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How To Make Your Hair Not Look Greasy? Learn how to deal with oily hair, what causes oily hair and home remedies to get rid of oily hair fast.
If you’ve just washed your hair but even then it feels like your hair has become super oily in no time! This could be a sign that you’ve got oily hair.
It is important to note that oily hair could be due to various reasons and this sign shouldn’t be ignored.
Excess oiliness can make your hair look dull, make scalp greasier, and also make it difficult to style it. So here’s some tips on how to make your hair look less oily and greasy.
How To Make Your Hair Not Look Greasy?
To prevent your hair from looking greasy, start by washing it with a clarifying shampoo to remove excess oils and product buildup. Space out your washes, as over-washing can stimulate more oil production. In between washes, use dry shampoo to absorb oil at the roots. Opt for lightweight hair products and avoid applying conditioner near the scalp. Brush your hair sparingly to avoid distributing scalp oils throughout your hair, and consider changing your pillowcase regularly. Additionally, maintaining a healthy diet and staying hydrated can also help regulate your scalp’s oil production.
Key Takeaways:
- Use clarifying shampoo to remove excess oil and product buildup, but don’t over-wash as it can stimulate more oil production.
- Incorporate dry shampoo between washes to absorb oil at the roots.
- Opt for lightweight hair products and avoid applying conditioner near the scalp.
- Properly shampoo and condition your hair, ensuring conditioner is only applied to the hair, not the scalp.
- Clean hair accessories regularly to prevent oil transfer.
- Consider natural remedies like apple cider vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice to degrease hair.
- Avoid overuse of hair products containing sulfates and parabens, which can prompt overproduction of oil.
- Reduce heat styling, as it can exacerbate oiliness by allowing sebum to flow more easily down the hair shaft.
- Limit excessive hair brushing, as it can distribute scalp oils and stimulate more oil production.
- Address potential underlying causes such as diet, scalp conditions, medication, and over or underwashing hair.
How To Make Your Hair Not Look Greasy
Try out natural remedies like apple cider vinegar and lemon juice
If your oily hair is due to non-medical reasons, then natural remedies can always be your first option to try. There are many ingredients you can find in your kitchen that can help you do the trick.
Applying some baking soda all over your scalp can help get rid of some scalp buildup because of its abrasive properties, while it will also absorb the oil.
You could also use some epsom salt along with your shampoo to degrease your hair and bring back its luster.
You can also use rinse made of apple cider vinegar and water to get rid of the excess oil on your hair, as it is astringent in nature. Using lemon juice on your hair can degrease your hair because lemons are acidic.
Reduce the use of hair products
There are two things that can go wrong with excessive use of hair products for oily hair.
Firstly, the overuse of products that contain sulfates, parabens and other such harsh chemicals, can dry the hair out considerably and this will in turn prompt the sebaceous glands to overproduce oil.
Secondly, if you use too many types of hair products on your hair, there will be a considerable amount of product buildup on your scalp that eventually gets mixed with sweat and dirt and makes the hair feel greasy.
Shampoo and condition your hair in the correct manner
Remember, whenever you use shampoo for your hair, make sure to dilute it with a little water and apply it all over your scalp and let it flow down to the rest of your hair before massaging it in and washing it off.
Well, this is the opposite in the case of a conditioner. It is important to note that no conditioner should ever be applied on the scalp.
Only shampoo is for the scalp, while conditioner is to be applied only on the hair.
So this is the right way to shampoo and condition your hair and if you’ve been doing it wrong all this time, then this could have been a cause for your hair becoming greasy.
Let me give you another tip, if you still find your hair greasy even after shampooing and conditioning your hair in the correct manner, then maybe you could try this – condition your hair first and then finish up your hair wash with shampooing your hair.
Make sure to use clean your hair accessories regularly
Since hair accessories can be a cause for oil to move from your scalp to hair and and vice-versa, as you keep using them, it is always advisable to wash your them often.
This includes hair accessories like hair brushes, combs, scrunchies, hats, caps, scarves etc; at least once every week.
Clarify often to make sure you have a clean scalp
When our scalps are not clean, be it product build up, dead skin, dirt or oil, over time it collects and forms a layer of gunk over our scalps. Each time we comb our hair, this gunk gets onto our hair strands making it look greasy.
Therefore, it is very important to make sure that your scalp is kept clean. You can use a scalp scrub to exfoliate the scalp.
There are also clarifying shampoos available to help cut through the layers of gunk and cleanse the scalp.
But these shampoos are extremely damaging to the hair and cannot be used more than once every month. If you have used a clarifying shampoo, remember to deep condition your hair after.
There are also professionals who can help in scalp cleaning for those who have extreme buildup on their scalps.
For those who have scalp conditions, it is better to get treated by a medical professional, so that the condition can be cured at the earliest.
Reduce washing your hair often and use a dry shampoo
When our hair feels oily, we tend to wash it more often in order to solve the problem, but in fact we are just making it worse.
So if you have a problem with oily hair, you can reduce the number of times you wash your hair in a week.
If you find that thought sort of gross, then you can instead use a dry shampoo in between washes, to help reduce the greasy look on your hair.
A dry shampoo will also help reduce the amount of oil in the hair by absorbing it.
Make sure you’re using the right type of hair moisturizer
Many people who have oily hair make the mistake of using a heavy moisturizer. This can make your hair further greasy and make it stand horribly dull and limp.
Using a moisturizer that is of a lightweight type will be the perfect type for you because it will help strike the right balance of oil in the hair.
Avoid using heat-based tools to style your hair
You may wonder, what do heat styling tools have to do with oily hair, right?
Whenever you straighten your hair or maybe even use a hair dryer to smoothen out your hair, it can cause your hair to become oily.
This happens because the sebum from the scalp can flow down more easily on the smoothened out hair shaft.
So if you already have the problem of hair oiliness, make sure to ditch using these heat styling tools for a while.
Make sure not to comb your hair too often
Well, there are some of us out there who love their hair looking super neat all day long. But if you are someone who has oily hair, then brushing your hair often is not a good practice.
This is because each time you brush your hair, the oil and dirt from the brush or comb gets onto your hair and it will result in hair greasiness.
Also, when hair is brushed often, it makes the scalp produce more sebum, which can also make your hair oily.
So it is better you comb your hair a maximum of twice a day and then keep even your hands off your hair for the rest of the time!
Why Does My Hair Get Oily
1. Your diet is unhealthy
If you are someone who feeds on a lot of junk food, food rich in oil, dairy, carbohydrates and feast on foods rich in sugar, then it can be a cause of your hair becoming excessively oily.
2. You suffer from a scalp condition
Seborrheic dermatitis is a skin condition that can occur when your sebaceous glands overproduce and the scaly flakes that form, can also feel oily, making the hair oily over time.
3. You’re conditioning your scalp
If you apply conditioner on your scalp, it will result in oily hair. This is because conditioner is only meant to be applied on the hair and not on the scalp.
4. You frequently use hair products
Using hair products like hair styling gels, creams, oils, serums, pomades, shampoos with sulfates and parabens, conditioners etc., can over time, lead to a lot of product buildup on the scalp.
5. Your hair accessories are unclean
Hair accessories come in direct contact with your hair, so all the products you’ve used, mixed with sweat and dirt, will tend to stick to these accessories and when they are reused, it will get back onto your hair, making it look oily.
6. Your sebaceous glands over secrete sebum
There are some people who have sebaceous glands on the scalp that naturally oversecrete. This will make you sweat excessively, causing your hair to become oily.
But for some others, their sebaceous glands may suddenly start over producing sebum.
This could be because of hormonal issues, medications, puberty, menopause, pregnancy and childbirth etc. This could lead to excessive hair oiliness.
7. Overwashing or underwashing of hair
Underwashing is quite self-explanatory, right? If you don’t wash your hair – the product buildup, dirt and grime, mixed with the hair’s natural oil will cause your hair to become oily.
But when you overwash your hair, the natural oil of the hair is lost and the scalp tends to produce more oil. This will make the hair more oily over time.
8. You’re on medications
This is a lesser known fact, but the medications you are on can unknowingly be a reason for your oily hair.
While it isn’t all medications that can cause this problem, certain medications can. This can be due to hormonal changes or the medication consumption resulting in the over secretion of the sebaceous glands.
Why You Should Trust Haireveryday?
The author of this article, Leah Marie Priest has a degree in Cosmetology with years of experience in dealing with hair care, scalp care, and hairstyling. As someone who extensively deals with all kinds of hair textures, products, styling methods and more, hair Leah Marie knows what kind of products and procedures suit each hair type and person. We have also tested these hair products and processes ourselves to provide you an unbiased review about every product. Each of our articles are also reviewed by a team of medical professionals so that you get the most accurate and expert-reviewed information.
The final takeaway
Well guys, there are multiple causes as to why your hair has become greasy.
So make sure to find out what the cause is in your case and thereafter, try out a suitable method to help get rid of the excess oil.
Wash your hair, cleanse your scalp and keep your hair accessories clean.
Also remember that since diet can play a role in the condition of your hair, make sure to eat healthy and have a balanced diet at all times.
Also Read:
Why Does My Hair Feel Sticky After Washing
To Summarize
