Do you smoke or work in a greasy kitchen? Are you an athlete who sweats a lot? Are you anticipating a time when you won't be able to wash your hair for a few days? If so, there are lots of ways to keep your hair smelling good for a long time.
1. Keeping Smells Out of Your Hair
Wash your hair regularly. This may seem like an obvious solution, but it's key, particularly if you have oily hair. Oily hair tends to pick up environmental smells. Try to wash your hair every other day or a minimum of twice a week.
2. Stop Smoking
Stop smoking. Smoke can cling to your hair and linger there for a long time, and it's very hard to mask it. If you can't completely stop smoking, try to only smoke outside and never in enclosed areas like cars. If you live or work with people who smoke, do your best to stay away from them while they're smoking or encourage them to do it outside.
3. Cover your hair in smelly environments.
If you work in a kitchen or are going to be at a smoke-filled party, cover your hair if you can. In a kitchen, wear a hairnet, kerchief, or a hat if the dress code permits. At a party, opt for a hat or a cute bandana.
If you can't cover your hair, put it up in a bun, which will limit the amount of hair that is exposed to the smell.
4. Wash your headgear and pillowcases.
Anything that comes in contact with your hair (hats, kerchiefs, helmets, scrunchies, headbands, and pillowcases) can pick up the smell of your hair when it's not clean and then transfer that smell back to you when you wear them on clean hair. Keep these items as clean as possible.
5. Clean out your brush or comb.
Especially if you use products that build up in your hair and on your brush, you could be forcing smells into your hair when you brush it. Try to clean them out about once a week.
If there is so much hair in your brush that you can't pull it out with your hands, slide a pen or pencil under the hair in the brush and pull upward.
You can also use scissors to get stubborn hair out of your brush, just be careful not to harm the bristles. Insert the scissors parallel to the rows of bristles.
For an extra clean brush, fill up your sink with warm water and add about a tablespoon of shampoo. Wash your de-haired brush in the sink, rinse it well, and let it dry.
6. Avoid sharing a brush with pets.
Zoophilic fungi grow on animals and can transfer themselves to humans. These fungi breed in warm, damp conditions, so even if you wash your hair, you may not be able to remove them.
Sometimes very close contact with pets can transfer zoophilic fungi to humans even if you don't share a brush.
If you suspect that you have acquired a fungus from an animal, see a doctor. You may need both an anti-fungal pill and an anti-fungal shampoo.
7 Use dry shampoo.
Dry shampoo is designed to absorb oil and will help soak up smells as well. Spray it liberally onto your hair before you come into contact with smells. Make sure that you spray it all over your hair. After you encounter the smells, brush your hair thoroughly to help release them from the hair.