How To Deal With Oily Hair

What Makes Your Hair Oily?

The simple answer to this is the overproduction of sebum which is produced naturally and is near the hair follicles. Oily hair isn’t because of the traits of your hair but your scalp where the sebaceous glands seem to be working overtime. When your hair absorbs a lot of sebum, your hair becomes greasy or oily.

Now, it’s not the worst thing in the world because these oils are healthy because they keep your scalp hydrated. But they can overdo it if there is an imbalance in your hormones or due to weather factors. This outcome is not preferred also because excess oil makes the hair look matty and unattractive.

How You Can Deal With It: Tips and Tricks

Fortunately, solving this problem isn’t a big mystery. In fact, there are plenty of things you can do. Here are a few easy to do tips that’ll make your hair less oily. Let’s take a look.

Use a Purifying/Clarifying Shampoo

Now that you know it’s a problem at the scalp level, you must have guessed that one of the things you can do to help yourself is to check your shampoo. Those who have a greasy or oily scalp should use a purifying or clarifying shampoo.

If you don’t know what that means, we are talking about shampoos that don’t have sulphate in them. You want to use them once every two days and then give yourself a deep cleanse on a weekly basis. This will keep the oil levels under control. Just monitor the situation to make sure you don’t make your scalp go dry.

Don’t Use a Dry Shampoo

Speaking of dryness, you also want to make sure that you are not using a dry shampoo. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a product that you can use without using water. It is also available as an aerosol and is marketed as a solution for oily hair.

But there’s a problem when you overdo this and it’s not hard to get there. When you do that, too much of the product creates a buildup on your scalp and it does the opposite of what you want. It might also dehydrate the scalp since its primary purpose is to absorb oils which will aggressively activate the sebaceous glands.

Don’t Overwash

The same logic is applicable to any shampoo you use in general. Washing your hair too often will also lead to a dry scalp which in turn will aggravate your sebaceous glands and lead to an overly oily scalp, and hence, oily hair.

This is also very likely to happen with shampoos that have a lot of sulphates, which is why we recommend that you avoid those products in the first place. They can be good cleansers but they can make your scalp really sensitive, which also doesn’t help your case. In the end, you may also be left with an itchy scalp.

Ideally, you should use a shampoo that is made of natural ingredients. But you will have to be patient for about two weeks before you see any real and lasting results.

Use Conditioner Strategically

Using a conditioner is good for all types of hair, including oily hair, not only because it makes your hair look good but also because it’s nourishing. Conditioners are meant to hydrate and protect your hair from outdoor environmental factors and that’s great. But you must find one that works for your hair type.

You should read the packaging of the product and look for details like “oil control” to make sure it works with your goals. You should also apply it strategically, meaning it should go only for the end of your hair. The goal here is to keep it far away from your scalp so that your hair doesn’t end up looking oily or flat.

It’s also important to rinse your hair thoroughly after you apply the conditioner to make sure that the leftover product isn’t the reason why your hair is greasy.

Skip Cosmetics, Go Natural

If all of this mix-and-match type of shopping is starting to overwhelm you, don’t worry. You can just skip the entire section of cosmetics and make something simple and helpful at home. There are several tried and tested methods of reducing oil in the hair. Here’s one.

Make a mixture of white vinegar (two tablespoons) or lemon juice (two lemons) with a quart of water (distilled) to rinse your hair with. It’s a gentle mix and it can remove oil from your hair effectively. Make sure you don’t get too much of the mixture on your scalp and rinse your hair with warm water afterward to get it all out.

Pick a Brush with Boar Bristles

It’s not enough to use the right products. You should also use the right brush to comb your hair afterward and in general as well. This is important because combing your hair doesn’t make oily hair worse. It actually distributes the oil deposited on your scalp.

But you should use the right type of brush so that it can pick up the grease well and do a good job with the redistribution. Boar bristle brushes or faux boar bristle brushes (for vegans) are a good pick because the fibers are good at precisely that.

But, once again, don’t overdo it because that can damage your hair and disturb the ecosystem which also releases more oil.

Use an Exfoliant

If you want to get rid of excess oil, you may also use an exfoliant for your scalp. Use it a couple of times a week, at most, and see the results for yourself. You want to pick a product that has a fine texture like sugar and not something like microbeads.

You must apply this exfoliant (or a scrub) when your scalp is wet so that the water can distribute it across your head. You want to apply this exfoliant by moving your fingertips in circles on your scalp. Massage your scalp gently with the exfoliant being spread.

You can also make one of these scrubs at home. All you need are sea salt (2 tbsp), lemon juice (2 tbsp) and olive oil (2 tbsp). The salt will get rid of dirt and dead skin and the olive oil will hydrate your hair.

Don’t Straighten Your Mane

If you really like straightening or blowing out your hair, you want to rethink that whole styling process. These are processes that can make your hair a lot oilier than it originally is.

And when your hair is straight, the oil finds it easier to drip down, which makes the grease noticeable. It might also cause the sebum to drip down your face which complicates your face care routine as well for no good reason.

Instead, you might want to try styling your hair in a wavy or curly fashion, if you haven’t thought of it already. This will give your hair volume and the grease stays under control as well. Even if the latter doesn’t happen, at least it won’t be all that noticeable.