Hair & scalp dilemma...

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I don't know what to do. Here's the situation:

My scalp's extremely dry & flaky. The only thing that clears my scalp are herbal oils. But when i apply oil to my scalp, my roots get greasy. I need shampoo (sulfate-free) to get it out (i cannot CO on my roots because it causes gunky buildup on my scalp) BUT when i shampoo, scalp gets dry & flaky once again!

What should i do? :(

[Arctic]

Have you tried actually moisturize the scalp? For example with your face moisturizer or aloe vera? Oils do not moisturize, they have no water in them.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Have you tried actually moisturize the scalp? For example with your face moisturizer or aloe vera? Oils do not moisturize, they have no water in them.

that works great too, without getting my roots greasy. BUT I know that such creams have cones in them; The last thing i'd want would be having to clarify my roots (scalp hates sulfates)

[minkstole]

When you CO do you use an ACV rinse afterwards? Maybe your scalp wouldn´t be so gunky and you can shampoo once every two weeks or so, to clean things up.
I´m not the expert on flakes, but could it be possible that you have a fungus of sorts, or serreaboric dermatitis (or however you spell it)? If so, the solution might be something different.
Good luck!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I tried CO with ACV rinse, that's how i got the gunk. I believe that's because my dry flakes were glued together with conditioner.

About the fungus thing; i've tried several antifungal stuff including the lotion doctor prescribed, tea tree oil, vinegar... none of these worked; actually tea tree oil and medicated lotion seemed to increase the flakes. Besides, i don't have any other symptoms of fungal infection like itch, redness, swelling, bleeding etc. The only problem is those dry flakes. Only oils could make these go away.

[minkstole]

Is it possible to exfoliate the scalp? A sugar scrub or something?

I hate to go all hippy on you, but do you think that maybe it can have something to do with what you eat? Wheat or dairy?

[kwaniesiam]

I would suggest a gentle session of scritching followed by heavily oiling the scalp overnight and washing your hair the next morning. Nightblooming makes a lovely hair/scalp oil blend I'm quite fond of for this purpose: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41454275

Vinegar rinses are also good to tame flaky scalps. Do you do those at all? Once a week might help. When you wash out the oils maybe you could look in to using indian herbs or soapnuts? Shikakai and amla are fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. Any indian grocery store should have them.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Is it possible to exfoliate the scalp? A sugar scrub or something?

I hate to go all hippy on you, but do you think that maybe it can have something to do with what you eat? Wheat or dairy?

sugar scrub is a great idea :) I'll try it this wash, to remove those dead flakes. That requires no shampoo to remove right? as sugar melts on hot water?

Unfortunately, i have no control over my diet. I'm living with my mom and she's way too obsessed in balanced nutrition; any changes i want from her she'll think i'm trying to lose weight :disgust:


I would suggest a gentle session of scritching followed by heavily oiling the scalp overnight and washing your hair the next morning. Nightblooming makes a lovely hair/scalp oil blend I'm quite fond of for this purpose: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41454275

Vinegar rinses are also good to tame flaky scalps. Do you do those at all? Once a week might help. When you wash out the oils maybe you could look in to using indian herbs or soapnuts? Shikakai and amla are fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. Any indian grocery store should have them.

heavy oilings don't mean anything if i strip all that oil while washing. My scalp will look clean the first day; next day i'd wake up to a snowy day.

I'm looking everywhere for indian herbs and shikakai since i heard excellent reviews about them, sadly haven't found them yet. Actually, anything that can strip away oil might be too drying for my scalp.

And yes, i need to get the hang on vinegar rinses. scalp or hair, i need to use it to prevent hard water buildup :(

[GoddesJourney]

Mix a light conditioner with your sls free shampoo 50/50 to start with. See if that fixes it for you.

[jaine]

Mix a light conditioner with your sls free shampoo 50/50 to start with. See if that fixes it for you.

+1, that's what I do. I saturate my hair with a big handful of conditioner and then add a quarter-sized drop of sulfate-free shampoo on top of that and lather it up.

[countryhopper]

If you DO do a treatment that makes your roots oily, try soaking up that extra oil with cornstarch. I've found I can stretch my washings this way.

[italianamama]

Mmmmm, brown sugar scrub smells sooooo gooooooood :D I have similar dry scalp/flaky/oily problems and the indian herbs do help a TON. I mix mine together and apply them on my scalp as a mask, similar to the way you would apply a face mask. Then I massage them out in the bath, because a shower isn't good enough to get all the little herb bits out of my hair.

I buy my herbs from Amazon dot com- they're super cheap. Just search for the herb you want and it will come up with a few choices :D