Hey, you, with that long hair. Your busy schedule. Your full time job. Your kiddos. Your workouts. Your sleep. I SEE YOU. Who’s got time to wash their hair every day, even every other day, with your kinda lifestyle! Not me. And I’m guessing not you either. I laugh when I think back to college years, washing my hair every other day. That may be baseline for some of you now, but I’m hear to tell you – and report from experience – you can survive on once weekly hair washes! IT. CAN. BE. DONE.
For my entire life, I’ve had hair down to my waist. I love the length, but I dread the time it takes to wash, dry and style THAT much hair. I didn’t want to sacrifice my love for long hair just because I didn’t want to take the time to style it. Not to mention the endless benefits of letting your body’s natural oils care for your hair, you shouldn’t wash those out every day! I instead tried to find a fool-proof routine that could give me both! Long, healthy hair AND time for a busy lifestyle. Over the past year or so, I really believe I’ve found a routine! Once weekly washes, while not looking like a grease ball.
In this blog post, I’ll share a few of my easy-to-follow tips for surviving once weekly washes. I’ll link some of my favorite hair care products, so that you can adapt this routine, too!
Use a clarifying, anti-dandruff shampoo. I am not lying when I tell you that Tay and I legit share a bottle of shampoo. Old Spice scented Head n Shoulders 2-in-1. Before you cringe, let me tell you why I love this shampoo. Its clarifying – which means the week’s worth of product I’ve put up in my hair is aaaaaall coming out clean. It doesn’t dry out my scalp – summer heat, hormones, and products can leave you with a flaky scalp, no matter how infrequent you wash your hair. Utilizing an anti-dandruff shampoo, even just once weekly, helps maintain the balance in my natural oils to keep my scalp and hair healthy. Lather, rinse, and repeat!
Healthy Fats in your Conditioner and your Diet. When that once weekly hair wash day arrives, I use OGX Coconut Milk conditioner. After a double shampoo, leave this conditioner in while you finish off the rest of your shower – shaving/face wash/singing. Give it some time for all those omegas and proteins to absorb. During the rest of the week, when you’re not washing your hair, fill your diet with monounsaturated fats like coconut oil, salmon, avocado, almonds, dark chocolate, and whole eggs that given you healthy hair from the inside out!
Make Dry Shampoo your friend. Not your best friend that you need to call every day, but a friend that helps get you through the week, counting on them maybe once or twice in a 7 day stretch. Depending on what kind of style I need to get my hair into, I’ll count on dry shampoo on days 5-7 of the week, to get me where I want. I love the Batiste Blonde Dry Shampoo for its golden color – it blends in with my balayage, and doesn’t look like I’ve dumped baby powder on my head. Every photo in this post was taken 5 days post hair wash, and I’m rocking a hefty spray of this dry shampoo!
Make the switch to a wet brush, and use it ONLY on hair wash days. This leopard printed wet brush has been a loyal companion for years. It doesn’t rip out my hair even through the gnarliest knots, and I’m not left with a frizzy mess after using it. Brush your hair before you hop in the shower to wash, and before you blow dry your hair. Once a week. Otherwise, leave it in the drawer, and let your hair hold its natural flow! Brushing distributes your hair oils, you want to contain those!
Invest in a finger friendly hairspray. You all know I’m a budget shopper, but that I’ll splurge when necessary. This $19 bottle of hairspray is worth the splurge, in my honest opinion. When the goal is to make your hair wash last an entire week, you don’t want a hairspray that will leave you with a sticky, crunchy mop. Big Sexy Hair’s Spray and Play Harder holds my style, reduces frizz and humidity, and is friendly to my fingers so I can play with my style naturally.
Secure your Top Knots with a Spin Pin. A truly God-sent product, if you ask me. Just one of these spiral shaped bobby pins will hold my top knot secure overnight, or for an entire 12 hour shift in the ER! Guarantee you’ll rock a top knot at least 1 day out of your week when stretching out a hair wash, and this pin will save you. I opt for a Spin Pin instead of a hair tie for overnight so I’m not causing extra breakage to my hair.
Find a hairstyler that dries and straightens all in one. I try to reduce the heat exposure to my hair when I can, so using a dual styler like this Conair one, blow dries and straightens my naturally wavy roots all in one sweep. While I’m only fully blow drying my hair from a 100% wet state just once a week, I use this hair dryer every day for a few seconds on my roots, to dry off sweat post workout. Yes, you can still workout every day without washing your hair every day!
Embrace the natural process of your body adjusting to this schedule. Anyone that asks me how I wash my hair just once a week gets this disclaimer from me. YOUR BODY WILL TAKE TIME TO ADJUST! Be patient, and trust the process! If your sebaceous glands are used to working on hyperdrive to produce oils for your hair that you keep washing out every day, your hair WILL be greasy for a few weeks, even months, into this process. Give your body time to adapt, and slow down its production of oils. Having experienced this myself, and now washing just once weekly – my hair is ready for that wash on day 7, but not a day sooner!
Another tip I share with girls new to the once weekly hair wash game is this – invest in a few cute hats! That sounds silly, but this is your chance to rock a baseball cap from your favorite city, a Lack of Color rancher to your weekend brunch, a Brixton woven sunhat to your beach day. If you can plan an outfit around a hat for just 1 day a week, you’ll ease into the transition of surviving weekly washes.
If you’ve read with me this far, THANK YOU – and let me empower you to earn back some of your time in your busy schedule! You can have long, healthy hair that doesn’t kill an hour of your day.
Were these tips helpful? What are some of your hair care secrets? Comment on this post to share your feedback, or Join in the New Cotton Blend community on Instagram!
