Does your hair look like you’ve got an oil slick in it? These tips will help you to manage it and prevent oiliness in the future.
If your hair always feels greasy and slick, don’t fret. There are ways to make it more manageable right away and hair care regimens that will give you healthy hair over time.
Fix oily hair immediately with dry shampoo
The powders and starches in most dry shampoos will help absorb excess oil. Focus application on your roots to soak up the oil from the source (your scalp); your hair won’t be as plastered to your head, and it’ll have more movement. A few dry shampoos to dry: Kevin Murphy Powder Puff, Dove Dry Shampoo and Greg May Dry Clean Only.
Avoid over-manipulating your hair
Touching or playing with your hair can trigger sebaceous glands to produce more oil, so try to keep from running your hands through your hair. The same goes for brushing. Remember how people used to say you should give your hair 100 strokes of the brush each day? Well, doing this will actually encourage oil production, so if you have naturally oily hair, it’s best to not put this into practice.
Use a gentle shampoo
Check the shampoo and conditioner you use. Products containing harsh sulphates may strip hair of moisture, which will trigger oil glands to produce oil as a way to alleviate the dryness. Switch temporarily to a mild shampoo, such as Johnson and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, to help get your oil situation under control.
Wash your hair less frequently
Your oily hair may have you shampooing daily (or even more often) because you just want to get rid of the oiliness, but this will actually make your oil problem worse. Shampooing and manipulating your hair and scalp too often removes natural oils while stimulating your scalp, and this signals oil glands to produce more oil. So avoid shampooing daily; start by washing your hair every other day, then work up to leaving two days between shampoos. If you find your hair too greasy, rinse it with water when you shower, then style it as usual (this will help your hair feel refreshed).
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