Women In This State Wash Their Hair The Least Often

The wheel is generally considered to be the most important invention of all time, which seems fair enough, but dry shampoo can’t be all that far behind. Much like it would be impossible to pinpoint the exact origin of the humble wheel, nobody can say for sure who first created a blend of highly absorbent powders and bottled ‘em up for use on no-wash days, only that it exists and the world is better for it.

Dry shampoo saves time, money (think of your water bill!), and the environment (provided your can doesn’t contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, of course) — and, clearly, it also allows many American women to skip washing their hair for days on end. Everybody wins! A recent survey conducted by online beauty boutique Lookfantastic found that, while 49% of women washed and blowdried their hair every day, the other 51% didn’t. And these days, that's pretty normal.

California came in the so-called cleanest, with the majority of the poll’s participants reporting that they washed their hair once a day, followed by Texas, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina. On the other end of the spectrum, Alabama came out to an average of once every 5.5 days, followed by Nevada, Colorado, and Maryland, at once every 6 days. The winner in the least-washed hair category? Tennessee, which claimed an average of just once a week.

With so many differing opinions on how often to wash your hair for best results — a licensed expert believes that a clean scalp is a healthy scalp, while others swear that it keeps their hair in great shape — it’s your call on who to believe. There’s no real wrong or right answer to the eternal question. For many women with natural hair, waiting a full week between washes is best for their texture. Those with fine hair, on the other hand, might need a daily wash to keep excessive oil at bay.

You know your hair better than anyone, and if it looks and feels its best on day seven (layers of dry shampoo or not) then by all means. Still, you may want to consider an intensive cleansing treatment every so often, just for your scalp’s sake.