We all know the mental gymnastics that come with simply having hair. Let me take a wild guess: you plan your wash days to a tee. In fact, your entire schedule kind of revolves around when your hair will be at its cleanest. You meticulously plan your workouts, your important hangouts, your parties, your lazy days, all so that they fit perfectly into the hair washing routine. Am I right? Of course I am. We all do it.

Often you may find yourself squeezing in an extra wash day for an important event — or maybe, you stretch out the time before your next wash in order to fit in one more sweaty workout. Been. There.

But, wild scheduling mental gymnastics aside, how often should you actually be washing your hair? Many of us have unwittingly fallen into a rigid routine, washing our hair not because our hair needs it, but because it’s what we’ve always done. However, some hair types and textures require much more frequent washing than others, and deviating from what’s optimal could be causing more harm than good.

But after years of potentially messing up the natural oils in our scalp, how are we meant to know what our natural hair truly needs? How are we supposed to reset our hair and strip back our routines to re-establish what’s best?

To take matters into our own strands, we called upon Anabel Kingsley, trichologist at award-winning haircare brand Philip Kingsley, and stylist Alexia Harsan to give us all the answers.

Below, Anabel tells us exactly how often to wash hair, whether it’s fine, combination, coarse or otherwise. So, next time someone scoffs at you for staying in to wash your hair, send them this article and get back to dancing around to Beyoncé in the shower.

How often should you wash your hair?

“In terms of how often to shampoo, it depends on your hair type, and what you do to your hair after you wash it – but I would not go for more than 3 days between washes,” advises Anabel. Leave it any longer and this can have a negative impact on your scalp. “Your scalp is skin and needs similar care to the skin on your face – and for scalp health, daily cleansing is best.”

And as Anabel points out, “you take your hair and scalp to the same places you take your face and they get just as dirty. You wouldn’t go for days on end without washing your face (especially if you live in a city) – so why would you do that to your scalp?”

“Not washing your hair enough can create a buildup of dirt , oils and dead skin cells. All these can potentially be causing itching, dandruff or all sort of dermatitis and scalp issues including hair loss,” warns Alexia.

She adds, “If you have difficulty with removing oils and first from your scalp I would seriously consider a Detoxifying Scrub Shampoo . My go to would Natural Tech Detoxifying Scrub Shampoo or Solu Shampo combined with Solu Scrub Shampoo.”

Is it OK if I wash my hair everyday?

According to Anabel, it is absolutely OK to wash your hair every day. “Contrary to popular belief, your hair will not become less oily the less you wash it, nor will daily washing strip oils from your hair if you are using the correct shampoo and conditioner for your hair texture,” she says.