Please stop shaming me for washing my hair every day

Hello friends on the internet. My name is Rachel, and I have ridiculously thick, sometimes wavy hair. I’ve grown my hair long, and I’ve grown my hair short. I’ve kept my hair down, and pulled it back in fancy braids all around my head like I’m some Disney princess. I’ve had the best of times with bangs, and I’ve had the worst of times with bangs. Through all of this, no matter what my hairstyle, or its length, one thing has always remained consistent for me: I wake up every single morning, and I wash my hair. 

In the last few years, there’s been a strong movement not to wash your hair every day. There are a few reasons behind this, like how hairstyles are sometimes easier to do with slightly “greasy hair,” and how people are just lazy, and how Kim Kardashian doesn’t wash her hair every day, and stuff like that. I have many friends who will openly tell me that they haven’t washed their hair in three or four days, and I look at them and I am so goddamn jealous. I honestly can’t go like, 20 hours without washing my hair. If I do, it’s like I can FEEL my hair getting dirty and greasy, and then I get cranky because it feels like there’s this big tangled bird’s nest on my head, collecting all sorts of dust and grime. Endgame is: I feel gross.

That’s just me though. There is no right or wrong answer as to how often, or how little, you should wash your hair, since it really all comes down to personal preference. My preference is: roll out of bed in the morning, hop into the shower, then blow dry, and straighten, my hair. Every. single. morning.

WHOA, upon hearing that I dry and straighten my hair 365 out of 365 days every single year, I get a lot of ??? reactions. Then, in like a hushed tone someone will whisper, “But you’re destroying your hair! It’s all going to fall out! You need to stop!” The friends that say this to me always have thin, fine hair, and I want to point at my head and be like “IF ONLY YOU KNEW MY STRUGGLE. THIS HAS TO HAPPEN.”

I’ve had so many people tell me that my hair is going to fall out because I straighten it every single day, and friends, I’ve been doing this daily since 9th grade. In case you’re wondering, which I know you are, none of my hair has fallen out. That’s because I wash my hair every day and I take care of my hair. I often lather up twice. I throw in some deep conditioner every other day. I don’t straighten my hair on the hottest setting, and I frequently trim my split ends, so my hair looks HEALTHY AND FABULOUS.

Not that like, you needed to know my hair routine. But you’re reading this so you’re probably curious about it.

After I’m done explaining to another human that I wash my hair every day, they usually give me this weird look. It kinda looks like this emoji ?.With this reaction, I kind of freak out a little bit inside. Because like, does my hair look bad? Does my hair look fried? IS IT ACTUALLY FALLING OUT AND EVERYONE IS TOO POLITE TO TELL ME? I quickly navigate my way to a mirror to double check to make sure that my hair looks okay. And it always looks okay, because I have been washing and drying my hair my entire life, and this is not a new thing for me. It’s not like I suddenly ~discovered~ that I could wash my hair every day and have it look great. This is my every day routine. Wash, dry, straighten, repeat.

Truth, I wish I could let my hair just be. I wish I could wash it every other day, and let it air dry, and maybe curl it. But I can’t. The best way to describe the temperament of my hair is “unruly.” The slightest change in climate, especially moisture, will cause it to FREAK THE F OUT. Then it frizzes. Then it dies. Then I pull it back into a ponytail, and get a hair headache, and complain about it for the rest of the day. I’ve learned that with a wash, blow dry, and a straighten, my hair is just easier to manage, and I’m all about easy things.

At the end of the day, the hair is on my head, not your head, so if I want to wash it every two hours every day, I’m going to do that. Me washing my hair is me living my best life. The best life for other people on the internet might be washing it every other day, and that’s cool. So I guess please stop being shocked when you learn I wash these follicles every single day.  Instead please marvel at how much hair I have, and how shiny it is, thank you.