For those who wash once a week or less

[Tornerose]

Have any of you experienced getting acne around the hairline and/or down the back/shoulders when your hair is starting to get ready for a wash?

I'm wondering beause I see alot of acne appearing when it's close to a wash, and even though my hair doesn't look greasy it apparently must be.

I don't want to wash it too often either, because my mum washes every day and her hair is greasy againby the afternoon, and my twinsister who washes atleast every 3rd day, if not more, is starting to experience more frequent need for washing aswell. We all have the same hairtype, although mum has alittle more natural body/wave to it than us.

So I'm wondering if this is normal, and if not what could the causes be?

Edit: Please excuse my bad english on this thread. I obviously forgot to spell/grammarcheck the poll.

[Aisha25]

I dont get anything like that. Just if I dont wash for 2 weeks my scalp gets itchy then I know its time to wash them. I have to oil all those days inbetween and do heavy oiling right before wash too.

[nicolezoie]

My oily scalp seeps onto my oily face, clogs my pores, and I break out. I do wash more than once a week, but if I could get away with less, I would. But, my oily scalp seeps onto my face, clogs my pores, and I break out...:mad:

[Kina]

Not really, no. Do you wear your hair down a lot? Do you work out a lot? I found that when I was wearing my hair down all the time and working out, I got more body acne.

[Nat242]

I'm a frequent washer (every second day or third day, with a scalp/bangs wash in betwen), as I have an oily scalp and stretching washes didn't work for me. If I haven't washed my hair and my bangs are oily, I pull them back with a cotton headband so they don't muck up my the skin on my forehead. Have you tried that?

[Tornerose]

Not really, no. Do you wear your hair down a lot? Do you work out a lot? I found that when I was wearing my hair down all the time and working out, I got more body acne.
Yeah I wear it down almost all the time after the initial 3 "dry in a bun" days. So that's 4 or more days of unwashed hair down my body.

I don't work out, though. But I probably would if I could

[Tornerose]

I'm a frequent washer (every second day or third day, with a scalp/bangs wash in betwen), as I have an oily scalp and stretching washes didn't work for me. If I haven't washed my hair and my bangs are oily, I pull them back with a cotton headband so they don't muck up my the skin on my forehead. Have you tried that?

The problem isn't so much on the forehead actually, it's more the temples, neck and down the body.
But I should definately try to keep my hair up more.

[Copasetic]

Nope, I don't get any acne around my hair line. But to be fair, I don't really get acne in general.

[Flynn]

My piercer, who generally gives very good, sensible advice, strongly advises to avoid all contact between hair that hasn't been just washed and piercings, particularly new ones, because the oil in hair carries enough bacteria to cause problems (less of a problem than hands, though!) so I can see this being likely...

[Teacherbear]

I voted no. I've never been terribly acne prone, though.

[Roseate]

No, I haven't noticed this. But I usually wear my hair up for the last couple days before washing, so it doesn't really sit on my skin much when it's dirty.

[ZaBasDa]

If I go without washing my hair for a week or so, I notice that I get more acne along the back of my neck and my upper back if I wear my hair down.

[renarok]

I wash every 7 days or so and I am so excited that I reached this goal. It took me about a year to get here. I grew up washing my hair daily, sometimes twice!! I haven't noticed any acne that I would consider hair related. I just would get an itchy scalp.

I am curious about how old most of us extended wash folks are. I couldn't imagine when I was young and oil prone being able to extend wash days like this.

My 22 year old daughter doesn't seem to be bothered by greasy looking hair .... She just carries on like it is ok to have lanky piecy hair..... I want to tell her to wash it, but it really isn't my business anymore is it? I try hard not to be a nag.

[Degu]

No, not really. Though I do usually wear my hair half up. (A 'sloppy' bun looking-thing) (or in a clip).

After I found this forum from a vegetarian forum (on a thread about people who don't use shampoo), I decided to try less frequent washing and no shampoo. That was about eight-or-so weeks ago, and only washed my hair three times so far. Actually, now that I think about it, I seem to have less acne. My shoulders used to have some often, but I'm looking at them now, and there's nothing. The only on my face is the stray chin and nose/cheek area.

[BittSweetCherry]

I do get slightly more acne around my hairline when it's due for a wash, but I apply coconut oil very heavily around day five and leave it there for two days, and CO is VERY codemogenic. From memory, not washing my hair didn't increase acne when I wasn't oiling, but maybe I've just forgotten :shrug:

[Samikha]

Perhaps a very little now, but I did get more acne when I was overusing coconut oil. I voted yes. It's only around forehead/temples, though, and it's not so much acne as a slight oiliness. I don't really get acne in general. Wearing your hair up for a couple weeks would probably tell you whether this is the cause.

[AprilElf]

I voted yes, for the odd spot on the back of my neck and around the hairline that I know is definitely caused by greasy hair, when it is due for a wash. ;)

[NeilTheFuzz]

I'm quite a lucky guy, I seem to have naturally well balanced skin, not too dry and not too oily. I don't really (and never have) gotten spots at all.

[BittSweetCherry]

I'm quite a lucky guy, I seem to have naturally well balanced skin, not too dry and not too oily. I don't really (and never have) gotten spots at all.


*Shakes fist* Daaaaammmmnnnn yoooooouuuuuuu!

[morguebabe]

Yes I get more acne under my bangs, along the side of my face and my back

[Elayne]

Nope, nothing like that for me. Defiantly in the only wash once a week or less often category, my scalp actually tends to gets irritated if I was more often than once a week, also wear it down nearly all the time. I do have some trouble with acne in general, but its all away from my hairline, like nose and chin area.

[florenonite]

I don't get acne because my hair's always up by this time in the week :p

[NebraskaChick84]

I wear my hair up, wash once a week and although my hair is a bit greasy when I take it down to oil it I have never broken out from not washing more often.

[Anlbe]

Nope, but I used to get what looked like acne around my hairline, neck and on my back four or five days after I washed when I didn't rinse my hair and skin enough - particularly the skin - and/or I was using shampoos that dried by skin (and hair) out, when I started using shampoo for ultra dry hair (phytonecter) and made sure that it was all rinsed off

[princess]

I am ok I guess. My hair touches my face during washing time all the time but I do not get acne.

[Tornerose]

I am curious about how old most of us extended wash folks are. I couldn't imagine when I was young and oil prone being able to extend wash days like this.

My 22 year old daughter doesn't seem to be bothered by greasy looking hair .... She just carries on like it is ok to have lanky piecy hair..... I want to tell her to wash it, but it really isn't my business anymore is it? I try hard not to be a nag.

Oh that is interesting... someone really should do a poll on age and wash-frequency


I do get slightly more acne around my hairline when it's due for a wash, but I apply coconut oil very heavily around day five and leave it there for two days, and CO is VERY codemogenic. From memory, not washing my hair didn't increase acne when I wasn't oiling, but maybe I've just forgotten :shrug:
Yeah I've noticed huge improvements in my general skin after starting coconut oil for.. Everything. But the neck-acne seems to appear just as much.


Nope, nothing like that for me. Defiantly in the only wash once a week or less often category, my scalp actually tends to gets irritated if I was more often than once a week, also wear it down nearly all the time. I do have some trouble with acne in general, but its all away from my hairline, like nose and chin area.
My scalp gets easily irritated too, so I was as little as I possibly can. And I absolutely refuse to wash MORE than once a week.
I guess your hair must be les greasy than mine at the end of the week then?

[freznow]

There are so many variables for me... what I use to wash with, what time of the month it is, how much my hands are in my hair, what I've eaten, etc.

Catnip keeps my scalp reaaaaaaaaaally happy and doesn't cause me acne, so I easily go a week between catnip washes or variations thereof (and the only oil I use is also one that doesn't cause acne for me, a bit of jojoba-cocoa butter on the ends). Add that to grapeseed (also non-codemogenic)+tea tree oil on my face, and acne isn't a major issue for me.

[lailmil]

I wash my hair less than once a week and I wear it down, and I voted no. but I have to say that my hair is never oily or dirty, I wash it when I see it's too dry

[Silverlox]

Yeah I wear it down almost all the time after the initial 3 "dry in a bun" days. So that's 4 or more days of unwashed hair down my body.

I don't work out, though. But I probably would if I could

Maybe you should do vice versa? Wear your hair down the first three days and then wear it up for the last four? Perhaps that would help. :flower:

I voted no, but of course, being 50+, I don't really get greasy hair or acne any longer. There are advantages to getting older! :p

[Unnamed]

I'm a more frequent washer, mostly for that reason. My scalp also produces a LOT of oil, so after 3-4 days it's not presentable to leave the house with, even in a bun (too much scalp showing).

During the winter around day 4-6 the acne around the hairline (temples, in front of the ear, neck) starts popping up, and so I usually try to wash in the 3-4 day range most of the time (although every 4 days several times in a row will get it to start up, too).

During the summer it's more around day 3-4 that my skin says 'too much', and washes get shortened to around every 2-3 days. I'm assuming this is because my hair seems to be oilier in the summer.

If my hair is down past the first day or so for more than a few minutes it generally needs washed a bit earlier.

ETA: I voted cheese because of being a more frequent washer.


Wearing my hair contained at night (in a bun, not a loose braid) cut down a lot on the acne on my back (upper and lower)/shoulders/front, and avoiding sulfates prevents much of the acne like stuff on the scalp itself...unless I don't wash often enough (and not washing often enough also makes my scalp itch, itch, itch).

[Lilla My]

I wash my hair once a week and no acne has resulted but then I have more of a problem with hair and skin getting too dry than anything else.

[Nynaeve]

I voted no.
It doesn't matter how often or rarely I wash, I don't get serious acne from not washing. On the contrary, the more often I was, the more I break out, the drier my hair and skin get, and the rougher my skin feels.

However, I have acne from allergies (need to stop eating all dairy and citrus, along with a couple other things) so it would not likely get worse or pop up from washing infrequently.

I could see it happening if I didn't rinse enough, maybe, but I do always rinse a whole lot to make sure I don't leave some kind of bad residue anyway.

[mira-chan]

I dont get anything like that. Just if I dont wash for 2 weeks my scalp gets itchy then I know its time to wash them. I have to oil all those days inbetween and do heavy oiling right before wash too.
Same. My scalp just gets itchy. If I don't oil, my hair just gets drier and drier. I wash about once a week.

[JamieLeigh]

I haven't really noticed it before, so I'm assuming that I don't, since I usually am fairly aware of things like this. I wash my hair maybe every 4 or 5 days, but I shower to wash my body every day, on high-activity days twice sometimes. I did seem to get back-ne when I first started my CO stuff, but I made sure that I rinsed properly and then put my hair up out of the way while I scrubbed my back. I was always so used to rinsing my conditioner out before I washed the rest of me, and now I've started leaving it in longer. :o

[Tornerose]

Maybe you should do vice versa? Wear your hair down the first three days and then wear it up for the last four? Perhaps that would help. :flower:

Yeah but my hair is so thin and fine that I need to make it curl to wear it loose, and when I bun it wet, it usually takes 3 days to dry.

But I could try to use more wipes on my neck the last 2 days, and make extra sure that the hair is up and away at night, hopefully that will help :)

[Anje]

I wash roughly weekly once weather gets warmer (more often in winter, because I get oilier then). I don't notice acne associated with my hair at all. Then again, what zits I get are usually on my chin or lower forehead, and seem to be associated primarily with my cycle (and recently with drug side effects).

[Eden Iris]

No hair-related acne here, either, but then my hair and skin are more dry than oily, which is probably why I can go 8 or 9 days without washing. Also, my hair is up most of the time.

[Ndnlady]

I voted yes, I have very oily skin though. I notice the acne more around my neck and hairline by wash day.

[frodolaughs]

I haven't had a problem with this since I decided to grow out my bangs. Back when I had them, it didn't matter if I washed daily, my skin still broke out under my hair.

[embee]

I chose cheese. :) When I was young my skin would break out on the hairline no matter what. Bangs/fringe was hopeless and hideous zit-city.

Now I am old and this is not a problem. There: a positive thing about getting old. ;)

Pass the cheese please.

[shayly-fyanna]

I've never noticed an increase in acne or greasyness on the skin when i take longer than 6 days to wash my hair. my hair feels drier and my skin around the face feels a bit tight when i take longer to wash. and my hair is not very dry, used to have greasy scalp when i washed every day. it takes time to accustom hair and skin to less washing, and you feel you have more acne around the face when you take longer to wash, i'd suggest simply use a wet towellette (like Olay face washing towllettes.) where the acne meets the hair line if you want to extend the washing times. of course that is MHO.

Hope i could help.

[Tressie]

I voted "no". That said, my hair has gotten much dryer as I have aged, so that may be a factor. Also, I haven't done much heavy oiling latley because I have a hard time getting all of the oil out! (o: