While living in Japan, my hair gets so oily that I have to wash it every other day. Whereas in the US I only had to wash it twice a week. I’m using the same hair products I used in the US, so maybe the water in my shower is causing the problem… Does anybody else have this issue? Is there a showerhead or filter that could help? I have Caucasian hair, by the way.
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Hair can get naturally oily if you wash it too often. Maybe you’re stuck in a bad loop of washing your hair too often because it feels oily and then it gets oiler?
High levels of humidity can lead to increased sweating and therefore needing to wash more often.
In addition, tap water here has added chlorine, which may affect individuals differently.
And yes, shower head filters are sold online.
Water hardness effects shampoos and conditioners. This could be an issue.
It may also be the diet that changes between your home country and here.
And, of course, the level of air pollution; here in Nagoya, I only have to ride my bicycle once across the city, and my hair gets slimy.
When I lived in one city, my hair would get oily quickly. When I moved to Tokyo, not as quickly. If your water is more or less hard, that can certainly have an effect. Along with the humidity or the products you use.
Try using a salon quality product as well. A lot of drugstore shampoos and conditioners are quite watered down in terms of effectiveness.
Are you eating a lot of Oysters?
Mine gets oily from sweating so much in this heat and humidity.
Food?
I found the same. I could wash my hair once a week back in the US, and now it’s every other day. This happened through the winter too, so it’s not just the heat and humidity.
I don’t have any fixes for ya though, only solidarity.
Depends where you leave. In polluted city like Tokyo hair get oily quickly. Go in The country side and you ll see. At least that what I see for my self. It is also vicious circle the more you shampoo the faster your hair get oily.
I have thin, straight, caucasian hair and i NEVER have problems in my home country. One day in japan BOOM oily, even flatter than regular, need to wash every day. I started using the blue メリット shampoo and it does help. I WISH i could use other shampoos bc meritt is boring af but so far its really the only thing that helped
If you’re using Japanese shampoo, it contains silicone designed to bring out ‘sheen’ ( I’m angry at myself for knowing this. I have a wife and daughter and know entirely too much about hair care products. I never asked to know any of these things….) . I have super thin genetically Irish hair. It can make you look greasy.
I’ve been having the same issues after moving to sumidaku Tokyo. Never was my face or scalp this oily in Nagoya or in adachi… friend also said chlorine in the water could be doing it
The water in the US where I live is harder than the water in Japan so maybe it’s not drying your hair out as much therefore retaining more oil.
Are you using conditioner? Those have a lot of oils in them and the water may not be rinsing enough out.
My hair actually went the opposite. I used to have to wash my hair every other day and now I only have to wash it once or twice a week. I also have fairly thin and wavy caucasian hair. But, this change also happened when I moved apartments. In my old apartment it was the same as the US, but since moving into my new apartment I’ve been washing my hair significantly less. So, it could be dependent on your city’s water as well.