The Research Is In: Unwashed Hair Sucks Up More Pollution Than Clean Locks

What a week for unwashed hair.

On Thursday we wrote about the growing trend of people not washing their hair. The next day we read at Green Daily that unwashed hair actually cleans the air- it scrubs ozone from the atmosphere around your head. Unwashed hair sucks up seven times more ozone than freshly washed, there’s no word on how hair powered ‘doos do but I’d guess somewhere in between.

Either way, it’s a good excuse to pull out anytime you find yourself a few days past your last shower. “Hey, I’m just trying the save the world here. Think Globally, don’t wash my hair Locally”.

Link [Green Daily]

Photo from Flickr user bryankennedy

The Hippies Were Right! Not Washing Your Hair is the New Hotness

The hippies have been proven correct about a lot of things- protecting the environment, saying no to stupid pointless wars, and the benefits of eating unprocessed organic food. But who would have thought they were right about not washing your hair? Going without shampoo is cool again.

The New York Times had a piece last week about a growing trend in not washing your hair. It’s not just neo-hippy college kids and jam band refugees skipping out on lathering up on a regular basis- unwashed hair is the latest thing among hipster moms and other upwardly mobile women.

They are discovering that unwashed hair often feels and looks healthier and is easier to manage and some are skipping out on shampoo entirely. I had no idea.

The NYT has it:

“There’s this whole new breed of young fashionable girls who are getting that once-a-week shampoo and blow dry and just milking it,” said Johnny Lavoy, the owner of Moda-Rey Salon and Spa in West Hartford, Conn. They grew up, he said, “thinking you have to wash your hair every time you shower, but they’re realizing that natural oils are good for the hair.”

It’s hard to imagine that shampoo will ever be obsolete, but some bottles are likely lasting longer these days.

Abby Fazio, the owner of New London Pharmacy in Manhattan, washes her hair only every seven days. The rest of the time, she uses one of her store’s five spray-on “hair powder” cleansers, like Batiste Dry Shampoo and René Furterer Naturia, to sop up excess oil. She sprays the powder on her roots, lets it sit for a few minutes, then blots it off with cheesecloth and brushes out the rest. “I can get ready in 30 minutes,” said Ms. Fazio, 48, compared with two hours to shampoo, dry and style.

Cool Hunting has a link to Lulu Organics Hair Powder, which can be used to soak up excess hair oil. It’s green- made of white clay, baking Soda, organic corn starch and horsetail powder, and essential oils. It’s a bit steep at $40 for a 4.5 oz. bottle, but that might last 10 times as long as a typical shampoo bottle, so I can’t say for sure. I’ll do some follow up.

Link [New York Times]