on hair and why you shouldn't be washing it every single day

I WAS ORIGINALLY GOING TO POST THIS AS A REBLOG BUT IT GOT REALLY LONG AND I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE MORE HELPFUL TO MORE PEOPLE TO JUST POST IT ON ITS OWN? SO OK HERE U GO

acetrainerghirahim:

am I the only person who doesn’t wash their hair every day

cause

when I tell people I don’t wash my hair every day they look at me like I’m some disgusting hobo

oops there’s a post about hair care on my dash

KNOWLEDGE MODE ACTIVATE

it’s bad for the health of your hair to wash it every day! it’s perfectly acceptable to only do it 2-3 times a week. there’s literally no need to do it more often if your hair doesn’t naturally overproduce oil

most people use shampoos which contain “cleaning agents” called sulfates, which brutally strips hair of natural oils. there’s an ingredient in these shampoos called sodium lauryl sulfate, which is what makes all that “cleansing foam” which is actually a bunch of bullshit and to give you a clearer picture of this that stuff is exactly what they put in dish soap. CUTS THROUGH TOUGH GREASE which is great if you’re trying to get encrusted bacon fat off a pan, but seems like JUST A LITTLE OVERKILL for your poor hair.

your poor hair thinks so too! to compensate for the sudden loss of all its oil, your hair actually starts overproducing more oil, which leads to your hair getting nasty and greasy much faster than it would naturally. then you wash it again with your sulfate-filled shampoo, and the cycle continues…

to get around this you can purchase sulfate-free shampoos (they’ll usually brag about this on the bottle), or you can use baking soda! i can’t use baking soda myself as it’s not compatible with my hair, but i have friends who do and they swear by it.

if you decide to stop using sulfate shampoos, be warned that for 1-2 weeks your hair will be super greasy and disgusting because it’s still in WHAT THE HELL WHERE DID ALL MY OIL GO I BETTER MAKE EXTRA mode. after it’s achieved a natural balance again, this will stop!

if you have naturally curly hair (i do!!!) THIS IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT. curly hair is so far removed from regular straight hair that you cannot treat it the same way, and sulfates fucks up curls so bad you have no idea. frizz, tangles, knots, the whole nine yards.

if you have natural curls you can use sulfate-free shampoo, or you can straight up stop using shampoo altogether. you heard me.

that doesn’t mean stop cleaning your hair, that means stop using typical shampoos! baking soda also dries curls out, so that’s not an option, either. what you CAN do is get “hair-cleansing” conditioners. they’re a little more expensive than the widely available shampoos but not to the point of being prohibitively expensive.

i for one have had good experience with the Hair One Cleanser & Conditioner. you can get this and most stuff like it at Sally Beauty Supply stores, or online. there’s tons of different brands, though, and what works for ten people may not work for the eleventh. and even just looking at the reviews of this one there are people suggesting cheaper alternatives that have worked for them!

with curly hair the most important thing is MOISTURE, MOISTURE, MOISTURE. there’s a scientific reason for this but fuck if i remember it, it’s something to do with the way the inside of your hairs are shaped. basically the more moisture you can feed your hair the happier both you and it will be. i personally use aussie three-minute miracle.

good resources and brands for curly hair off the top of my head: 
• naturallycurly.com
• deva curl
• that’s it that’s all i remember

if you are like i was and sitting here with your curls and hating every second of it i promise you your hair can be fixed, either with better products or a different haircut! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  i used to work myself to tears thinking about just dealing with my hair and i am now a well-adjusted hair-bearing individual.

(i wound up going from twelve inches of hair to two. this was literally one of the best decisions of my life. everyone should cut all their hair off at least once. dont take hair length advice from me because all i will say is YEAH CUT IT ALL OFF)

that’s pretty much everything i know about hair. but if you have questions i’d be glad to try and answer them! i have done a lot of reading about this kind of stuff.

THIS IS SO LONG WHY DID I SIT DOWN AND WRITE A MILE-LONG POST ABOUT HAIR????? (the answer is because my hair made me fucking miserable for almost ten years and i wish someone had told me all of this. that is why.)