Is “stripping your hair of its natural oils” necessarily a bad thing?

[yoghurtflavours]

I’ve tried out a shampoo bar that left my hair greasy, although I have ordered one from another company to see how that goes. I’ve been reading up about some of this stuff, and a lot of the “will a shampoo bar make my hair greasy?” discussions talk about how normal shampoos strip your hair of its natural oils. Is this objectively a bad thing? When I have a shower I wash off my natural sweat from my body, so why not wash oil out of my hair?

I have made peace with myself that I’m on an eternal sysphean hamster wheel of hair degreasing and regreasing until the day I die or go bald.
I’ve tried to push through to the other side of some sort of mystical grease balance but the in-between phase of looking like the love child of professor Snape and my 65 year old year GCSE chemistry teacher who gave minus-zero fucks about how he looked is something I’m just not brave enough to attempt again whilst having to interact with other human beings on a daily basis.

the other side of some sort of mystical grease balance

Does this really exist?

I can't bear the feeling of greasy hair, particularly when I go to bed. My compromise is using Faith In Nature shampoo and conditioner which is very mild and very eco.

If you don’t write professionally on some level, you should! That was just brilliant, had me in stitches and I totally relate!

Nah, if you are naturally a bit greasy of hair there isn’t much else you can do! I tried the whole ‘training’ my hair thing during lockdown by washing less often. All that ‘it’s washing too often that makes your hair greasy/frizzy’ is a lie. Made zero difference to my hair. So now I’ll happily strip all the oils out every other day!

Just Wash it daily

I just wash it every day. If I don’t it’s disgusting. And yes, I’ve left it longer and it doesn’t naturally stabilise or whatever. Or if it does, it naturally stabilises to a grease monkey state. I’m happy to strip the natural grease away from my hair like I strip the natural sweat and odours from my body. I’ve made my peace with it.

I've never really understood this either i must admit.

🤣(sorry, that’s brilliant!)

Yeah I'm with you OP. Those natural oils are going to hold on to some very natural dirt. I think you only need to worry about it if your hair is very dry.

People who don’t wash their hair as often as it needs may also experience such delights as seborrheic dermatitis or dandruff on their scalp. Not pleasant.

Depends on your hair I guess? Mine is wavy and dry, and so I only wash it every 3-4 days
Also it takes me 45-60 mins to diffuse and I do not have time for that every night!

I’ve tried many times over the years to train my greasy hair without success. Only times it’s not been greasy the day after are miscarriages and childbirth. Am now peri and it doesn’t get so greasy but I still wash it every day. My poor child is just entering puberty and experiencing the delights of greasy hair.

Totally agree. @Stoechas please write a book and we’ll all buy a copy!

Thanks for all your comments btw, you’ve made me feel better 😀