Is It Bad to Wash My Hair Every Day?

I get this question a lot: I have oily hair, is it bad to wash it every day?

Answer: Ahhh, the oily hair conundrum. You've probably heard that if you can make it a few days, your oily hair actually stops looking oily, but I don't really believe it. As someone with oily hair, I've never made it more than a couple days without washing or sprinkling baby powder on my crown to soak up the oils (oh how I love that trick).

Most experts agree that it's safe to wash hair daily with a mild shampoo (if you have dry hair, you can go as long as a week without washing, lucky you). Concentrate on washing the roots because it's your scalp that's oily, not your hair, according to beauty expert Mitchell Barnes in the March 2007 issue of Real Simple magazine. Contrary to popular belief, you do need to condition oily hair, just leave the conditioner to the bottom two-thirds of hair. Conditioner on roots will only help weigh hair down more.

Not shampooing daily can leave hair limp, however, so I suggest sprinkling a bit of talcum powder along the roots and crown or using a dry shampoo like Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder.

If you insist on washing daily, try this trick I got from Harper's Bazaar a few years ago: Apply conditioner first only to the bottom third of hair (if you have oily hair, don't use conditioner on the roots, it will weigh hair down). Keeping the conditioner in, apply shampoo to the roots and lather up. Rinse everything off. "Your roots will be lifted, but the rest of your hair will retain its shine," says Arsen Gurgov, a stylist at Louis Licari salon and the originator of this great tip.