Calling all dry scalp girlies! Are you tired of constantly scratching your head? Well, You’re not alone. If you struggle with dandruff and dry scalp issues, you are going to love today’s blog post. These are the best dry scalp products that will give real relief and clear any flare ups.
Looking back, I’ve always struggled with dry scalp, and dandruff. After having my daughter it seemed like it only got worse. I now struggle with scalp psoriasis…Yay! After having a MAJOR flare up about a year ago- I panic researched, and purchased (lol) every dandruff and scalp product I could get my hands on. To be honest, a lot of them sucked. If you’re having a psoriasis flare up, or your sick on constantly struggling with flaky dandruff, you’re in the right place. These are the best dry scalp products, and the products to avoid!
This Post Is All About Best Dry Scalp Products
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Understanding Dry Scalp vs. Scalp Psoriasis
Before diving into the best products, it’s important to understand what causes dandruff vs. having scalp psoriasis. Dandruff is caused by a lack of moisture and sebum (oil) production on the scalp. This is what gives you the itchiness and flakiness. On the other hand, scalp psoriasis is a chronic skin condition. Scalp psoriasis causes red, scaly patches on the scalp. It’s important to know the cause of your itchy scalp, so you can chose the products with the best active ingredients.
Tackling Build Up
Product and hard water build up can be a major culprit behind dry scalp issues. I know we all love those sleek back looks right now, but the gels, sprays, and dry shampoos- We gotta give our hair a break. Even certain shampoos can leave a lot of build up on the hair. I love the smell of those drug store shampoos too, but they are essentially coating your hair with a thin coat of wax. All of that product build up not only weighs down your hair but can also clog your hair follicles, which is going to keep them getting the right amount of moisture they need. Lack of moisture= dry flaking scalp.
Some good ways to tackle product and water build up:
Monthly Malibu Treatment- You can either go to your salon, or they sell these clarifying Malibu treatments that you can honestly do yourself. You just put it all over dry hair, put on a shower cap (super important) the heat from your scalp will activate the treatment, so don’t skip the shower cap. Leave it on for about 20 minutes and rinse it out. They sell one for chlorine, and it’s insane! The gel will literally turn green inside the cap from all the chlorine pulled out of the hair.
Showerhead filter– I will never stop telling people they need a shower head filter. Especially if where you live has well water. There is not a single person in your home that will not benefit from upgrading to a filtered shower head. It’s so much better for your skin, and especially your hair and scalp. You would be shocked at the difference in your hairs texture and shine after you switch. I’ve had the Jolie Shower filter for about a year, and I always say it- Absolute game changer.
Clarifying Shampoo- You need a good clarifying shampoo in your routine. You don’t want to use it every time you shower, but at least once a week, or every other week. I worked in a hair salon for years, and the Bumble & Bumble Sunday shampoo has always been my go to clarifying shampoo. If you are in pinch and looking for a very inexpensive option, a little dawn dish soap mixed with your regular shampoo will do the trick. Keep in mind, this is not a great option for colored hair.
Ingredients To Look For
Time for a little science lesson!
Selenium Sulfide: This can be found in products like Selsum Blue. Selenium Sulfide slows down the growth of skin cells on the scalp, so it prevents them from clumping together and forming flakes.
Zinc Pyrithione: It’s an anti-fungal ingredient. It helps to get rid of a certain fungus on the scalp called Malassezia. It’s what’s responsible for triggering dandruff. This is found in Head & Shoulders.
Coal tar: Slows down the production of skin cells, reducing inflammation, and controls itching.
Salicylic acid: Helps to exfoliate the scalp, removing dead skin cells and reduces flakiness.
Ketoconazole: An antifungal ingredient that targets the yeast responsible for dandruff.
Tea tree oil: Anti-inflammatory and helps to alleviate itching.
Piroctone olamine: Another antifungal ingredient that helps reduce Malassezia.
My Psoriasis Flare Up Horror Story.
You guys, I did not want to share this at all… but then how would you trust me with any of these products?! My flare up got so bad that it spread down my forehead on to my face and neck. I was so uncomfortable, and I couldn’t even look at myself. I know it’s dramatic, but I cried for like 2 weeks. After I was done having my pity party, and finding out I was on an 8 month waitlist for the dermatologist, I went and bought every single scalp and dandruff product I could find. These are the only photos I still have. You can’t tell how flaky my scalp was because my hair is wet, but my skin was so flaky, itchy, raw you name it. I’m sad even thinking about it!
These red patches went all around my hairline, the back of my neck, around the back of my ears and all over my scalp. This was beyond uncomfortable- When I tell you I tried every products, I literally tried everything I could get my hands on quickly.
Flare Up Products I loved…and hated
Nizoral 5/10
Active ingredient: Ketoconazole. This was just okay. I did notice less flaking, but I felt like I needed to use it really often, the results were not very long lasting.
Neutrogena TGel 0/10
Active Ingredient: Salicylic Acid. Skip it, throw it away. My hair did not feel clean after using this and I didn’t notice any difference in flaking or itchiness.
Selsum Blue 7/10
Active Ingredient: Selenium Sulfide. This did work, I noticed some improvement as far as flaking, but it did not help with any of the scalp psoriasis or itching.
Head & Shoulders Clinical Strength 8/10
Active Ingredient: Zinc Pyrithione. This definitely helped, and it makes your head feel really minty, so that helped with having an itchy scalp. The redness would calm down, but then it would flare up again after a few days.
Medicasp 10/10
Active Ingredient: Coal Tar. This helped me so much. This calmed down the redness, and I had a lot of relief for about a week, which is fine because that’s typically when I would wash my hair again. I started using this every other day, super drying FYI. Get a hair mask. This cleared everything up in about 2 weeks.
Dermarest Psoriasis 5/10
Active Ingredient: Salicylic acid. The results were not great for me, and left my hair really dry.
Happy Cappy 7/10
Active Ingredient: Pyrithione Zinc. This is actually meant for babies with cradle cap, but it does work great for clearing up psioriasis patches, and dandruff. The only thing I don’t like about it, is it doesn’t have a great lather- The consistency is kind of like lotion, so I usually will follow up with my regular shampoo after using it.
Best Dandruff Scalp Scrubs
An alternative to using a clarifying shampoos is a scalp scrub. They are a great way to get rid of build up on the scalp, dead skin cells, and excess oil. Using a scalp scrub once or twice a month is going to transform your hair game.
Christophe Robin Sea Salt Scrub
Goop Beauty Himalayan Salt Scrub
Pacifica Rosemary Detox Scalp Scrub
The Best Spot Treatment for Dry Scalp
Sometimes, dry scalp issues are localized to specific areas on the scalp and show up in patches. If you don’t want to go through the whole scalp treatment, double shampoo routine, a good spot treatment can target small specific areas if you have a small patch.
Managing dandruff, and scalp psoriasis can sometimes feel impossible, but with the right products and treatments you will be able to have an itch free scalp in no time. Remember, figuring out where your dandruff, or dry scalp is coming from is important so you can make sure you are choosing the right ingredients for your needs. The ingredients needed for classic dandruff is different from those dealing with Scalp Psoriasis. This topic is so near and dear to my heart, since it is something I struggled with for a long time. If your dealing with psoriasis, it’s a good idea to get in with a dermatologist, but if that isn’t immediately possible, I hope you are able to find some relief with the options laid out in this post!