Have you ever scratched your head and noticed a bunch of small white flakes falling from your scalp? Well, those white little particles that vaguely resemble snowflakes are known as dandruff.
While dandruff isn’t contagious or dangerous to our health, it can become embarrassing and sometimes hard to treat. Fortunately, dandruff can be maintained with nothing more than consistent shampooing and moisturizing. For more serious cases of dandruff, you must first know what causes your dandruff to determine how you can successfully treat it.
What Is Dandruff?
Dandruff is the common name for Seborrheic Dermatitis (SD). Dandruff is accompanied by itchy, flaking, and scaling skin that occurs primarily on the scalp, whereas SD can cause inflammation that can affect the scalp as well as other parts of the body where sebum (oil) is produced.
In order to find the solution to your dandruff dilemma, you must first pinpoint what is causing the dandruff in the first place.
Dandruff Causes
There can be several contributing factors that can cause dandruff, including:
- Not washing your hair enough: If you don’t wash your hair on a consistent basis, the oils and skin cells from your scalp can build up, resulting in dandruff.
- Oily and irritated skin: One of the more common causes of dandruff is usually marked by greasy, red skin covered by flaky yellow or white scales.
- Malassezia: This is a yeast-like fungus that irritates the scalp and causes more skin cells to grow and extra skin cells to fall off onto your shoulders and clothes.
- Sensitivity to certain hair care products: Sensitivities to certain ingredients in your hair products can cause a red, scaly, and irritated scalp.
- Dry skin: Flakes as a result of dry skin are typically smaller and less oily. They typically don’t cause inflammation or redness like dandruff does.
Although having dandruff can make you want to hide your scalp under a hat, there is a solution. Moisturizing your hair on a consistent basis can help you get rid of dandruff, but if you are experiencing a more severe or chronic case of dandruff, try making your own shampoo that specifically tackles your dandruff problem.
Dandruff Shampoo: Brought to You by Mother Nature
Since most of the dandruff shampoos sold on the market are full of unhealthy chemicals and ingredients that do nothing for your hair, try using this anti-dandruff shampoo that can help reduce the appearance of dandruff.
Coconut and Lavender Dandruff Shampoo
What you will need:
- 1 cup of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of unscented liquid castile soap
- 1/2 cup of rose water
- 1 tablespoon of ground fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon of diatomaceous earth
- 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil
- 10 drops of lavender essential oil
- 5 drops of rosemary essential oil
- 10 drops of tea tree essential oil
Method:
- Blend coconut milk, coconut oil, and castile soap together.
- Add rose water, apple cider vinegar, and diatomaceous earth and blend.
- Add essential oils and blend.
- Add fenugreek and make sure all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.
- Add mixture to a BPA-free container.
Please note: The following ingredients all propose a variety of benefits that will get rid of dandruff and promote hair growth. Used overwhelmingly, essential oils can become abrasive, so make sure you speak to a dermatologist first about recommended usage.
