Right now I shampoo every other day. I'm a smoker, and I generally sweat a lot during the day/night so every other day seems to work out pretty well. Just wondering what is better... to hold out and only let water touch my hair every other day (to let my natural oils set in & condition) or to do condition-only washes on the in between days.

My hair won't be bothered by the oil.. I have dry hair. I want to minimize the damage I am doing though, and even though its more comfortable for me to CO on days where I don't shampoo, I can't help but think the best option would be to just have some patience and not let water touch my hair & reap the benefits of  the natural oils.... any thoughts?

My first thought is to recommend that you stop smoking!  It ages your skin so bad!

I also have dry hair and I wash mostly Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  I use products for curly hair which are moisturizing since curly hair naturally tends to be dry.

The natural oils in our hair stay mostly at the scalp, and you will have to brush w/ a boar bristle brush to get the oils down the shaft.  I'd also put oil on the ends, that's always the driest part.

Experiment and see what works best for you.  With warmer weather coming, dry hair gets drier.  Are you doing any regular deep conditioning?

I do a lot of deep conditioning, and I've been increasing my oiling.

I know I have to stop smoking!  :-[ I've definitely cut back, but school is much to stressful to quit now.. maybe after graduation!   ::)

I'm shampooing about 3-4 times a week right now (every other day as mentioned before) Considering I'm doing more oiling, I'm hoping I can get away with a few more shampoos a week.... is my logic correct?

I think it depends on how hard your water is for frequency of shampooings.  As long as it doesn't dry out your scalp you'll probably be fine.  However, be sure to keep an eye on your ends.  The frequent oilings could mask the ends getting dry from frequent shampoos.  I think
Angel_Spun washes her hair everyday and most of us here don't.  

Congratulations on decreasing your cigarettes.  Regular exercise would help with your school stress and its cheaper!

Good Luck!  I hope you find a routine that works for you.

Sakina wrote on Mar 26^th, 2008 at 11:58pm:

The frequent oilings could mask the ends getting dry from frequent shampoos.

hmm didn't even consider that.  :-?

You've been very helpful Sakina! Thank you :)