So I have long hair, and I hear girls saying how they only wash their hair once a week? HOW? Seriously, like I go every other day, maybe one more day after that if I'm feeling lazy and crazy...but after a day my hair starts to become greasy...what's the secret? Is there one?

My routine...I shampoo twice, the first time I can hardly get any lather because of the oiliness. Then condition. I always use cold water when I do this as it's supposed to help color last longer. Once out of the shower I towel dry a bit, and then put some argon oil in my hair to protect it during blow drying and flat ironing. Then I put a dab of Biosilk in to make my hair a little more shiny and manage a little of the frizz on the top...that's always been my routine. I have 3 kinds of shampoo/conditioner...I generally use Matrix "Keep Me Vivid" shampoo and conditioner after I've dyed my hair. Then when it starts to fade, I just use Herbal Essences coconut milk shampoo and conditioner. I also have some overly priced salon Aveda shampoo and conditioner that I use every once in a while and for the price, I really can't see any difference compared to cheaper stuff that I use. I was using it exclusively when I first got it, and even then it didn't seem to make any difference. Once a week, or once every other week I do a Nexxus Keraphix hair masque treatment.

So to those of you with long hair, can you make it a week? I ask again...HOW!? Haha...Maybe I'm just overly oily as a person in general, I don't know, I wash my face, with multiple soaps, and it seems like an hour later my face is already a greasy mess.

Once I was very much like you.

Every day, out came the shampoo. And if I skipped even one day, I had greasy limp strands clinging to my head.

Your hair looks great in your pics, by the way. But I would have been afraid to use any of the products you're using on your hair. I thought that my limp strands were already moist enough.

Instead, I tried Dawn dishwashing liquid. Because the commercials said that Dawn cuts grease! Talk about flyaway hair!

I don't think anyone will be begging to have what finally worked...for me.

I got old.

I can now go an entire week without washing and it isn't noticeable.

Getting old worked. But it's kind of a high price to pay.

Nessie

I do mine every 2 days now (unless it's a filming day of course... even if I'm behind the camera I still end up covered when cleaning)

My hair used to be insanely long and thick and I could get away with once a week then, but would need dry shampoo once in the middle of that week.

My hairdryer was crap and it used to take 4 to 6 hours to dry naturally - for contrast nowadays my hair takes under a minute to dry with a hairdryer and about an hour naturally

Pic of me at 18, 24 years ago with insanely gorgeous hair - bittersweet nostalgia

The paradox is that the more you wash your hair, the oilier it becomes. When you use a detergent-based soap ("shampoo") to strip the natural oils from your scalp, then your scalp goes into overdrive to replenish those oils. This over-drying of the scalp is exacerbated by blow-frying... oops- I mean blow-drying. If you regularly strip the oils from your scalp, you are training your scalp to produce oil more quickly.

So how do you train your hair to slow down on oil production? Use less shampoo. Gradually try to go longer between washings. If you have naturally oily hair, you might not need conditioner. Instead, use a bit if apple cider vinegar in some water to cut the grease. Rinse thoroughly in cool (or lukewarm) water. Allow to air-dry, gently combing with a wide-tooth comb. When dry, brush with a bristle brush (the kind used in the 1960s, NOT the modern kind with pegs that have little balls at the end, which rip your hair out). The bristles will help distribute your scalp's oils into the length of the hair, giving it a *natural* shine. No more expensive beauty products needed!

There was actually a "no poo" movement very popular about a decade ago (referring to abstaining from commercial shampoos, not abstaining from the toilet). I remember reading up on it, and apparently commercial "shampoo" is a fairly modern convention (20th Century). Prior to that, people typically just used bar soap to wash their hair. Sometimes an egg yolk to cut the grease, or whatever was the custom.

This old instructional hygiene film from the 1940s is enlightening: https://youtu.be/IJFYytLKMug?t=160 . The narrator tells us, "Wash your hair frequently... once every two weeks[!]". Yeah, times have certainly changed, and it seems our bodies have adapted to different beauty routines today. Of course this is all just a point of interest. I know I'm probably asking for trouble if I suggest people use less shampoo on a forum like this