I was perusing Babble’s Facebook page (because that’s what I do in my spare time for chuckles) & came across several commentors on my Dirty Mom vs Primped Mom piece wondering what the H-E-double hockey sticks was “third day hair.”
Oh, mommas. I envy you for not knowing what “third day hair” is when quite simply, it is hair that has gone unwashed for three days. The hair that is perfection for an updo with thanks to the grease that would hold it in place, if only your darned prom wasn’t over a decade ago.
Third day hair usually happens when I wash my hair on Friday morning. Then I rock the second-day hair on Saturday, thanks to dry shampoo & a sock bun after a rinse-off in the shower. Looking cute & lemon-fresh scented, I head to a barbeque with friends & the playground with my tot & on Saturday night, I fall into bed exhausted, promising to shower on Sunday morning. But then Sunday morning rolls around & it’s lazy with cinnamon buns & coffee & at 10am, I realize the housecleaning needs to happen. So I pull out the Oreck & go to town, promising I will shower after chores are finished. But they take a little longer than anticipated & at 2pm, I realize I’m late for play date. So it’s off to the Subaru we march, tossing a baseball cap over my (still unwashed) tresses.
By Sunday night, the hair could hold a French twist without bobby pins & when I wash them out, I’m sure baby seals are crying for the amount of oil I’m dumping into the water reserve via my shower drain.
So dry shampoo works pretty well? For some reason I’ve always been a little scared to try it.
I can say that I probably haven’t done ‘third day hair’ if not ever then in years & years. My hair is just to oily for that. & I haven’t tried dry shampoo. *But* with the babes on the way, I’d imagine ‘third day hair’ is just a few short months away from being my reality!
Been thinking of you this morning. Hugs to you & the Momma.
I have somehow trained my hair to still look good even on the third day. I used to wash every day, then every other day, then every third day. Throw in some dry shampoo on the third day and it is still ok. It is amazing and makes my life so much easier! You rock that third hair day!
That’s awesome. Can I admit I am rocking (but not in a pretty way) 3rd day hair today, as well? But I promise to get a shower and re-beautify my hair today.. I have to go to church, otherwise, I’d probably not bother.
I just washed my (GASP) 3 day hair this morning. It’s what happens when the tot insists I take a bath with her in our whirlpool tub…and I’m too lazy to then get into the shower to wash my hair. I work from home full time so there’s no one to impress…and my hair gets oiler the more I wash it.
When you have naturally curly hair, washing and drying it is a bitch. Therefore, I’ve been known to have fourth day and fifth day hair. Shower caps are my friend;-)
Courtenay- I also have curly hair and it is such a pain! I commonly rock out 4th day hair and on average only wash my hair 2-3 times a week.
Other gals- Can anyone recommend a good dry shampoo? LOL- I don’t even have kids yet and I do this- I should be terrified of when I do.
I really like the Oscar Blandi dry shampoo – it’s a little pricier than some of the others out there, but I think it truly works the best. I prefer the non-spray kind. I think you can get it in the roots a little easier than the spray kind. I think they sell it at Ulta. Good luck!
I’ve tried every dry shampoo on Earth. I love Shampowder by Buttercream cosmetics. It comes in different colors for different hair colors, and is in a blush-brush-style applicator that makes it easy to touch up your roots (my roots are the only thing that gets oily. The rest of my hair would still look nice on day 6 thanks to years of highlighting). That’s definitely my fave powder-form dry shampoo. I also like Cake Beauty Satin Sugar Hair Powder, and it smells great, but it’s in a standard powder canister so you end up spilling/wasting some.
As for sprays, I love the Big Sexy Hair dry shampoo best. The Bumble & Bumble spray is good too but a bit too pigmented. PSST! is terrible. Tresseme is terrible. John Frieda is cheap ($6) and okay in a pinch but leaves some white residue you have to be careful to brush out really well. Ditto Batiste (and most of the ones I don’t love are also really strong-smelling).
Sorry for the novel-length comment but this is a subject I’m passionate about!
Thanks for the tips girls!
Blow Faux Dry. Avoid the Suave stuff – it smells God awful.
Um, I may or may not have a container of cornstarch by my dresser (where I do my hair). I’m blonde and that, or a little bit of my loose face powder, works wonders on 3rd day hair. I recently went to water only washing, and can more easily pull off day 3 now than ever!
I do the same thing with my waves. Though I use mainly “lo poo” or “no poo” sometimes I just water wash and can extend this for a very long time. Yay waves/curls!
Ditto, Courtenay. This hair is thick, huge, and in that oh-so-fun place between curly and frizzy. Never ever straight unless 30 minutes of a good shoulder workout is put into it. I rock (maybe?) 4th and 5th day hair on a regular basis. I do think someone needs to start creating an excellent shower cap for people like us, though.
I’m totally rocking out third day hair today. I slid in a super cute headband, and the volume I’ve got going on at my crown (thank you, modified bed head) is swoon worthy. =) And yes, I have no intentions of getting out of my pjs, either. I figure, with littles underfoot, tornado warnings all around, and a severe head cold at 28w pg entitles me to a little lax-ness. But at least my hair looks good!
My 3rd day hair (a la yesterday) is downright scary & is reserved solely for Sundays at home when nobody but the hubs will see me. Even a slicked back ponytail is a horrifying sight. Needless to say, I almost never let it get to that point…but me and second day hair are best buds!
Ha! I too am sporting third day hair today and *gasp* it might turn into fourth day hair if I’m not careful. I haven’t had a haircut since before the last little one was born in November so it’s really long, plus it’s naturally wavy and DRY. I’m too frazzled to even pull out the dry shampoo (which BTW, Bumble and Bumble makes a good one for us ladies with dark hair, although it is a little pricey). The thought of having to wash it exhausts me even more. I feel lucky on the days I get to shower, so unless the ladies at Hobby Lobby or JoAnn’s where it feel like I spend most of my time start commenting, I could care less if it looks like a family of rats are shacking up in my pony tail. Deal with it
I refuse to believe that there are mamas out there that don’t rock the third day hair from time to time. Refuse, I tell you!
refuse away, but I am a mom who has NEVER done third day hair. Even second day hair is a rarity.
I’ve never done 3 day hair… 2 day hair happens maybe once a year. I feel nasty if I don’t wash my hair every day. I wish that I could go longer between hair washings!!!
Third Day Hair and I are BFFs.
Granted, I have curly hair so by the second day, it’s in a pony tail but still.
And if I have a blow out, I rock that ish for as long as humanly possible.
Embrace the hair funk, people
Dude, I’ve made blow-outs last 8 days. No lie. Dry shampoo, shower caps, holler.
I’m not a mama, but am a nanny for triplets, 3rd day hair ROCKS! I can’t live without my Suave Dry Shampoo. Not to mention my bf PREFERS my 3rd day hair, he thinks it looks ‘just out of bed’ messy
ugh my first day hair is your third day hair by the end of the day — it’s so fine & oily i can’t stand it! i’m jeaaaalous.
I am jealous of the curly haired girls that can do third-day hair. After two unwashed days my curly hair turns into a giant knot that only an ungodly amount of conditioner can undo.
To all you ladies who think this is a total impossibility- I swear your hair will eventually start creating less oil when you wash it less. I like to go 3-4 days and I don’t really need any dry shampoo until the third day. Oh, the one catch is that the 4th day calls for a pony tail. haha. I swear my hair is healthier for it.
I’m with Jessica- embrace the hair funk!
I’ve found this to be true, too! I started washing every other day thanks to Veronika at Veronika’s Blushing & my hair has done SO MUCH BETTER. These days, second-day hair looks like what half-way through the day used to look like for me.
Third day hair, on the other hand, always looks gross on me. It’s like my head has a 48-hour oil bomb that goes off.
Heck yes, Veronika. She has inspired me to rock the second-day hair look. In fact, today was my first day using the new Suave Keratin dry shampoo and I l-o-v-e it.
I am proud to admit that I have third-day hair weekly
There is no way I could wash my hair every day – it’s too clean to do anything . My hair always looks better the second day & I can usually get away with third-day hair though that depends on the season & humidity. If I’m wearing a barrette in my hair, that means I likely am sporting third-day hair. SO glad I’m not the only one!
Babble’s FB page has the same entertainment value as the boards once had for me. It’s ridiculous, and hillarious.
It’s like…you go on there & just laugh.
I thought I destroyed the English language with my usage of ampersands but nope, the masacre is alive & well.
So jealous that you can do this! I cannot go a day without washing my hair as it’s short. I’d look so greasy otherwise. Also my hair is quite fine so even when it was long I was washing constantly.
You are one lucky lady…
I have the world’s finest, thinnest hair. If I don’t wash my hair every single day, it looks like cat ass. Like seriously – like the cat has been cleaning its ass, and its sitting on my head.
I’ve tried the dry shampoo thing and then I look like there was an oil spill trying to be covered up with ranch dressing. Dry shampoo always turns pasty and gross on my head.
Boo.
Used to wash my hair everyday, had kids – lucky to wash every other day. Mama is tired and that extra 30 min of washing, drying, straightening…much better spent in bed:)
I could not live without dry shampoo! THANK YOU Suave for creating an afordable version that actually works and isn’t overpriced like Ojon!!!
I’ve recently started washing every other day and I love it. If I get my act together on the days I wash, I can make the blowout last the two days. I haven’t worked up the nerve to try for 3 days yet. I think I’ll need to get some dry shampoo first.
I’m going to have to try this dry shampoo stuff. I’ve never used it! After my first child my hair became dry and I can wash twice a week with no problem. Granted it is in a ponytail 5 out of 7 days a week but even if I do blow dry or use my products to go wavey, I can’t handle it down for more than a day or two! I used t o have oily hair prior to kids and had to wash regular!
I routinely rock third day hair proudly! I’ve found many of the dry shampoos to be expensive, so I tried baby powder….it works great, smells great and it’s cheap. I bought an inexpensive large makeup brush and use it to apply the powder to my greasy tresses, and voila, the grease is gone and I smell baby fresh!
Hells to the yeah on 3rd day hair. All the time. That doesn’t make me dirty. In fact, according to a friend who graduated from one of the top hairdressing schools in the country, you aren’t supposedc to wash your hair every day. It strips it of the natural oils. When you wash every other or every 3rd (occasionally the 4th….) day, you hair will get used to it and not get so greasy. At least mine did.
THIRD DAY HAIR ROCK ON. I’m a good mom. The state of affairs in my tresses doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it.
I have very curly hair, so when I blow it out, I’m getting my efforts-worth. I use Big Sexy Hair Dry shampoo, too. But want to know my ultra-secret third day trick? Wash just the bangs/front in the sink. Blow out in 4 minutes and give a shot of Big Sexy to the rest of the roots on top.. Fluff-s-licious and ready to go.
Ellen
Only thing that foils all this is that blasted thing known as exercise.
Okay, I know I am going to get flamed for this…but, I just have to say it. The thought of third-day hair makes me want to vomit. What is so difficult about washing your hair? Do you not have a husband that can watch your son for 20 minutes so you can wash and dry your hair? Does your son not go to bed at 7pm???? Seriously, how hard is it to sneak away for a few?????
I also find it strang how many moms agreed with you. All I can do is scratch my head!!!!
ha, no flames from me! Third-day hair is where I draw the line. I have never done fourth-day hair.
But the less you wash your hair…like, how I now wash mine every other day…less oil you produce. So third-day hair isn’t as gross as it used to be for me!