When you don't wash your hair, oils may accumulate on your scalp. This can cause odor on the scalp and hair. If you use hair care products, these can also build up on your scalp and create odors, even if the products themselves smell good.
If you've been skipping out on your wash days and relying on dry shampoo to tide you over, that could be one reason why your hair smells. The buildup of sebum, dead skin cells, sweat, and product residues marinate your roots, making it the ideal environment for bacteria to proliferate.
You might notice a smell similar to sour milk, cheese, or dirty socks emanating from your scalp. The first step toward getting rid of an unpleasant smell from your scalp is to figure out what's causing it.
Normally, your hair has either no smell or smells like the fragrances in your hair care products - like the shampoo or conditioner you just used. Run your fingers along your scalp a few times and then smell your fingertips. If you notice any unusual, bad, or pungent smell, you have a smelly scalp and hair.
You can check it by running your fingers along the scalp a few times and then smell your fingertips. Typically, there should be no fragrance at all. However, if you smell something unusual, pungent, or bad on your fingertips after brushing your hair, this implies you have a smelly scalp and hair.
How often should a person wash their hair? People with oily hair or who use hair care products daily should consider washing their hair once every 1–2 days. People with dry hair can wash their hair less frequently. Those with textured or coily hair should only wash it once every 1–2 weeks.
For people who produce excess oil, shampooing daily or every other day is a must. If you don't, then the oils and sweat that you produce start to build up, feeding the bacteria that naturally occur on your scalp.
"The average individual can typically go 2 to 3 days without shampooing their hair. However, if your hair is visibly oily, you may not want to wait that long," she says. "Usually, you can go longer without washing your hair when your hair is styled up, but no one should ever go more than 14 days."
Not washing your hair regularly can make the scalp flaky and lead to dandruff. It will make you feel itchy and you can also get rashes on your scalp. “You can develop major dandruff problem if you don't wash your hair for 1 or 2 weeks,” she warned.
Hair—like your clothes—can quickly absorb and then trap strong odors, causing you to be stuck smelling like an ashtray—or spicy-sausage—until your next shampoo. Why does this happen? Undamaged hair is protected by a natural layer of oil that binds to its surface and keeps your strands from absorbing stinky smells.
Try this: Use dry shampoo before your hair gets greasy. Apply dry shampoo in your hair before you go to bed and allow it to stay overnight. This allows the dry shampoo to soak up the natural oils your hair produces while you sleep and you will be able to brush it out in the morning.
shampoo can strip your hair of natural oils, and using heat products on your hair over and over again causes further damage and breakage, so washing your hair only once a week actually helps keep it in great condition.
Going a long time without washing your hair can cause a buildup of a yeast-like fungus called Malassezia on your scalp. Over time, this leads to a layer of dead skin cells that shed from your head in the form of oily, yellow-ish dandruff flakes. Dandruff can also make your scalp red, scaly, and itchy.
of day two, you can be sure a bit of odor is lingering. "Three days and beyond is when that unsightly sour scent starts to emit off of your scalp, and then you know it's time to shampoo," she says.
The oil and damp hair traps in dirt, pollutants, smoke, and many different odours from the environment – making your head a hotspot for foul smell. There are other chemical reasons too – maybe some hormonal imbalance is causing the odour.
Jeff Chastain, a hairstylist in New York City, recommends that women get their shampooing down to once or twice a week. Less washing, he said, means stronger and longer hair. And women with curls need not wash their hair as often as others.
She says it's more important to consider your hair type, texture and amount of oil production you usually experience. “I typically advise patients to keep to a standard hair washing schedule, whether it is three times per week, weekly or once per month, regardless of activity level,” she says.
Natural Hair
Even though natural black hair is dry, the build-up of debris can make it feel greasy if not washed regularly. You should ideally wash your natural black hair once every seven to fourteen days. Use a mild cleansing shampoo and a gentle conditioner.
Under- or over-washing
When you delay a good scrub, you allow oils, or sebum, to build up on your scalp. This sebum can make your scalp and even your hair smell a little unpleasant.
Like its name, the main symptom for this condition is a horrific odor that comes from the hair and scalp. For some people, the odor emanates a few hours after showering, but in extreme cases, an odor can be noticeable right after showering.
Your hair may still smell after washing because your shampoo might be ineffective in curbing the fungal and bacterial activity on your scalp. Hence, it would be best to use shampoos with strong antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Prolonged periods of not washing can cause cause buildup on the scalp, damaging hair and even impeding its ability to grow, Lamb said. Grime from dirt, oil and hair product can show up within four to six days for people with finer, straighter hair.