Whatever be the hair type, women love to flaunt bouncy and fresh hair, but isn’t it annoying when your freshly-shampooed hair turns greasy and oily in just a few hours! Most women are able to sport bouncy hair for up to three days before the oil sets in and makes it greasy and limp, but if you are noticing that your hair is getting too oily and too fast, here are some tips that are super useful.
What Causes Hair to Go Greasy Too Fast?
Our face and scalp have the most active sebaceous glands which secrete sebum and natural oils that keep the scalp and skin lubricated and protect them against dryness and other environmental stressors. However, when sebaceous glands become overactive due to certain factors, they secrete excessive sebum, and that’s where the issue of greasy hair and oily skin comes into play. While moderate amount of sebum production helps to maintain the texture of hair and prevent the scalp from drying out, too much oil can make hair greasy, and that too rather quickly. The problem with greasy hair is that it can trigger dandruff and scalp acne also. Hormonal changes, wrong haircare products, stress, change in dietary habits, and lifestyle factors contribute majorly to trigger to overactive sebaceous glands.
12 Ways To Prevent your Hair from Getting Oily Too Fast:
1. Choose Shampoo and Conditioner According to your Hair Type: A majority of hair woes will stop just by picking the right shampoo and conditioner. To get rid of all that extra oil from the scalp, one may pick a harsh shampoo which will further dry out the scalp and lead to overproduction of sebum. Use a mild shampoo that would cleanse the scalp and hair gently without ripping off all moisture. Ideally, pick a SLES-free shampoo to prevent dry scalp and brittle hair. Also, avoid shampoos that mention “glossy,” “smoothing,” because they can make the hair more limp.
2. Rinse Hair with Fermented Rice Water: When rice water, which has been allowed to ferment for 24 to 48 hours is used to rinse hair, it helps to restore the pH level of the scalp. The amino acids, vitamins, and minerals formed during the fermentation process, also help to nourish and moisturize the scalp. The bonus is that, you can actually grow out long and strong hair by frequently rinsing hair with fermented rice water.
3. Condition Hair and then Apply Shampoo: To prevent weighing down of hair by the conditioner, try this trick, reverse washing – first wash the hair with a conditioner and then apply the shampoo. Washing hair this way will prevent hair from getting limp or greasy too soon.
4. Wash in Lukewarm Water: Avoid rinsing hair in hot water, instead use just warm or lukewarm water which would help to clear away extra oil from the scalp and hair.
5. Kaolin Hair Mask To Gently Cleanse Hair: Kaolin clay is a natural ingredient which gently cleanses hair and removes extra dirt without ripping the natural oils. It also boosts circulation and helps to reduce hair fall. To make kaolin hair mask, take 2 tbsp of kaolin clay, 4 tbsp of green tea, 2 tbsp aloe vera, mix well into a paste form and apply on the scalp as well as throughout the lengths. You can adjust the measurements according to your hair length.
6. Always Dilute Shampoo Before Use: Applying shampoo directly on the scalp without diluting dries out the scalp and will aggravate oily and greasy hair. When the scalp goes dry, the sebum glands produce more oils to compensate, making the scalp much more greasy
7. Are you Over-Conditioning Hair?: A hair conditioner provides sufficient moisture to your locks and makes them look soft, shiny and healthy. But, over-conditioning can damage your hair as an excess of anything is bad. When you over-condition your hair, it forms a thick layer over your hair strands and makes it very difficult for other hair care products to penetrate. When you over-condition your hair, it will make your hair and hair roots oily. The greasiness that you experience is because of over-conditioning or an excessive use of hair styling products. On the other hand, greasiness can also make your hair dirtier. In order to treat this problem, you should skip using your conditioner once in a while
8. Do not Apply Hair Serum to the Roots: Just like conditioner, apply hair serum only to the lengths of hair, avoiding the scalp.
9. Wash your Hair Brush and Combs Weekly: Use a good shampoo to remove product buildup, dirt, and oil from your hair brush and combs because unclean comb/hair brush will add all the grease and dirt back into the hair.
10. A diet rich in sugar will trigger more sebum: Sugar is not only bad for your weight loss goals, it can cause inflammation and trigger production of excessive sebum.
11. Avoid Washing Hair Everyday: Washing hair everyday to get rid of the greasiness will be counterproductive. In between hair washes, apply dry shampoo on the scalp and hair to freshen up the tresses.
12. Use a Clarifying Shampoo: A clarifying shampoo, maybe once in 15 days, will help to clear product buildup or freshen up dull and limp hair.
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