Share: what time do you wash your hair?

Earlier this week, I picked up a Chinese book in the local bookstore about beauty and came across some interesting information regarding the best time to wash our hair. It stated specifically that we shouldn’t be washing our hair early in the morning and late in the night. Oh geez…I wash my hair first thing in the morning when I jump out of bed every day for almost my entire life now! In fact, some days as early as 4am! So what gives?

Cold temperature not good for our head
According to the book, the temperature is a lot colder in the early morning and late in the night so it isn’t really good for our health if we wash our hair then. It doesn’t say what problems it’ll create but I imagine it may be something connected to PHD – Permanent Head Damage! Okay, okay, just kidding…the fact that I’m still able to string coherent sentences here after so many years of washing my hair in the wee hours means I don’t have PHD.

Not good to wash your hair just before you sleep
But the author of the book did state that if we do wash our hair during those ungodly time of the day, then it’s best to blow dry our hair. This is particularly so for those who wash their hair late in the night as it is really not advisable to go to bed with wet hair. This one I believe, and based on some old wives’ tale, I think sleeping with a head of wet hair might contribute to headaches and migraines. But truly, going to bed with wet hair might cause more problems such as hair getting into an odd shape, having bad smell and your pillows turning moldy!

One hour before or after meal
So what’s the best time to wash our hair? Well, from what I read, it’s one hour before or after dinner. Okay, don’t ask me how this came about and there is definitely no research to back this one up. My guess is that it’s got something to do with the body temperature and hence, I think it should be good to wash your hair one hour before or after lunch too. And if we go by the logic behind not washing our hair in the wee hours, then I suppose if you wash them in warm water and blow dry your hair with warm air immediately after, you’ll be forever saved from PHD.

Never mind if this sounds like some bull to you, but can you share with us – what time do you wash your hair?

Comments

  1. Lily Evangelene says:

    I wash my hair in the morning and in the evening when I shower but between 3 to 6 pm is apparently the best time according to this article since it mentions after lunch and before dinner? But sometimes I think it’s a bit unusual at those times because we don’t shower at those times, unless we go to the salons have our hair washed. Having said that if I could I would wash and style my hair at the salon from 2.30 – 3 pm if I could to enjoy the rest of the day with the results!

  2. stella says:

    well…since we are an industrialized capitalist society, there’s nothing very much many of us can do about timing our hair washes…i wash when i get home at night; if it’s late, well, it’ll just have to do anyway…

  3. sesame says:

    Actually, you’re right that hair looks better if we can wash and style it later. My hair gets oily quicker when I wash it earlier. I need to use a dry shampoo on most days to keep the oilies at bay.

  4. sesame says:

    Agree! If we’re working, it’s either the morning and evening. How to wash hair in the middle of the day? Only difference is during the weekends. But for me, it’s still morning every day. I try not to walk around the house with oily looking hair too. ?

  5. EcoBeauty says:

    I’ll probably be doomed with PHD in my old age. I wash my hair quite late at night and most of the time, i’m too tired to dry it. I sleep with wet hair and wake up still with wet hair. Some elders say that it’ll cause premature graying of hair!!! o.O

  6. joey says:

    does washing hair at ungodly time contributes to hair loss? O_O

  7. caramilk says:

    I prefer to wash my hair in the mornings. I don’t think that what time you wash your hair would be bad for your health. I do believe in the old wives’ tale that going to bed with wet hair will give you headaches and migraines. So, I always blowdry my hair no matter what.

  8. VeiraLing says:

    oh gosh, I am your best buddy! I have no time and energy to blow dry them…

    and maybe that’s the reason why I have premature gray hair! but that was since I was 12. hmm something to think about.

  9. sesame says:

    Ecobeauty: Oh it cause premature graying hair? I don’t know….but my hubby has lots of white hair and he always sleep in wet hair too.

  10. sesame says:

    No…don’t think so cos hair loss is caused by weak or clogged follicles so when we wash shouldn’t affect.

  11. sesame says:

    Yeah, it’s a good idea to blow dry. I used to use a fan to blow dry last time but was told that’s bad too. So must always use warm air from the hairdryer.

  12. sesame says:

    VeiraLing: Hmm…sounds intriguing. I’ll go and dig up and see if there are anymore information behind this. This is the first time I’m learning about this.

  13. Soos says:

    Whenever I want to between 9 pm and 1 am!

  14. EcoBeauty says:

    That’s what the old people say… :p But thinking about it, there could be some truths to it. Graying hair is not just due to genes, it’s due to internal health problems, too… so if bathing at the wrong time and sleeping with wet hair cause health issues, then there could be possible connections between gray hair and hair washing habits? just a theory, lol.

  15. Liesl says:

    Sleeping with wet hair never fails to give me headaches that will come on two days later. And makes me prone to catch the flu. Hence,I always blow dry my hair if I have late nights and despite being so tired. Its good to invest on a good quick drying hairdryer.

  16. Michelle says:

    Yikes!! I wash my hair in the afternoon some times. But my absolute favorite time of day to wash my hair is very late at night (on some occasions even 12:00 a.m.)just before I go to bed. Guess I’ll have to change that. Oh well! ?

  17. Swathy says:

    I guess the times given for not washing hair in the early morning and late nights have to do with not getting sick with cold and flu and migraines as you mentioned….I do wash my hair late at nights…I find it easier than washing int he morning when I might have to rush with wet hair…I do try to dry my hair at night but I always air dry it….do not use blow drier…I think washing hair any time between 8 – 8 should be fine as the temperatures normalize….climatic and body both….didn’t know about graying hair thing….shall try to find out that…

  18. Angelina says:

    I wash my hair in the morning (or, when my sleeping schedule is off, when I wake up), but only twice a week. It’s just easier for me to wash my hair when I take a shower and I feel dirtiest in the morning.

  19. sesame says:

    Showering and shampoo in the morning is good – keeps you feeling fresher too!

  20. sesame says:

    Ah…cold and flu…yes, I try not to wash my son’s hair early in the morning to avoid him catching a cold.

  21. sesame says:

    If you do wash late in the night, just remember to dry it well before sleeping.

  22. sesame says:

    Oh, so the headaches really happens for you? Hmm…I remember in olden days, some of the women only wash their hair like once a month and after washing, they’ll always make a soup with pig’s liver to eat and drink for nourishment.

  23. sesame says:

    Ecobeauty: Ah…true true…it’s more of an internal manifestation than external so probably has got to do with the air or water sipping in or something.

  24. sesame says:

    Haha…free play! But try to dry your hair well before jumping to bed. ?

  25. Hayden says:

    Hi Sesame!

    I’ve been following your blog and saved it as favourite for quite some time! It’s really nice looking through your entries (e.g. the one which says what time is best for applying daily skin care items, harmful ingredients in skincare products, etc).

    I’ve been trying to find your contact e-mail to ask something but to no avail so I’m bumping here to ask (hope you don’t mind!)

    I use sunblock everyday (Biore SPF 50, white bottled for oily skin) and I heard from Taiwan Beauty Show – Nurenwozuida saying that we should use makeup remover to cleanse our skin if we use sunblock.

    Can I ask if you have any recommendations on makeup removers mild enough for removing sunblock? Or do you think that this is unnecessary and we should just use our normal cleanser?

    Thank you Sesame in advance! =)

  26. Soos says:

    OK, caught me there! At 1 am that high-wattage dryer makes quite a bit of noise, so I am going to bed with half-dry hair. And you don’t want to know what it looks like when I wake up. Think 3x – 4x the size of *normal* hair!

  27. sesame says:

    Thank you very much for reading my blog! ?

    Well, no need to use makeup removers but the best would be oil cleansers cos those stuff really cleanse everything off. But depending on the skin type, some pple react badly to oil cleansers too. So in this case, if you use your normal cleanser, then I suggest cleansing twice.

    My email is actually under About Me but I think it’s better you post your question here cos I respond a lot quicker on comments. For email, I have to sieve through quite a number so I tend to be real slow. :p

  28. sesame says:

    Oh you know what…I do like my hair look bigger than usual. But this happens only sometimes if I take an afternoon nap.

  29. chenyze says:

    ah, i wash every morning and i usually try to get it about 70% blown dry.. though these days i have to make sure it’s fully blown dry cuz my hair’s getting long (read: oilier). like some others mentioned, i tend to get a bit of a headache if i don’t dry it properly and go to bed!

    hmm how’s the rest of the book? is it any decent?

  30. Hayden says:

    Hi Sesame,

    Thank you so much for your reply. I have oily skin so do you think I can use oil cleansers?

    In the meantime, I shall just finish using my cleansers first then decide whether to add one oil cleanser in my daily skincare routine.. =D

  31. sesame says:

    Oil cleansers can work for all skin types but not sure if you like the after cleansing feeling – it does leave a film. What I do is to use an oil cleanser, followed by a gel cleanser. Alternative, you can also use a cream cleanser. You may want to check out my post on different ways to double cleanse here:

    https://www.vivawoman.net/2010/09/27/double-cleanse-what-are-the-different-ways/

  32. sesame says:

    Okay, the book is fine. It covers some beauty diet and so forth. Particularly worth a read if you’re into Chinese recipe and so forth.

  33. Abby says:

    I normally wash my hair in the shower when I come home, around 6-8pm depending on the day.

    If I do wash my hair late n it’s almost bedtime, then I’ll blow dry it completely w cool air before jumping on bed no matter how tired I am becoz I do know abt the tale of wet hair n migraine ?

  34. Hayden says:

    Thanks! =)

  35. Fresh says:

    When you wash your hair right after a meal, the energy meant to digest your food is diverted.

  36. sesame says:

    Oh? That’s interesting info!

  37. Sally says:

    after every wash, do blow dry your hair as it will make your hair look good and “in order” the next morning. Wash hair at night cause throughout the day you would have collected alot of dust and oil on your hair. At night, wash & blow dry & the next day wake up to a nice-looking you. Also in the morning, you will spend shorter time bathing (maybe you may need just 10mins or less)and thus you will not need to be in a rush… you can also sleep another 10mins more ?

  38. sesame says:

    Washing hair in the night won’t work for me. I’ll still need to wash it in the morning. I have a really greasy scalp!

  39. WQ says:

    hmm, i am propably a good example of sleeping with wet hair and now hv tonnes of white hair b4 40… usually at what age do healthy normal ppl start greying?

  40. Sesame Chew says:

    Can’t say for sure but I see more whites after 40.

  41. Lidianne says:

    I know this article is pretty old but I just had to answer this because I used to not blow dry my hair too after washing it,I was washing my hair daily,my hair was long and I slept with it wet and I got a very bad neuralgia with headache,neck and arm pain that lasted for half an year.After that happened I always blowdry my hair and don’t wash my hair evry day.I don’t wanna get that sick again.hell no.And I had a vey bad habbit to to wash my hair very late in the night even at 2 am so it’s a big no in my oppinion.So I advice eveyone that wash their hair daily to blowdry it it’s not that hard,i was just being lazy not doing that and look what happened to me. ?

  42. Sesame says:

    Good advice! I’m glad you figure that out and are no longer sick because not wet hair issues.

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