Okay, so the other day I posted a picture to Facebook & Instagram mentioning my hair drama. I got a lot of comments there and a couple questions in person and I think it’s time I address the elephant in the room. Or whatever… here is the most popular tips for how to became healthier your hairs..
It’s actually quite simple, my problem and solution, but it took me a while to get to realize the problem and get to a solution, so I thought I’d walk you all through it. You’re welcome.
We moved into our home December 2016. It was literally one mile or so from where we were living so I didn’t think that much would be different. A couple months into living here, well, maybe about 6 months, I started to see that my hair was getting greasy faster. Then I started to realize that the grease wasn’t easily washed out. It got to the point where I would wash my hair, and start styling it and there would be a solid 2-3 inches of nasty grease — like it left residue on my fingers kind of nasty — in my hair. SO gross.
I have always had pretty decent hair. I can usually go 3-4 days without washing and be okay. I mean, a little dry shampoo never hurt and would get me through the 4 days no problem. Now I couldn’t even get one wash and have decent hair.
Now, I don’t consider myself a very vain person, but this really affected me! I felt like why the heck should I care about what I look like when my hair is gonna be nasty no matter what I do? I switch shampoos, I got a hair cut, I even got a nifty little shower filter that is supposed to make your hard water soft. I was pretty sure it was hard water that was damaging my hair, but was wanting to try everything.
The water filter worked for about a week. Maybe. I thought there was hope, but alas it was not to be. (I’ve been watching Jane Austen movies…)
I felt great! My hairdresser used a clarifying shampoo so it felt so clean and with all the dead ends gone, it was refreshing. However, the nastiness came back and I was so discouraged. I would wash my hair, get out of the shower and my hair was grimy. Like, so gross that your hands felt dirty when you touched it. Disgusting.
At this point I felt like I had tried everything. I now had two things left to take a look at – the water in our home and my hormones. I was dreading trying to see if there was something wrong with me because that’s not an easy fix, so I started with the water.
I got a company called Pacific Water Conditioning to come out and look at the water. They said that in fact our water was nasty and that could be a reason. So we got a system to filter the water in our house and after a couple showers, I can feel the difference! I changed shampoo and conditioner again, this time to Costco’s Kirkland brand and BOOM, hair is back to normal!
Sometimes, if I’ve waited particularly long between shampoos (hehehe) I have to wash it twice to get it truly clean, but at least it is clean once washed. I’m so thankful it’s not my hormones, or at least the water situation seems to be working. Hallelujah!
So with that looooong explanation, here are my simple tips or things to look into if you’re having hair greasy whatever problems!
1.) Shampoo and Conditioner.
I generally like to go for the cheaper shampoos and conditioners, but I had to bite the bullet here and spring for some nicer stuff. Granted, the Kirkland brand isn’t horribly expensive, which is nice, but it’s no $ 4 bottle. In the long run, it’s so worth it to me! My mom uses Redken and I know it’s good as well.
2.) Clarifying Shampoo
It’s good to throw in a clarifying shampoo every once in a while. If you color your hair, I’d use it sparingly. I use a clarifying shampoo right before I color my hair so that it’s stripped and ready to go. This Paul Mitchell one is a good option.
3.) Wash your hair less/more
So I’m obviously not an avid hair washer, you could say, so maybe part of my problem is that I need to wash my hair more. Not sure I’ll so that, but hey, at least I know it’s an option! I also do think you can wash your hair too much. You don’t need to strip your hair every day and maybe extending the time between washes would be a good idea. Start slowly, maybe adding a day between washes here and there and see if it helps.
4.) Check your hormones
I had to put this one on the list, but it could be an issue. I would check your water situation first like I did, but I would consider hormones or healthy eating as an option if you know that your water isn’t an issue.
5.) Check your water
I guess I should have put this above #4, because it’s much easier to fix than any kind of hormonal situation. It could be as easy as buying a shower filter instead of a whole system, which you can find on Amazon. I tried that first before doing the water system, but it turns out our water is just that bad I guess!
Anyway, I hope these few tips give you a little bit of hope if you’ve had perpetually greasy hair for a while or even if you just see it coming on. I would say that if you can, catch it early! It’ll be much easier to deal with.
Let me know if you’ve had success any other ways with nasty hair! I’d love to add that to the list and maybe help some others in the process!
