To think that "training" really greasy hair just isn't possible for some people?

[TheJuryIsOut]

I've had greasy hair from being a teenager. I went from washing my hair once a week as a 10 year old to washing it every day as a 14 year old. I only started washing it more frequently because it became so unbelievably greasy I couldn't have gone out/gone to school like that.

I have tried to wash it less often several times over the years, the longest time I could manage was in COVID but I still didn't get it looking any better really. I'd even be happy if I could just wash it every other day but by about hour 30 it looks like I've just got a handful of oil and smeared it all over my head.

I've seen/heard lots of people say that if you just train it for a few months it'll sort itself out but aibu to think this just isn't true for some people?

I totally agree and I also tried during lockdown.
I think some people may be able to do it because their hair is greasy for a different reason. Yours is presumably hormonal.
I have found it's gotten slightly better by itself with age, again probably hormonal.

People with greasy hair usually only put conditioner on the roots and not the scalp anyway.

I agree with you completely OP! I tried the no shampoo or silicones method for FIVE years to try and make my curly hair more manageable but my scalp never seemed to produce any less oil. I had to incorporate things like baking soda and shikaki powder just to get the coating of oil off every so often.

I also have very oily skin on my face and have even tried cleansing my face with various oils to counteract the oil production but nope, just even more of an oil slick.

I hate when people tell me that I need to wash my skin less so it'll produce less oil... It's total BS in my case.

totally agree with several pps who make the excellent point that scalp is also skin and if you have greasy skin you will also have greasy scalp/hair.
I also find it odd how many people view washing their hair as a major stress and inconvenience. For some it might be? - perhaps due to disability or spending a lot of time styling it etc.
i wash mine daily, it takes 2-3 minutes in the shower. I do blow dry but only to brush it into place then leave it to air dry.
I have greasy skin, I find my hair picks up smells such as cooking. Overall I just feel more comfortable.
interestingly no one is telling people to train other parts of their body to be washed less.
most people are washing face/bums/teeth daily!

I tried too during Covid. Left it several days for maybe a couple of months. No change. Gone back to daily washing. I didn't change shampoo though. But it was such a relief the days when I was allowed to wash it. It just feels unpleasant when it's dirty. Not sure if that's real or psychological.

I think many of us with very thick or curly hair find it more of a faff. Takes forever to dry, even with a hairdryer, and that's before you even have to start making it into something that looks less like a pom pom

I wonder if what's more often happening with people that say they've trained their greasy hair is that they've washed it very frequently out of necessity as teenagers, kept the same schedule, then at some point stopped but by then they'd grown out of their teenage need for frequent washing anyway.

I think the oily skin (acne) and oily scalp are related. I am currently looking into malasseezia....a yeast/fungal overgrowth that grows on skin/scalp. I am currently trying to fight it.
My acne was never bacterial....I realise now it was fungal. When you understand that, it's easier to tackle it. I think my oily scalp is caused my malasseezia.

Yes.... menopause has meant for the first time in my life my hair isn't as greasy....but now I have a wobbly belly and droopy boobs 😂

It probably only takes me 5 minutes to actually wash it (possibly a little longer) but it takes at least 20 minutes to dry it. It's a pain in the arse

Thanks. I actually have to use a medicated shampoo every time I wash it now or I get scabby weepy lesions. I wish I'd never tried to fix my hair as it only made my life harder.

Mine would be awful if washed more than once or twice a week. Same with Afro hair, you’re talking once every 1-3 weeks depending on how it’s styled

for me it’s the drying. Using a Dyson hairdryer and diffuser it’s around 40 mins to about 70% dry. An hour if I want it totally dry

I’m cursed with greasy hair and every fucker I encounter seems to have some comment they must make on it.

I wash it every day because if I don’t it gets limp and feels horrible. I’m happier with clean hair. I don’t care if others want to tell me it’s greasy because I wash it daily. I’m still going to wash it because I feel better that way.

try a clarifying shampoo like head and shoulders or Tigi detox.

Yes. That doesn't make a massive difference in my experience

It's a myth. Your oil glands aren't reactive. Eg if you stop washing your oily face it would jsut get oilier and spottier. The only reason this might work for people is either they aren't putting as much conditioner on their roots so they get less greasy that way, OR they just get more used to having greasy hair.
The only thing that makes it so I don't have to wash my hair daily is the contraceptive pill.

If I wash mine in the evening it’s greasy by the next morning!

Just wash it. My dd goes to great lengths to only wash hair once a week - dry shampoo, slicked back with hair mask at end of week. Just wash it, it would look nicer and fresher. It’s like emperor’s new clothes I think they are sucked into this on tik tok etc.
I’ve got nice thick hair wash it every few days. If it’s too much of a faff washing your hair your hairstyle isn’t right for you.

No! How annoying! Have you tried the apple cider vinegar treatment? You rub a tablespoon in, then shampoo out. Not suitable if you've got a very sensitive scalp, though, it's quite astringent.

But as you said, you only have to wash yours every few days. I’d be more than happy with that.

They sound very rude!

I think you probably can - if you’re willing to look minging (and probably stink a bit) for as long as it takes. Fellow greasy head here too and it’s not something I’m willing to do…so I’ve made my peace with washing it every day.

Now my hair is very short, I can go every other day if I use dry shampoo in between. I use a Rituals one which isn't cloying like the cheaper supermarket ones, and Living Proof is another better one.

The whole ‘resetting’ your hair thing has been proven to be a fallacy. If you have greasy hair there’s nothing you can do about it (other than taking Accutane which dries up your pores) or as pp have said, going through menopause!
Have you tried dry shampoo? I wash my hair every other day and dry shampoo in between.

I managed to move mine from very 2 days to 4 days by extending during covid.

I've long thick hair which use to be greasy at the roots and dry otherwise.

I asked my hairdresser about it and she said my hair needed shampoo for dry hair & there was no point trying otherwise.

I only use conditioner on the ends every second time.

I dry it without any product other than heat protector.

I don't use dry shampoo, could problem get a 5th day if I did but it feels unhygenic not to watch it on the 5th day.

I wouldn't have thought it possible but it works.

Hormones go nuts when I'm on my period so every second day that week but it doesn't need a wash every second day otherwise.

It used to my hair about 3 days to settle down after washing it, so I washed it twice a week. I found the right shampoo which made all the difference. After having each baby it got far greasier but settled down again.