How I Get My Fine Hair to the Third Day
By Maddie Aberman
It’s common knowledge that not washing your hair every day is a good thing. Now I’m all for healthier hair and extra sleep in the morning, but if you’re like me and your ponytail remains perky with even the skimpiest of hair ties—fine-haired comrades, you know what I’m talking about—then you know that skipping a shampoo can take you into grease-ball territory faster than you can say “drowned rat.” After years of testing and tinkering, I think I’ve found the foolproof equation to get you to that third day without hat, headband, or topknot. You’re welcome.
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Day 1: I like to take advantage of freshly washed hair and take my time with my at-home blowout. Squeaky-clean means extra lift at the roots, so I start with a middle part (a flat middle part is just sad). Then before I go to bed, I split my hair into three horizontal sections and spray the roots thoroughly with dry shampoo, like Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo With Oat Milk. I prefer spraying at night rather than in the morning because I can use it liberally and the white haze wears off.
Day 2: When I wake up, my hair feels just as clean as day one—if you have fine hair, you know this is a big feat—only with a little less lift. So, day two is when I switch to a side part. The flip at the roots creates more volume, and thanks to the previous night’s dry shampoo, I can still wear my hair down. I repeat the dry-shampoo trick before bed.
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Day 3: Congratulations, you’ve made it to day three! The freshly washed, bouncy-blowout look might be out of the question, but that just means it’s time to embrace the mess, Cara Delevingne–style. I switch out my cleansing dry shampoo for a texturizing option, like Kardashian Beauty Dry Shampoo, and wrap one-inch pieces around a fat curling rod, focusing on the front. The more random the pieces, the better.
Photo: Conde Nast Digital Archive
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