Having oily hair is incredibly tedious.

[ElspethFlashman]

Yesterday I mowed the lawn at lunch time and was all sweaty and dirty so had a shower at about 2.30pm. Washed hair etc.

Woke up this morning and hair is visibly oily for a good inch of roots. So we're talking a turnaround of about 15 hours.

Seriously? This is so boring. When I was a teenager I was a grease ball but I really never thought I'd still be dealing with this in my mid 40s, FFS.

I resent constantly worrying about my hair, I resent having to wash it so much and the ensuing dry ends that occur. I resent always having to have a supply of dry shampoo and fretting if I come close to running out. I resent having to wear my hair up most days as on dry shampoo days it always looks like I'm the Lion King. I resent always checking my damn hairline. I resent somehow feeling inherently grubbier than other women who can somehow get away with washing their hair twice a week.

I know there's no solution - Lord knows I've spent the last 30 years trying every shampoo under the sun - but it just pisses me off and I really needed a rant this morning!!

Apparently Vosene Kids smells nice? And I know some adults swear by it.

Oh god yes OP. I wash mine every single morning. Have done since a teenager. Hate it.

Thallo I washed my hair this morning but I'm gonna do a light spritz now, as an experiment.

Definitely dry shampoo as soon as its dry if you know you'll have to go a day or even 2 without washing it (camping or similar). Once my hair gets oily, nothing on earth makes a scrap of difference except washing it, I can turn it white with dry shampoo and it will laugh in my face as it shrugs it off.

I actually bought some of the got2b Schwarzkopf powder on a whim a while ago and it seems to give some volume AND work like dry shampoo as well, I now have 4 pots ready

6 weeks without washing!? I'd have to find some deserted island to do that, that must stink surely?

The dry shampoo trick sounds interesting, but all dry shampoos always make my hair dull and take away the freshly washed swishy feel.

I just use a little spritz, at the roots of my parting and the hair that falls by my face.

When I say stop washing your hair I mean stop washing it with shampoo. Just use warm water in the shower to wash off dust and dirt. No shampoo!!!

Tried all that. Looked like the Exxon Caldez disaster and made my seborrheic dermatitis go batshit. Painful, ugly and balding. Pass.

I don't think there is a solution is there? If its all down to wretched hormones? Some of us just seem to suffer worse with it than others, a bit like the joy of teenage acne!

I’ve got some kids vosene in the cupboard, I’ll give it a go.

My hair is coloured and that makes no difference to the oil production.

I know I have no hope as my DM in her 70’s still has greasy hair.

I never condition my hair. Dry shampoo is a bit hot and miss because I have very dark brown hair, and it looks like dandruff.or grey hairs.

I’m going to try the ACV rinse. My DD is going the same way as me and is starting to get oily hair at 8yrs. Previously I had to condition her hair because it was so dry and fine, now it’s turned into my hair.

I can't say I enjoy washing my hair every day (or second day, depending on how hot the day has been) but I feel better for doing it. Those who are telling the rest of us to stop using shampoo......I'm curious. Doesn't your hair smell? Like, of the food you've eaten and cooked, the commute you've taken, the sweat you've sweated?

I always wonder how people actually go about the not washing it for x weeks process, in reality.

I am guessing you must need to be unemployed or stay/work at home in some capacity to even attempt it? if i dont wear makeup at work people ask if I'm ok, if i added in greasy slick long hair to the mix people would assume i was having a breakdown. I would look like i was. 😂

I cant wear my hair up without getting a headache so would involve long stringy medusa hair, in a professional workplace, for six weeks.

For those looking for alternatives to dry shampoo, Holland and Barrett, buy 500g bag of Arrowroot, a fine white powder, put in a pot and buy the biggest face puff with satin handle you can find and you can just dab on to your roots like you would a face powder. So cheap, lasts ages, doesnt smell, no chemicals, doesnt make my hair feel dirty like batiste/others do. I have saved so much money!

Re the Arrowroot - My hair is very dark too and if you rub in and be careful not to use too much, i find it even less visible than dry shampoo, despite it being a white powder.

And as others said, at the end of first day, putting some in before bed really helps soak up oils overnight for me.

@TheDeflector but not washing did work for me! I know plenty of people who claimed to have tried not washing but in reality they left it once for 2 days and saw no improvement. Its a long term investment not washing it which requires a few weeks of minging hair.

But how on earth can anyone go six weeks without washing it unless you don't work? You'd probably get the sack before it worked (and I doubt it does for everyone, too)!

See mine is incredibly dry, I follow the curly girl method. But what really riles me is it takes an HOUR to diffuse it dry. I'm typing this with my head upside down

If I didn’t wash mine for 6 weeks I imagine I’d smell like a farmyard animal and probably have flies buzzing around me too ☹️. It’s just unthinkable.

I came on MN this evening to post the same thing OP, so am pleased to have found your thread . I am mid 30s and have had oily hair my whole life. I also still have spots and oily skin (ugh) however I am ageing well and have very few lines on my face. For years I've washed it every other day, using dry shampoo in between. Spraying it on before bed on the wash-day does slightly improve it on the no-wash day. I am so sick of feeling crap about myself on the no-wash day. Long haul flights are awful. And I can never feel truly smart. Watching for tips from others.....

Just wash it as needed Commons. Yes it's a faff but I personally prefer it to feeling crap and self-conscious.

A load of bollocks, leave it a few days and it'll magically become less greasy.

Does not work.

You don't go 6 weeks without washing but you have to spend about 8 weeks washing very infrequently. I did it while on mat leave tbh.

Not read the whole thread but I find Vosene shampoo good for oily roots. My old hairdresser recommended it.

Bizarrely a newspaper link just popped up on my twitter saying "women raving about this shampoo for greasy hair"
Primark coconut and cactus flower apparently, £1, says super blends strengthening on the front. Lots of good reviews

Thanks for the arrowroot tip LumpyPillow, shall try that!

I hate it when people tell me to just stop washing it every day. It doesn't work for everyone and these people seem insistent that it will solve all my problems.
I have gone 3 months at the end of mat leave without washing my hair every day. I did it twice a week. I hated it and it didn't improve my hair. At all. I wash it first thing in the morning and by the end of the day it's greasy. I've tried all the miracle products, none worked. I dry shampoo some days, if I don't have any in the house I'll stick some talc on my hair. In my student days I also used flour if I ran out of talc. Didn't really work but at least my hair would look better than if just left unwashed.
I work full time now in a customer facing role. If I tried the whole "stop washing it" again, id probably be on a warning at least.