How to Deal With Greasy Hair

Greasy hair is pretty common, especially if you’ve got fine hair or a scalp that produces a lot of oil. Add Wellington weather into the mix and it can get worse pretty quickly. Wind, humidity, hats, cycling to work and going from cold weather into heated buildings can all leave your hair looking a bit flat by the end of the day.

The good thing is you usually don’t need to do anything complicated. Most of the time it comes down to how you wash your hair, what products you’re using and a few small habits that can make oily hair worse without you noticing.

Start with the scalp

Greasy hair starts at the scalp. That’s where the oil is coming from, so that’s where you need to focus when you wash it. Rather than just running shampoo over your hair, work it into the roots properly with your fingertips and give your whole scalp a decent clean.

You don’t need to scrub shampoo through the ends every time. When you rinse it out, the shampoo will run down through the rest of the hair anyway. This is usually enough to clean the lengths without drying them out too much.

If you’ve got a lot of oil or styling product built up, shampooing twice can help. The first wash gets rid of most of the grease and product, while the second actually cleans the scalp properly.

Use a lighter shampoo

The shampoo you use makes a difference. If your hair gets greasy quickly, really heavy moisturising or smoothing shampoos can sometimes leave too much behind and make the hair look flatter.

A lighter shampoo is usually a better place to start. If you use wax, paste, pomade or other styling products most days, it can also be worth using a clarifying shampoo every now and then to clear out buildup.

You don’t need boiling hot water either. Lukewarm water is fine and is usually a bit kinder on the scalp, especially if yours gets dry or irritated.

Be careful with conditioner

Conditioner is useful, but it’s also one of the easiest ways to make clean hair look greasy again. You generally don’t want to be putting it straight onto the roots or scalp unless the product is made for that.

Keep it around the mid-lengths and ends instead, especially if you’ve got longer hair. If your hair is fine, you may only need a small amount. Make sure you rinse it out properly as well, because leftover conditioner can weigh the hair down very quickly.

Wash it when it needs washing

There’s a lot of advice online about trying to “train” your hair to go longer between washes. In practice, if your hair is greasy, it’s greasy. Leaving it for another three days isn’t always going to fix anything.

For a lot of people, washing every two or three days works well. Fine hair may need washing every other day, while thicker hair can often go longer. If you’ve been at the gym, sweating, cycling around Wellington or wearing a cap all day, you may want to wash it sooner.

The main thing is not getting too caught up in rules. Wash it often enough that your scalp feels clean and your hair looks good.

Watch the products you’re using regularly

Heavy styling products can make greasy hair look even greasier. Pomades, waxes and high-shine gels tend to separate the hair and add more shine, which isn’t always what you want if your roots already look oily.

Matte paste, styling powder and salt spray are usually better options if you want more texture without making the hair look heavier. They can also give fine hair a bit more shape when it starts to fall flat.

Dry shampoo is handy here too. If your roots are getting oily but the rest of your hair is still fine, a small amount at the scalp can buy you another day without doing a full wash.

Some small things that can matter

Touching your hair all day makes more difference than you’d think. Every time you run your hands through it, you’re moving oil from your hands onto your hair and spreading the oil that’s already there.

The same goes for dirty brushes, combs, pillowcases and hats. They all collect oil and product over time, so keeping them clean stops you putting that buildup straight back onto freshly washed hair.

Greasy hair is normally pretty easy to manage once you work out what your scalp likes. Clean the roots properly, don’t overload it with heavy products, keep conditioner away from the scalp and wash it when it actually needs washing. For most people, that’s enough to make a noticeable difference.

‍

‍