I’m having to bathe twice a day because my hair is so oily

Last updated on September 21, 2020

Question:

Dear minister,

I wanted to ask you about my hair. My hair is getting extremely oily every day. If I take a shower at night, the next day it will start to get oily. This is the first time I had to bathe several times a day. I tried changing to a different shampoo, but the one that I have now is the best one for me. I tried not using conditioner, and even soap, but nothing works.

And also my face, my nose especially, gets oily. It is anoying.

Thank you for your time.

Answer:

During adolescence, your skin produces more oils in response to your hormones and your growth. The oils are to keep your skin soft and flexible. Oils are also necessary for your hair to keep it flexible as well. Unfortunately, during this phase of life, you end up producing too much oil.

Soaps and shampoos remove oils and dirt by chemically latching onto these particles and then latching onto water so that they are washed away. The higher the concentration of soaps, the more oils are removed. The problem is that all oils can’t be removed. If you did so, your hair would be brittle and your skin would be raw and chapped. So soap and shampoo manufacturers combine soaps with oils in different concentrations to come up with a balance. This is why you see shampoos that say “for dry hair,” “for normal hair,” or “for oily hair.” Each has a different balance of soaps to oils.

One thing you can change is the type of shampoo, looking for one that is for oily hair so that it removes more oils from your head. A second method is to wash your hair twice during your bath. This will also remove more oils. Sometimes a double washing removes too much oil, so you can adjust by not double washing every day, just once in a while. Or you can follow a double washing with just a little bit of conditioner, and not use conditioner on the days you do a single washing.

Since your skin is constantly producing oils, washing at night means you start your day with 12 hours of build-up. You can change your schedule, going to sleep a bit earlier, and bathing in the morning. Then the oiliest part of the day will be when you are sleeping and don’t care anyway.

Your skin doesn’t always produce oils evenly. There will be areas that will overproduce. Try a second washing of just the oily areas in the evening (assuming you will be bathing in the morning). If it continues to be a problem, try an acne cleanser on just the oily areas. Even if you don’t have acne there, the cleansers have ingredients to encourage the skin to produce fewer oils. Be careful to thoroughly rinse as some cleanser ingredients will remove the color from cloth.

Response:

I wanted to thank you so much for your advice. Now I can kind of control the oils, and reduce the time when I need to wash my face and shower.