Use dry shampoo and use it right
Make sure you do these: wait a few minutes before brushing and styling, hold and spray at least six inches away from your hair, and give your hair one to two days rest from dry shampoo. Spritz away and blow dry! You'll be amazed at how fresh your hair looks after that.
“Mixing a few drops of apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle with water and spritzing it onto your hair will work wonders,” she says. “This trick is especially good because it doesn't leave any residue like other dry shampoos or alternatives usually do.”
"The average individual can typically go 2 to 3 days without shampooing their hair. However, if your hair is visibly oily, you may not want to wait that long," she says. "Usually, you can go longer without washing your hair when your hair is styled up, but no one should ever go more than 14 days."
Baking soda dissolved in water helps to remove any buildup of oils, soaps, and other ingredients in typical hair care products. By stripping away this buildup, baking soda can leave hair squeaky-clean, shiny, and soft.
In a glass bowl, mix 1 tbsp argan oil with 10-12 drops of essential oils, preferably lavender or jasmine. To this, add half a cup of distilled rose water. Mix and transfer it to a bottle with nozzle spray.
Tips To Avoid Smelly Hair & Scalp
Treat dandruff with an anti-dandruff shampoo. Wear a hat or scarf to protect your hair from sun damage and pollution. Resist the urge to scratch your scalp as it only leads to more oil production. Follow a good diet and avoid any pungent smelling foods in your diet.
You can also use hairspray to keep your tresses from smelling after straightening. Spray them with a special gel to keep them fresh. After straightening your hair, you can also use hairspray to make it smell good. Just be sure to use a small amount not to become overly oily.
In short, the answer is no – you shouldn't spray perfume (such as an Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum) directly into your lovely locks. If you do, you could be doing more damage to your hair than good!
If you don't, then the oils and sweat that you produce start to build up, feeding the bacteria that naturally occur on your scalp. As one trichologist told Cosmopolitan, it is those bacteria that are producing the sour to acrid smells you start to notice 24-48 hours after shampooing your hair.
Our experts agree that apple cider vinegar is safe for all hair types, including color-treated tresses. It's especially beneficial for those with major product buildup, whether that's from hairsprays, dry shampoo, braids, or excess grease.
“You've burned the cuticle and molecule element of the hair shaft, which is why you still smell the on-fire stench even when your hair is clean.” She explains that you can also burn your hair shaft through extreme and unprotected sun exposure.
The Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar balances hair and scalp pH. By lowering the pH of your scalp, ACV flattens and closes the hair cuticle. This makes your hair smoother and easier to detangle, shinier, less frizzy, less prone to breakage, and more moisturized.
You can check it by running your fingers along the scalp a few times and then smell your fingertips. Typically, there should be no fragrance at all. However, if you smell something unusual, pungent, or bad on your fingertips after brushing your hair, this implies you have a smelly scalp and hair.
If you've gone to bed with wet hair, you may have noticed an unpleasant mildew smell when you wake up. A damp scalp can lead to an overgrowth of yeast or fungus, many of which produce a foul odor. You can prevent this by ensuring you dry your hair thoroughly after washing and never go to bed with damp hair.
Body odor is what you smell when your sweat comes in contact with the bacteria on your skin. Sweat itself doesn't smell, but when the bacteria on your skin mix with your sweat, it causes an odor. Body odor can smell sweet, sour, tangy or like onions. The amount you sweat doesn't necessarily impact your body odor.
A hair mist is basically a specially formulated perfume for your hair that can refresh it in between washes. But even though these mists are created for the hair, some are also great for the skin. Having a bathroom cluttered with beauty products is not a sustainable routine.
Hair perfume is a fragrance mist that's formulated especially for your hair and scalp, without ingredients that can dry out your hair or promote frizz. Many hair perfumes are also multitaskers, providing lasting scent as well as beneficial ingredients that lock in moisture and nourish the hair.
Hair traps moisture, Lamb said, meaning that built-up bacteria on unwashed scalps can start to pick up a mildewy or sour smell after several days or a week, especially if exercise is involved.