How to care for your scalp

A hot topic these days, when I started out in hairdressing the only scalp concern people had was if they had dandruff. Brought on by certain brand of shampoo (white bottle blue lid that's all I'm saying) Now with the rise of concern about hair loss and general health of all our skin people want to know more about how to care for your scalp.

First and foremost, cleansing. Daily dirt, oil and product build up can clog hair follicles and cause inflamation and conditions like dandruff. Recommendation is once a week. Cleansing too frequently can disturb the natural balance of the scalp. Causing dryness and irritation. Also need to choose the right shampoo for your hair and scalp. Look for ones that are sulphate and paraben free, these are quite harsh and can strip the scalp of natural oils, which you need to keep your scalp balanced. If you have a lot of product build up consider a clarifying shampoo once a month for a "deep clean". final point on this rinse the product out throughly.

A good scalp massage works wonders! Not only does it feel good it stimulates the blood flow which contributes to a healthy scalp and hair growth.

Moisturise your scalp, even if it's oily. Think of it like the skin on your face. If you washed/ cleansed your face and then didn't moisturise how would it feel? Scalp is the same, all you need is the right conditioner, work it through the scalp gently before working down the hair. Rinse, moisturised!

SPF your scalp, even if you think "I've got loads of hair my scalp does't see the sun." Wrong! What about your parting and hairline? Your hair is much finer and sparser round the hairline and I see alot of ladies with pink lines down their heads May-Aug. There are sunscreen sprays on the market now designed for use on the scalp. I strongly advise using one.

Avoid tight hairstyles, excess tension and cause damage to hair and follicles.

A boring but true one. Healthy diet and hydration.

Beware of the dandruff myths. Advertising over the years have led us to belive that dandruff is flaky itchy scalp. No, that's just dry you just need to moisturise it. When the claim is to remove 100% of flakes what its actually doing is using harsh ingrediants to strip the very top layer of skin away, so its only removing the surface not helping your problem. In fact it's making it worse. Dandruff is actually very greasy and produces chunky yellow flakes of skin. If you do have this problem I would consult a pharmacist for specialist shampoo.

Whatever your scalp concerns start by consulting your hairstylist, they know you and your hair so can advise.

Happy scalp health!

Emma

Capillus Hairsalon