washing and drying.
I'm not greasy, but I am nappy and coarse. Have you seen curly, coarse hair after it's been slept on? Ugh. Even wetting it down, it's frizzy if I don't drown it in conditioner.
Wait, I didn't answer your question.
Every time i bathe, I wash my hair. The big question is...do I bathe every day? Um, some days, what's the point? I have become a hermit and don't get to leave my home thanks to gas prices!
I have wild and crazy curly hair, and if I don't wash it every day it is frizzy, flat, icky curly hair. Therefore I wash every day. Body and hair. :)
Hello. My name is Jennilu and I too am a daily washer. (Boy, there should be a support group for us.) My hair is thin (and getting thinner) and baby fine (NOT - Baby, fine!). My scalp is normally very visible and my hair exceptionally stringy if it hasn't been washed in the past 24 hours. I am going camping this weekend (no running water or electric) so I will give the baby powder a try. What the heck, I will have a baseball cap handy irregardless of the outcome.
The hair gets washed every other day. On the days I don't wash it I just put it up when I'm in the shower and don't wet it. The whole washing and drying thing is too much of a hassle to do every day (I've got frizz) so it's every other day. Plus it gets too dry if I do every day.
Baby powder huh? Maybe I should try it then I could extend it a day.
Amy and Chantelle: Do not fear the baby powder. I have dark hair and it completely blended in. I suppose if you dumped the baby powder directly on top of your head, you might end up with a case of faux dandruff but otherwise, I'd say it's not a problem.
Kathryn: I didn't notice any itchiness.
Becca: I did use the new "no talc" power (the Burt's Bees brand, as a matter of fact.)
Heather: My hair is coarse and wavy, too, and extremely malleable. I have to use my flat iron if I don't wash it, but it is still less time consuming than shampooing and blow drying.
Bull crap! It just means your shampoo is a little harsh. I wash my hair daily. Some advocate organic stuff which isn't so much like soap. You could also wash with a neutrogena type soap on your hair. It's cleaner and isn't as harsh. Or use baby shampoo. Talcum powder will build up on your scalp and make you look like you have dandruff. It will also clog the pores and not let the oils out if in fact that is what you are trying to do. Your scalp needs to be massaged daily to let the oils out and increase the blood flow to the scalp.
That's just bull crap.
Knot
I wash my hair once a week. That way I can style it once and it stays like that for a week. But I read on the net that if you go without washing your hair with shampoo and conditioner - in other words - just with water - for SIX WEEKS - the oils in your hair naturally balance.
It's tough hanging out for the six weeks but worth it... apparently.
As your stylist says if you wash your hair every day your body overcompensates and produces more oil - it's a vicious cycle.
So you're going to ask me why I don't do it myself?
Well I dye my hair and so every four weeks I go to the hairdresser and it stuffs up the whole don't use shampoo thang.
I am in the process of growing the grey out - I am so over the dying thing and then I'm going to try the six week thing.
In the meantime... you use baby powder on burns??? Really? That sounds like an infection waiting to happen to me...
And oh that dental floss lecture - I am SO over that!
Cheers from downunder,
CB
I'm with Chantelle - wash every other day and condition each day. I might try the baby powder.....will it help control the frizz-o-rama??????
Jenn
I've actually been thinking about doing that as my hair is getting pretty dried out. Great tips OhWonderRama. ;)
my hair gets all wacky nearly every time I sleep on it, and curling or straightening it is just plain not enough! If I can wake up and my hair isn't sticking out all funky, I'll skip the hair washing, otherwise, i wash every day.
everyday, otherwise my thin hair is a grease pit
Every day. Because day-after-the-day-before hair on the Janet IS NOT PRETTY. I just don't have enough of the stuff.
I'm rather greasy, so if I am going in public it's daily.
But as I type this I am on day three of greasy hair. Haven't left excpet to swim with the kids...and straw hats get me there and back. I shall wash today and see if it's more lustrous than usual.
Every other day, though I might actually go three days on the weekend. But I've never tried the baby powder trick. Maybe I could get to five days and pretend I'm French if I use baby powder.
On the other hand, maybe not.
I have tried this. It does seem to work. I laughed so hard when you said femme stash!!!
Actually, I knew about this secret and I used to use it when I was a teen (all those hormones, oily, oily hair).
I used to wash every day; but now, it's every other day, as I colour it more and it's like hay/ or straw/ or according to the hubs, a horse's mane at its worst. Gotta love the guy and his compliments!
Since pregnancy (read: since becoming tired and lazy), I've been washing my hair every other day. I've gone 3 days, but then I look like I've given up on life and not addressing basic hygiene.
Sometimes that 2nd day looks better than the first, sometimes, not so much.
Ah, but the time saved! Totally worth beauty sacrifice.
Since pregnancy (read: since becoming tired and lazy), I've been washing my hair every other day. I've gone 3 days, but then I look like I've given up on life and not addressing basic hygiene.
Sometimes that 2nd day looks better than the first, sometimes, not so much.
Ah, but the time saved! Totally worth beauty sacrifice.
Like my face, my hair is rather oily. The most I can go without washing my hair is two days. I've employed the baby powder trick before, but now my interested is piqued in the so-called dry shampoos. I wonder if they're worth the money. Anything to save me time blow-drying.
The baby powder works great! And so does dry shampoo. I wash every third day. Every fourth day if I'm just not in the mood to do a blow out.
giant mushroom -- hahaha!
Okay, so I'm addicted to something a bit more expensive, but that I can't live without...
Bumble & Bumble Spray Hair Powder.
It's the same principle as the baby powder, but with easier application. Plus, it comes in a few colors (white, blonde, brunette, etc.). I've been using it for a couple of years, washing my hair every other day, and sometimes every 3rd day. This stuff is awesome. A can of it lasts about a month or a little longer.
You could try a smaller, 1 oz can before committing to the larger one. You'll be hooked, though.
P.S. How much you use will, obviously, affect how long it lasts.
I used to work for Aveda and we found a lot of new customers with poor hair used cheap shampoo which has a higher content of detergent than some of the more expensive ones and will wash out more oils than those that use more natural cleansing/foaming properties.
The more foam you get the more detergent there is, so sometimes when using Aveda for example customers would come back and say it doesn't foam up, or it doesn't feel squeaky clean. But once they got used to that they were ok with it.
Personally I wash every other day but rinse with water in the shower the other day. And still use Aveda
I do remember a programme on TV here in the UK years ago where a woman did an experiment and didn't wash her hair for weeks. She had long dark hair and found it very difficult to cope. Initially she felt uncomfortable, kept it up in a scarf and said it smelled for a while. After a couple of weeks she noticed that it became fabulous, really healthy and shiny. She said she wasn't going to wash it again - ever.
Just a thought.
Never heard of the hint. I wash my hair daily, mostly. If I don't it stands up in all different directions! And I can tell you that ain't pretty!
My youngish, cutish, stylish assistants clued me into this a couple of years ago. I lather up about twice a week, and never on weekends. If I'm having a "good hair" go-round, I've gone 6-8 days between a real wash. Never done the baby-powder trick (my hair is thick), but do use a flat-iron.
Hubs thinks it all weird voodoo.
Where do you find the Brown sugar baby powder?
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