WOULD YOU LATHER

It’s one of the great debates, agrees The Kit’s editor-at-large, so let’s settle it once and for all

The Kit examines how often we should wash our hair and how shampoo can affect the scalp,

I never know how often to wash my hair. I’ve read that it’s good to skip as many washes as possible, but my hair has a tendency to get quite limp after a day or two, maximum. I often resort to wearing it up or using dry shampoo to try to prolong my style, but I’m wondering if I should just wash it every day to freshen it up. Will that actually damage my hair? — Shelley, Oakville

There is a good chance this question is also scrawled on the wall of a cave somewhere — painted in symbols by primitive man — because it seems like one of the most fundamental queries asked over and over again by humankind. (Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration, but the topic does garner more than 122 million hits when Googled online, so it seems clear we’re searching for an answer.)

I, myself, engage in variations of this conversation several times a day. I have to carefully schedule when I wash my hair since my judiciously organized schedule doesn’t allow for spontaneous lathering and blow-drying; my fouryear-old son negotiates fervently to delay washing his hair as though lives hang in the balance; my two-year-old son begs to bathe and shampoo nearly every 20 minutes. None of these paths seem ideal or reasonable.

Like my kids, experts seem to settle into two different camps: the first maintains that we should wash our hair as infrequently as possible and the second is to wash daily. As is almost always the case, both logics have pros and cons — and it’s the argument we hear touted loudest that often wins outs.

In order to get a real answer for you, I have spoken to a few industry pros who have differing viewpoints on this issue.

Dr. Sandy Skotnicki is an extremely sensible dermatologist and author of the useful tome Beyond Soap. Her mantra is pretty simple: Wash less because you’re really not that dirty. In fact, frequent washing, she says, strips the natural oils from your scalp and encourages your skin to actually produce more oil in response. Washing your hair less can actually train your scalp to slow down in the grease-making department. “The less you wash your hair, the less oil your scalp will produce,” she explained. The theory makes a great deal of sense. I also chatted with Luis Pacheco, the acclaimed stylist (ask Meghan Markle) who founded Toronto salon Medulla & Co. and launched a line of clean hair products, TO112. “I think of myself as a scalp specialist, more than anything,” he explained when we spoke. “The most important thing for any stylist to consider is how people can maintain the health level of their hair.”

He’s been in the industry for nearly 25 years and says he increasingly sees women complaining of hair loss and poor hair quality, which he thinks can be attributed to “bad habits” like only washing hair once a week or less. “In order to grow healthy hair, we should be keeping our scalps clean and breathing,” he explains. His advice is to avoid follicle-suffocating buildup by washing hair often — even daily. His perspective also seems reasonable and sound.

It might seem like we are back at the beginning of this age-old quandary, except I have pinpointed a few key points on which these differing experts agree.

First, they both agree that overusing products is the root of all problems. Skotnicki warns that harsh ingredients and fragrances in everything from shampoo to styling products can irritate your scalp and throw off the natural balance of your skin. Pacheco cautions that relying on heavy-handed douses of dry shampoo to ward off limp, dirty hair can lead to serious buildup on the scalp — a scum layer that isn’t easily washed away.

Instead, they both advocate for common sense and moderation. So connecting the dots between these two experts’ theories leads us to what I’m going to obnoxiously call “intuitive washing,” the crux of which is equally simple: Don’t push yourself to adhere to a strict schedule (guilty!) but rather pay attention to the needs of your hair. Wash when it legitimately feels dirty, as Skotnicki would advise, and don’t try to unnecessarily extend the window between washes by using product, as Pacheco would suggest.

The way to avoid using tons of product and leaning on damaging styling habits, of course, is to stop fighting your hair. “Enhance the hair texture and the natural qualities you have,” Pacheco says. That means asking for a cut that accentuates your true texture, and then leaning into it.

I have naturally curly hair but, lately, seldom wear it that way, which is why washing seems like a chore: I don’t let my hair air-dry but rather rope myself into blow-drying it smooth. Wearing it curly means I can wash more often, damage my strands less and be more authentic, Pacheco says.

Working with what you have will also likely cut down on the number of products you reach for (straightening serums, root lifters, frizz fighters need not apply!), which Skotnicki thinks is a very good thing.

So perhaps the answer to our age-old question is equally age-old advice: use common sense and pay attention. If we all start our day like that in the shower, imagine how our lives could evolve.

Send your pressing fashion and beauty questions to Kathryn at