When people hear this for the first time they think I am crazy. Honestly, I thought the same thing when my hairdresser brought up the same idea. Turns out, washing your hair once a week can actually make or break your hair game progress.
Let’s rewind. Back when I was in high school I insisted on washing my hair every time I showered. Even though this process took me at least an hour or two in the morning, I would wake up early enough to get the job done.
One morning my Mom told me to skip my hair washing routine for the sake of time ~ I cringed. Like, how gross? I couldn’t.
Now fast forward til now, and I wash my hair once a week. AND LOVE it. Old me would be shaking.
Over the years, I’ve got countless questions ~ how in the heck I am able to hold off on washes throughout the week? Honestly, there are many tricks to the trade. If you’re one of those that has asked me about this process in the past (or want to know now), here’s all my secret tips and tricks.
First of all, why only wash your hair once a week?
Honestly, why would you want to wash your hair only once a week? There are many reasons, but for me, like:
- I save SO much time on my morning routine.
- My hair is extremely dry ~ why dry it out more with my hairdryer every morning?
- Curls + textured hairstyles don’t stay in my freshly washed hair.
- I save a mind-blowing amount on hair-care products.
- Honestly, #1-4 was enough to win me over.
7 Steps to Get Away With It
Let me take a step back ~ this will take some time. Back when I test driving my extended hair care routine, I started by skipping washes by the day. For instance, one week I didn’t wash it for two days, then three, then four, and so on. Once I reached the week mark, it was a perfect routine for me, so I stuck to it. Depending on my schedule and my hair that week, I will either wash it a little sooner, right on the dot, or a little later than normal.
Step 1: Schedule your week
I call my Thursday’s my prep days ~ well at least pre-quarantine. Every Thursday I would wash my hair, blow-dry it, and do any other beauty care processes that I wanted for the week. Thursdays were my day considering I wanted to have fresh hair for the weekend ahead. It would leave my nastiest day on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, which didn’t phase me as much as it would on the weekend.
Step 2: Invest in the right hair care items
Now, this is huge. If you don’t have the right products, you may not get the most use out of your hair. Personally, I have a really nice shampoo and conditioner (Olaplex) and a lower-end shampoo and conditioner that I alternate every wash. I do this to ensure I don’t store any product build up in my hair week after week.
The Olaplex is a gentle and moisturizing shampoo and conditioner that’s amazing on its own, but it doesn’t always do the job when carrying out this routine long term.
Step 3: Wash, prep, + take care of your hair every wash
Once you find the shampoo for you and are loving your washes, make sure you take care of your hair in between. For me, this means oiling my ends every day, or sometimes twice a day. Along with that, I make sure to add heat protectant every time I add heat to my hair (which is more often than not).
Another prep step for me is blow drying my hair every wash. When I don’t have any big plans going on during the week, I will let things go all-natural. But, if I don’t blow dry my hair, it’s practically impossible to style it that whole week due to my curl/frizzy hair. Find out what works for you and run with it!
Step 4: Oil up throughout the week
Like I mentioned above, oil up your hair ends whether you have dry hair or not. Throughout the week, your hair roots are getting more oil and moisture, while your ends are put on the backburner. Not to mention, if you’re a styling lover, hair tools increase hair driage when added to the equation.
I use a various assortment of hair oil, and honestly, any hair oil works as long as my hair ends don’t look drench after putting it on. I will put hair oil in right after my wash, in the morning, and sometimes before bed depending on my hair texture throughout the week.
Step 5: Figure out your go-to dry shampoo
In most cases, even mine, I have to use dry shampoo every so often. I personally like dry shampoo to help add a little texture and grit. I will start putting this in my hair around day 5-7 when needed. Back in the day, when I had milky brown hair, I would use baby powder (I know, call me crazy) but it worked!! (SO well.)
Now that I’ve made the switch to the dark side (a.k.a. my hair color), I use a standard dry shampoo. (The one I use is linked below.) I wouldn’t say it’s the best or the worst, but the fragrance is out of this world.
Step 6: Be picky with your styling products
I’ve touched on this throughout each step. Once you switch to this routine, it may take a little time to figure out what products work best for you. Personally, I have been doing this since college and have my perfect holy grail line-up.
On top of my hair washing products, protectant products, and styling tools, I use a texturizing spray. I don’t use hairspray (even though recently I have been thinking about testing it again). I don’t like to use a hairspray considering the potential weekly build-up of sticky product. You may not want to style your hair on day 4 if you put hard-core hairspray in your hair the night before.
Step 7: Discover a boss babe bun
You’ll start to get great at your ponytails and hair buns with this routine. When I started this process, I was big into YouTube. You can look up various “second-day” hairstyles to find your go-to. I will always start out with a ponytail (around day 5 or 6) and switch to the bun on day 6 or 7. Also, find the right products that keep it in check all day long.
For all my busy bees out there, I hope my gnarly hair-care tips and tricks saved you a little extra time this week.
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