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Showering is a big part of everyone’s routine, but did you know that it’s possible to shower too much? Taking multiple showers in one day can prove to be damaging to your skin and hair over time. In fact, it could be the cause of dandruff and thinning hair! Here are three reasons why experts say you shouldn’t shower multiple times in one day:
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It can ruin your skin’s natural oils
The top layer of your skin is comprised of skin cells that protect the underlying layers of healthy skin. And when you repeatedly wash and scrub it, you’re breaking this important layer of moisture. "The more showers you take, the more frequently this damage takes place and the less time your skin has to repair itself through natural oil production,” Josh Clark says.
It’s drying out your scalp
Part of having good hair health is keeping it clean. But if you wash it multiple times a day, you could actually be causing some real damage. “The more you shampoo, the more you potentially remove oils needed to protect hair shafts and keep the scalp healthy and moisturized,” dermatologist Jason Emer tells Elite Daily.
It’s a waste of water
Unless you really, really need to shower more than once a day, your multiple daily showers could be wasting a lot of water. In fact, the average shower uses 15-25 gallons of water and about 40 gallons are used in 10 minutes, according to the Glen Canyon Institute. “Typically, 20 percent of every shower, the duration, is essentially lost,” Jonah Schein, technical coordinator for homes and buildings for the EPA’s WaterSense program, tells Washington Post. “The average shower is a little over eight minutes long, so that’s a good chunk of the shower that we’re not actually being able to utilize… that’s energy-rich water that we’re running down the drain.”