Embracing greasy hair

Embracing-greasy-hair // www.xloveleahx.co.uk
{Image from Pixabay}

That sounds disgusting, right?! Bear with me. My hair is coloured with henna and I've grown tired of having to refresh it every month, especially now I'm using two colours for contrast. I figured if I wash my hair less then the henna would last much longer, and perhaps my scalp and hair would be healthier too. Maybe it'll even grow quicker.

I usually wash my hair every other day. I play with it a lot and by the second day it's a greasy mess. My hair also has a lot of natural wave to it and my second day hair usually turns to frizz. I've pushed past my uncomfortable feelings about having frizzy and greasy hair to wash it every 4 days or so. Part of the reason why I'd felt so gross about having greasy hair is that fat girls are constantly told that we have to be immaculately dressed, groomed and fragrant to be treated like human beings.

A thin girl can rock her sweats and messy, greasy updo without having assumptions made about her habits, but that's not the same for fat girls. We don't get called cute when we have dress down days. For years I've hated having greasy hair as it made me feel unattractive, but it's not my hair that's gross, it's societal attitudes to fat people. 

I'm unloading a lot of the baggage I've been carrying around with me and I'm learning to love the feeling of my scalp's natural oils on my hair. I've been brushing it every day with my Tangle Teezer aiming for 100 strokes and putting it in a ponytail on the 3rd and 4th days, or favouring a slicked back style which I would've had to achieve with tons of product before.

Another change is I've been washing my hair with much cooler water. My shower has a digital temperature display and I make sure the water is no higher than 30 degrees C. This makes for some VERY chilly winter showers - there's no extractor fan in our bathroom and I have to shower with the window wide open to reduce condensation - but my hair barely loses any colour at all now compared to previously when I'd have my shower at 35 degrees plus. About a month after my last henna application my hair still looks great, and the red and black henna are still really distinct.


I've had a very sensitive scalp for the 10 years I've had Fibromyalgia, and washing my hair means my scalp weeps and scabs over in a few areas almost every time. I have dermatillomania which is a compulsive picking disorder. The less I wash my hair the less my scalp scabs over and the less temptation there is for me to pick. I'm saving water, shampoo, conditioner, henna and decreasing the urge to pick so it's win-win. Also, because my scalp is really dry, leaving it oily for a few days a week must be doing it some good. My hair doesn't smell and I'm not even using dry shampoo on it to absorb grease or freshen it up as it irritates my scalp.

The real test will be if washing it half as often has a noticeable difference in the length and condition of my hair. I've been growing my hair for years and really want it down to my waist but progress is slow. I'll follow up this post in a few months, but here's how long my hair is now as a reference. I'll be getting a trim in a month or two but I'll take that into account when I next update.


How often do you wash your hair?

Thanks for reading.
Leah xoxo

Previous hair care posts - Reverse shampooingMy hair care routine.

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