Tickling the Ivories - Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo

[DaniLouisiana]

I agree with @MargaretElliott, @Cleopatra7, different people have different hair and you're asking for knowledge. I'm an older ginger with straight, baby fine hair. My hairperson would like it if I wouldn't wash it every day but I'm really sensitive to the way my hair (& my husband's)  smells, so if it smells dirty, sweaty, etc, it gets washed. It also takes all day to dry, which is weird because its shoulder-length and fine....

[Carm_88]

I hate washing my hair. I really, really hate the tangles. I know don't brush it when it's wet. No way. Could not wait and brush it, I would need a dog groomer to fix me. My hair is wavy, not too thick but I am basically a poodle, if it's not brushed straight out of the towel. A matted poodle. I have to wash it every few days or I look  greasy. It's gross. And I'm am very white, think glow in the dark!

[nausicaa]

I looove washing my hair. It feels so good and I feel so clean. I just hate the aftermath--having to comb and dry and straighten it. 

I'm white and my mom told us to wash our hair every day, same as you'd shower or brush your teeth. If I skipped even one day my hair would feel disgusting (to me at least, I was also a teenager and had crazy hormones affecting my oil production). It wasn't until I turned 25 and dyed my hair red that I had to start spacing out hair washings so that the dye didn't fade too fast. My scalp adjusted quickly. I'm a brunette again now but still try to spread out hair washings every three days or so because as I've gotten older my hair has gotten a bit drier, and I'm sure the straightening wand isn't good for it all the time.

My biggest issue now is my scalp gets gross if I don't wash it enough, but the hair itself is generally okay.

[Coy Koi]

I'm white and I wash my hair every day, except if I'm not leaving the house I might skip a day. I could just do every other day all the time, my hair isn't super oily or anything, but it just feels wrong to me to get ready without washing my hair. And it's not a big ordeal for me. I just wash, condition, brush, and air dry. It takes about 10 minutes. If I had a more elaborate regime then I definitely wouldn't want to do it every day.

My daughter is biracial and when she was little it was hard for me to make myself not wash her hair as often as mine, even though I knew her hair didn't need it. She washes it about twice a week now and maybe she should really only do once, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[Smash!]

I'm white 3b/3c and after a week my hair gets so dry and knotty that I have to wash. Probably 2x a week would be better but I have hip length hair and it takes forever to comb and let dry them afterwards.

[DaniLouisiana]

Would someone please explain the 2a/2b stuff? What is it and where to find this information?  Thanks!

[choralcrusader8613]

2 minutes ago, DaniLouisiana said:

Would someone please explain the 2a/2b stuff? What is it and where to find this information?  Thanks!

Several sites have charts about it; here's one!

http://www.curls.biz/curly-hair-type-guide.html

[elliha]

I wonder if I am a 1 or a 2A. With short or medium length hair it is definitely wavy. Now with long hair it is mainly straight. 

[Fun Undies]

3 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

White as the virgin snow here. Most people I knew growing up washed their hair every day, regardless of hair type. When I say I wash my hair 1-2 times a week, the general reaction is politely-veiled surprise and disgust (I've had one person wrinkle her nose and say, "that's disgusting." I do not like this person). A roommate of mine took three showers a day. That's just terrible for your skin/hair (unless it's a medical necessity or something). So @Cleopatra7, you don't come off as insensitive at all. Different hair types require different things.

Well that person can suck it

I'm a ghostywhite girl, and naturally my hair is straight as a board ~ but if I go a few days between washes and braid it, it can get a 2a look to it.  I actually wash my hair as rarely as I can, once a week, maybe 2x a week.  Even though it's fine, I have a ton of it, and though I used to have to wash it more often because of oily hair syndrome (yup, I made that up) - nowadays, either because of hormonal changes from having kids, and/or age, it's much dryer now <-- like "average" looking, but feels dry to me, when compared to how oily my hair used to get.

I lived in Europe for most of my childhood, so washing my hair less frequently than most Americans doesn't feel weird to me.  But I washed it even less in my teens, because I went through a four year phase of my bleaching my hair.  And then went on to dye it red for another five.  Why wash all that color down the drain quicker??

Honestly, so much of how my hair works/doesn't work just comes down to genetics in my case - you can use the expensive products and special curlers and my hair still ain't going to hold pretty curls for more than an hour

[hand holder]

I would say most white teenagers wash their hair and shower daily. Some very active teens will also do this twice a day. My brother has fine hair but a LOT of it and liked the "flow" in high school. He had to wash it in the morning after practice and at night after school and practice again or it would cause him breakouts from the oils. When my hair is shorter, at my shoulders, I wash more often because I constantly touch it. When it's longer I wash every two to three days. I don't style it with heat very often, but when I do it has to be washed that night as well. I condition about once a week or twice if it's winter.

Also, when my hair is long it's wavy and pretty, when it's short it has one odd pin curl about two inches from the bottom!

[lumpentheologie]

I'm mixed white/hispanic and have fine, shoulder-length 3b hair. It gets greasy at the roots but the rest of it is dry.  I was raised to wash it every day, but now I don't because it's a lot of work and I work from home 2 days a week so why bother.  I thought washing my hair was an ordeal, but now I see it's nothing compared to what black women do.  I love the multi-ethnic mix on these boards.  

I use the Shea Moisture Weightless Shampoo (expensive but worth it), ORS Curls Unleashed conditioner (really rich and not so expensive), and Kinky-Curly Knot Today detangler (also expensive/worth it). I use the detangler in the shower after conditioning and finger-comb my hair with it still in.  This detangler is so good, so much less hair comes out then when I was doing this just with conditioner.  In the winter once a month I use a deep conditioning mask before detangling too. Then I rinse, gently pat with a towel, smear with curl cream, spray with volumizing spray, section and clip up on my head with claw clips so that the roots can dry with some volume to them. I either let them air dry like that for a few hours or dry with a diffuser if I'm going out soon. This process (not including air drying) takes about 45 minutes to an hour. I took even longer when I had bra-strap length hair, cutting it to shoulder length was a godsend. 

When I do this my hair looks great.  It would look great if I did it every day, but I don't have the time or desire to do so.  It will sometimes look good down with dry shampoo and refresher spray on day 2, but usually I wear it up if I don't wash it, and it looks fine up, with vigorous dry shampoo application, for 3-4 days. 

[backyard sylph]

8 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I have a question about hair care in general that I hope doesn't come off as insensitive. In real life, I'm a black woman with a perm that makes my hair more or less straight. I get it washed every other week and a retouch about every two months at a salon. Is it considered standard procedure more or less in other ethnicities to wash your hair everyday? I honestly could not imagine washing my hair by myself every single day, but I understand that different types of hair require different hair care regiments.

I wash mine every 5-6 days or so, have for many years. When I was in school, girls acted like anyone who didn't wash their hair every day was gross, but they seemed to all have thin fine straight hair, whereas mine was very thick and wavy, though not coarse. I thought it was silly to assume everyone had to be the same. I wasn't a popular girl...but also many of them were damaging their hair by blowing dry, heat curling, and stressing it every single day. I think it's probably been good for me that I found all that too much of a pain for the amount of hair I had.

My grandpa always rinsed his hair with vinegar and dressed it with olive oil. It was such beautiful hair; snowy white waves and still reasonably full into his 80s.

[calimojo]

White with thick hair and I wash it about every 3-4 days, unless I have been really sweaty.  For some reason my head sweats a lot.  So in the winter it is every 3-4 days, and in the summer it is probably closer to every other to every 2 days.  My hair never looks greasy, but it just feels dirty to me after that 3-4th day.  I have gone as long as 7 days once, because I was in the hospital.  The nurses were constantly commenting how jealous they were that I didn't get bed head and my hair looked like it had just been washed. 

 

It takes me forever to dry and style it, but once I am done,  it will hold the style for days.  I can literally roll out of bed, run a brush through it and it is good to go.  Sometimes I need to touch it up with my flat iron, but typically I don't.  My style right now is a simple bob or blunt cut, just above the shoulders. so nothing too extravagant.  Usually I wear it very pretty long, but recently cut it to donate. 

[PennySycamore]

Caucasian and co-wash my hair everyday else it's messy.  IOW, I use a cleansing conditioner on it followed by rinse-out conditioner, maybe a leave-in condish or argan oil, and finally styling product(s).  I alternate between DevaCurl Decadence and Renpure cleansing conditioner and use Renpure conditioner.  Styling products are DevaCurl Supercreme, KCCC (KinkyCurly Coiling Custard) and Curls Creme Brûlée.  I mostly use Supercream with boosts from the KCCC or Creme Brûlée.  I air dry my hair although I'm tempted to get a DevaFuser to use occasionally.

I need to use a satin pillowcase or a sleeping bonnet so my hair doesn't get so messy that I need to wash it daily.  One woman on our bus to DC had a sleeping bonnet on when we stopped at a rest area in the middle of the night.  That was smart especially if you eschew brushes and combs like I do.  I've not brushed my hair in years.

[Jiraffe]

Thank you @DaniLouisiana for asking that, and @choralcrusader8613 for the link!! I was really curious, I wanted to diagnose my hair mop lol. 

I'm white, Ukrainian-Irish background, with waist length thick highlighted hair. (It's actually Gothard length now that I think of it. *shudder*) I'd say I'm a wavy 2C from that chart. I wash my hair every 2-3 days generally because the roots and the parts near my face get greasy. I love how my hair looks when it's in its natural wavy state, but can't for the life of me figure out how to get it to stay that way when blow drying it. I can't let it air dry very often, especially in the winter because it is SO cold and takes like 8 hours to dry all the way through. Mousse makes it super crunchy, the curl creams I've tried haven't held up. So most of the time I just blow dry it straight and let it puff the heck out like a poodle. I haven't tried anything from DevaCurl yet though, I think I just might! 

I've learned so much from this site about so many things, lol! 

[DaniLouisiana]

I think I'm a 1/2a. It depends on the length of my hair and if I'm in CA or LA, so humidity...Right now, its kinda shoulder length so slight curl at the ends. I'll cut again when the weather warms up. What I want to know is how come it takes so fracking long to air dry-I can wash it at 10 am and it will still be very damp at 4 p.m.. 

[Jinder Roles]

@Cleopatra7...I'm over here wondering about hair care too. I never met a person (even white) that washed their hair every single day until I went to college in the states. My roommate is white as snow, and she really couldn't go without washing her hair. She even had dry shampoo on hand. That's was nuts to me! 

I think the curlier/coarse the hair, the less you have to wash. I've also heard people who used to wash their hair everyday tell me they trained their hair to need washing less frequently (apparently hair washing everyday is a cultural thing and not necessary in some cases) To each their own, I guess. There's more than one way to have healthy hair.

OGX, ORS, Shea Moisture, Creme of Nature, Carol's Daughter Nexxus, KeraCare, Chi, Macadamia, Mizani, Aphogee, Cantu and Hask will get your hair together! 

Also essential oils are good (especially peppermint, lavender, coconut, jojoba, argan and Jamaican black castor oil) 

[Kangaroo]

I've got very thin, very straight hair. 

I'll normally wash it in the mornin and wear it down, and then the next day when it's oiler I wear it up in a high ponytail or half up/half down style.

Ive gone 3 days without washing and it gets really bad. I honestly look like I've tried to gel down my hair. It starts to get itchy too, so it's got to be tied up (preferably at home where nobody can see!)

Stupidly straight hair has its perks. Easy to maintain and all that. But it will not hold a curl or even a slight wave, it's difficult to style and forget about layering it! It looks like somebody clipped in bad extensions because they are so obvious.

Has much as I have the evil cult world these families live in, I can tell you I do get very envious of these ladies hair some times. If I had hair like theirs, I'd be showing it off like there was no tomorrow!

 

[CharlieInCharge]

I'm a 3A and I wash my hair every 3-4 days and then let it air dry overnight. My hair is not quite Gothard-approved length, but close and I wear it in a braid pretty much every day. If I'm doing heavy work I will put it up in a bun, but I suck at styling hair and it never turns out when I try. I keep it long because short hair was a huge hassle to make look good on a daily basis. 

 

I also concur about learning new things on FJ - got some Organix to try based on the recommendations here and loving it so far 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

For those of us with fine hair, this chart further subdivides the fine types into 1a, 1b, and 1c. I think mine must be 1a and 3/4, because it is super fine and gets oily easily, but it has a bit of wave (mostly annoying bits that kick out if I let it air dry) and will hold a curl fairly well.

I like mine best freshly washed, but it does okay being washed every other day. When I've gone a long period without washing (like on a camping trip) it gets so oily that it gets 2 or more shades darker and hangs very limp and lifeless. Ick.

I didn't see any categories that my sister's hair would fit into. It has a bit of wave now, but when she was younger it was thick, heavy and slightly coarse, but stick straight and wouldn't take a curl very well. I guess maybe she was just a very thick-haired 1a? 

This really is a fun drift we're having!

[feministxtian]

I wash my hair once or twice a week...One, it's a pain in the ass to wash, dry, style...two, once I do it, I'm good for days. My hair doesn't get oily/greasy anymore really, but after a few days, I can tell whether or not I can stretch one more day or not. I have the front cut into bangs and the back I usually wear twisted up. I only wear it down if we're going out or something like that. The rest of the time it's up. 

Ok...reading that, I sound like some kind of fucking weirdo...oh well...

[Four is Enough]

@Cleopatra7, I am white, of Celtic descent, with very fine (grew up blonde) white hair. When I was younger, it was long, and my mother brushed it daily, kept it in plaits, and washed it once a week. That was a hellish operation, as she raked her manicured fingernails over my poor little scalp.

As a teen, I maintained the schedule at first, but increased the washing to twice a week, after gym classes, sports, etc. By the time I was in nursing school,   pinning the hair up and wearing a cap on it, I was washing it about three to four times a week. It was handy to have a hair dryer. It took forever to dry.

When I got older, say, thirties? and cut it short, it was easier to wash it daily or every two days, to style it.

Now, in my 60s, I wash it every two to three days. 

[Screamapillar]

I have really thick hair that is somewhere between wavy and curly. In the summer I wash it three times a week, but in the winter I only wash it twice a week, usually. This is the schedule I've been on since I was about 12 years old. My hair just never accumulates oil, like ever. I'm also not a sweater, even though I run every day, I hardly sweat at all. Thanks, genetics! I have a theory that I could probably go 3 weeks without washing my hair and it would look the same, but I actually enjoy washing and drying my hair so I've never tested that theory. If I don't blow dry my hair I usually end up washing it more frequently, because my natural curls don't look as pretty as long as my blown out hair.

[closetcagebaby]

I can't imagine having to wash my hair every day.  I usually go 7-10 days between wash and styles. But then, I work at a salon and get an almost weekly blowout on my super thick, coarse hair. Usually by day 10 it's getting a bit oily at the root, but not too terribly. 

[JesSky03]

Can I ask a question and hope to not sound stupid? I wash my hair every other day, but I also only shower every other day. Those of you extending your hair washes beyond that I imagine are showering in between that time- so do you wear a shower cap and keep your hair dry or do you rinse it with water?