Sorry, I Can’t. I Have to Wash My Hair

There was a time, when I was younger, where I washed and blow dried my hair every. single. day. Seriously, every single day. I got up at 6am, showered, blow dried, and then straightened my hair. With all that heat styling, it’s a miracle I even have hair left.

Currently, I do everything I can to avoid washing my hair. It’s not that I don’t like washing my hair. I do. It’s dealing with it after washing it that I hate. Certainly, at least one of the three people that read my blog is thinking, “Just air dry it, you diva.” But you don’t understand. I have limp, fine, indecisive hair. The back wants to be curly, but not enough to actually curl. The front wants to remain straight, but not enough to actually do so. If I let it air dry, I end up with an unflattering frizzy, not straight, not curly, wavy but not cute mess. It’s such a mess that it requires a solid hour of either straightening or curling to manage, and at that point, I might as well just wash it again and blow dry it into submission.

I have a whole strategy around my hair. I plan the day that I’ll wash it. I plan how many days I can go without washing it. I plan a sequence of hairstyles to get the most hair mileage. For example, I can do straight, half up, then up in a bun. Or I can do straight, curly, then a ponytail and maybe get one more day up in a bun. All styles after the first day require copious amounts of dry shampoo and texture spray. I even plan my workouts around my hair and time my running/cardio sessions on days that I need to wash my hair so it doesn't matter how sweaty I get. It's a whole thing. And before you get all grossed out, even though I go several days without washing my hair, I still shower routinely. I'm not crazy, I wear a shower cap.

A few weeks ago, I hurt my neck/shoulder. I was achy and grumpy all week. On the weekend, I ended up going for a massage to fix it. Which helped, but then I was sore and grumpy from the massage. We ended up going to the pool so I could soak in the hot tub, which also helped my poor muscles. Normally, I try not to get my hair wet when we go to the pool. Partially, because I don’t want the chemical to damage my hair, but also because I don’t want to walk around with wet hair after. I also don’t like to wash my hair at the pool. I’d rather just go home to my private, clean shower with all of my products and do it there. On this particular pool day, I got my hair wet. It felt so good on my neck that I just went for it. However, I immediately regretted this decision when we got out of the pool and I was left with wet, smelly hair and an achy body.

On the ride home, I complained to Drake about how much I did not want to wash my hair and whined that I’d definitely just pay someone to do it for me. Supportive spouse that he is, he pulled over at the first salon he saw and said, “They’ll do it right?” When I argued about how expensive it would be for something I could just do at home, he countered with, “But you’ll get at least 3 days out of it before you have to wash it again, right?” I’ve never loved him more. We walked in and asked if the salon had any openings for a blow out. They did. I fully acknowledge my privilege here. I paid someone to shampoo, dry, and style my hair for me because my neck hurt. But damn, was it worth it.

Do you remember watching TV shows and movies where a guy asked a girl out and when she didn’t want to go she’d say, “Sorry I can’t, I have to wash my hair.” Teenage me thought, “Oh, that’s rude.” Now, I totally get it. If someone asks me to go out on a planned hair wash day, I actually stop and think about it. What am I doing the next day? Does a sloppy bun work? If not, the answer is, "No."

How many days do you go without washing your hair? Do you have any tips?

Best,

Laura