Your Cart is empty
How To Stop Your Hair from Getting Greasy
READING TIME: 4 MINUTES
How To Stop Your Hair from Getting Greasy
Reality as we know it is returning. Gone are the 3-day tracksuit bottom binges, the ‘having a glass of wine at 3pm’ happy hours, and the ‘I’ll wash it tomorrow’ miss Trunchbull-esque, greasy hair topknots. It’s time to get back to our old, cleaner, selves. Does your hair get greasy fast? Read on for our top tips on how to make hair less greasy, in or out of lockdown.
Why Does Hair Get Greasy?
Greasy hair is most often brought on by a build-up of excess sebum, our naturally produced oil from the scalp. Sometimes, due to genetic or environmental reasons, sebum-secretion is kicked into overdrive, resulting in an overproduction that can leave our skin and hair feeling oily. Greasy hair causes can range from hormonal imbalance to everyday product use. How often you wash your hair, the types of products you use, and how you style your hair can all contribute to greasy locks. See below for the best ways to fix greasy hair and keep your tresses happy and healthy.
10 Tips for How To Stop Your Hair From Getting Greasy
1. Why Is My Hair Greasy After Washing It? Easy on the Shampoo!
Not sure how often you should wash your hair? A good rule of thumb is about every other day. Interestingly, over-washing (and over-shampooing) can actually stimulate the oil glands to keep producing more and more oil, resulting in an oily scalp and greasy tresses. It’s important to strike a happy balance between over-washing and under-washing, which will be different for everyone.
If regular or dandruff shampoos don’t seem to be enough to calm the oiliness, try incorporating a clarifying shampoo occasionally. These are superb at eliminating build-up from hair products and mineral deposits from hard water. Use a clarifying shampoo about once or twice a month to see the optimum grease-busting effect. Just watch out if you have sensitive skin or colour treated hair, as clarifying shampoos tend to be harsh in action.
Why is my hair greasy after washing it? You may be over-conditioning. Never apply conditioner to your scalp, as that will only increase product build-up, which will, in turn, make your hair oily. A good way to think about conditioner and shampoo: conditioner is for the hair; shampoo is for the scalp. Don’t avoid conditioning completely, however, as conditioning is an important part of how to train your hair to become less oily. Choose a conditioner that has moisturizing properties. This will train your scalps sebaceous glands to not produce as much oil.
4. Have a warm shower
Did you know water temperature can affect the greasiness of your locks? Boiling-lobster-esque hot water parches your hair and scalp, triggering it to produce more oil. Hair greasy after washing? Warm water showers will open your cuticles and cleanse efficiently, a switch to cool water afterwards will close your cuticles and prevent excess oil secretion.
The right hair brush you can actually remove and distribute the oils on your scalp so that your roots appear less greasy. Boar bristles brushes (or faux boar bristle brushes, if you’re vegan products) are an excellent greasy hair fix, as the gentle fibres help to distribute the natural oils throughout the hair. Watch out for over-brushing, as this can stimulate oil production. All hair is different, so finding the right brushing balance can do wonders for greasy locks.
6. How To Prevent Greasy Hair? Do an Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse (or other treatment)
Apple cider vinegar is chock-full of properties that can be nourishing and healing for the hair. While apple cider vinegar—like a clarifying shampoo—removes product build-up, it has the also has healing properties for the scalp. Most importantly for this blog, it can control scalp oil secretions and maintain healthy locks.
Other treatments that can fix greasy hair are drying treatments such as baking soda rinses, Epsom/sea salt and talc-free baby powder (acts as dry shampoo).
7. Clean up your diet
You are what you eat; eating a greasy takeaway every day – while delicious – will only make your locks greasy in turn. If your hair gets greasy fast, consider switching up your diet. Fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water are key ingredients for maintaining healthy hair and banishing greasy scalps. Adding vitamin B2 and B6-rich foods to your diet like seaweed and leafy greens (kale, spinach, or kelp) will aid in the decrease of sebum production.
8. Master the Blow-dry
While over-drying your hair is likely to parch your tresses, blow drying (in moderation) can be helpful if you want to get rid of greasy hair. Blow drying hair can help to eliminate greasy build-up as the heat absorbs the scalp’s oils. Drying the hair at the root can plump the hair follicle which can, in turn, absorb oil.
If you do choose to blow dry, make sure you use the lowest heat setting possible to avoid heat damage and ALWAYS use a heat protectant.
9. Stop touching your hair
I feel personally attacked by this point… Does your hair get greasy fast? Unsurprisingly, over-touching your hair can stimulate sebum secretion. Additionally, your hands are covered in a huge amount of oily residue. Touching those tresses is a sure-fire way to transfer oil from your fingers to your follicles.
10. To Dry Shampoo, or Not to Dry Shampoo
While dry shampoo is perfect for a mid-day, greasy hair quick fix, over-use can exacerbate the troub-oil. Too much dry shampoo causes product build-up in the scalp, which contributes to excess grease and oil secretion. If you’re substituting too many hair washes for dry shampoo, try cutting back on the quick fix and washing your hair slightly more often. This will not only help rid your hair of all that oil you’re trying to cover up, but also reduce harmful product build-up.
You may also like...
Subscribe for Newsletter
The latest news, events and stories delivered right to your inbox
