This Is How To Stop Greasy Hair From Ruining Your Day
Like your scalp, your hands produce natural oils that, when transferred to the hair, can add to the slippery, oily feeling of greasy hair. Added to that, your fingers may have the residue of oils from foods, hand creams and hand sanitisers that can all be transferred to the hair and exacerbate grease.
Dirty hairbrushes
Hands up if you’ve never washed your hairbrush. It’s understandable. Unlike make-up brushes, which, really, we know we should be washing every week to two weeks, hair brush sanitisation hasn’t caught on nearly as much.
If you struggle with greasy hair, regularly washing your hairbrushes can be a game-changer for eliminating excess grease.
Start by unpicking the accumulated hair from the brush or comb – taking care not to yank and damage the bristles. Then, submerge the bristles or teeth in a bowl of warm water with a few drops of shampoo for anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. For a deeper clean, add a teaspoon or two of baking soda. Next, take a toothbrush and scrub the area around the base of the bristle where it meets the brush head. Finally, rinse the brush and bristles with warm water and leave to air dry.
Hair density
While your hair type won’t determine how greasy (or not) your hair is, fine and thin hair will show grease more obviously. This is due to a number of factors but the most prevailing one is that oil travels down thinner, finer hair more quickly.
How to get rid of greasy hair
1. Remove product build-up once a week
Anyone who routinely uses straighteners and other stylers will often notice their hair getting heavy quickly, despite washing it. As mentioned, this is because heat-protective sprays, gels and masks can leave a permanent residue on the skin.
If hair is not properly cleansed, the build-up – combined with natural sebum – ends up making the hair greasy. To rectify this, use products that are specifically formulated to purify, which will help hair to “breathe”.
2. Only apply conditioner to your lengths
Post-shampoo treatments should be used with caution and only applied in small amounts to the ends of the hair. In this case, less is more. Using a moisturising conditioner all over the hair doesn’t necessarily lead to more moisture and can actually weigh the hair down – especially if it is fine. If you use conditioners or masks to help detangle, opt for an in-shower hairbrush instead.
3. Try a scalp scrub
Scrubs and clay masks are useful because they help to remove dead cells, product residue and sebum that, in the long run, become occlusive. Gentle exfoliation is great because it can help the active ingredients in shampoo and conditioner penetrate better, ensuring they’re more effective. Those with oily hair should seek out formulas with salicylic acid due to its sebum-regulating power.
Oribe Serene Scalp Exfoliating Scrub
4. Never be without dry shampoo
A must-have for anyone who is concerned with greasy hair, dry shampoo is super effective at removing grease and restoring hair volume. There are a number of different formulas which cater to different hair concerns on the market, but they all work in the same way – apply to the roots and massage in.