How to Take Care of Your Scalp—and Why It’s Important
Key Takeaways
- Your scalp is home to an ecosystem of microorganisms that work to maintain a balanced, healthy environment.
- Certain behaviors and environmental factors can lead to an imbalance in your scalp, leading to issues like redness, dryness, flakiness, and flatness.
- Using a gentle clarifying shampoo, minimizing product buildup, giving scalp massages, and using at-home treatments can help restore balance to the scalp microbiome.
Jump to
- The Science Behind Your Scalp
- Signs Your Scalp Needs Attention
- How to Restore Your Scalp at Home
How to Take Care of Your Scalp—and Why It’s Important
Your scalp is the foundation of your hair, and it’s just as important as caring for your strands. Here’s why you should pay close attention to your scalp, what to watch for, and ways to restore your healthy scalp at home.
The Science Behind Your Scalp
Think of your scalp as a little ecosystem. It’s home to a bounty of microorganisms, specifically bacteria and fungi. Factors that play into the health of your scalp microbiome are moisture, sebum, and pH (how acidic or alkaline your scalp is). Like your skin ecosystem, these tiny microorganisms defend against pathogens and help support and maintain the balance of oils and pH on your scalp. When your scalp is out of balance (for example, overproducing sebum), it can fuel certain microorganisms that result in a host of commonly seen problems. Additionally, your scalp ages faster than the rest of the skin on your body, so you should devote some extra attention to it.
Signs Your Scalp Needs Attention
An essential condition for healthy hair is a balanced scalp. Watch out for these problems:
Flakiness and Dryness
Flakiness can result from your hair lacking moisture, often associated with itchiness. You know your scalp is dry when you see small flakes of skin, especially after scratching. Causes of an itchy, dry scalp include cold, dry weather, imbalanced scalp microbiome, and shampooing too frequently.
Redness
Flakiness and dryness frequently accompany redness. Redness may be general irritation, but it could also be psoriasis, an autoimmune condition where red patches can appear anywhere on the body, including the scalp; it is often accommodated with itchiness and flakes. Consult your healthcare provider for diagnosis and care.
Weighed-Down Strands
Are your roots looking flat or dull? Using lots of products may result in buildup in your hair, which weighs your hair down and reduces volume. Excessive dry shampooing between wash days and applying too many products to the roots may congest your scalp.
How to Restore Your Scalp at Home
A healthy scalp is free of flakes and adequately hydrated—and it goes hand-in-hand with shiny, strong hair. If that’s your goal, follow these tips to restore balance to your scalp for healthier hair:
Use a Gentle, Clarifying Shampoo
Is your hair feeling weighed down from buildup? Refresh it by washing it with a gentle, clarifying shampoo designed to remove impurities and buildup. OLAPLEX Nº.4C Bond Maintenance® Clarifying Shampoo is color-safe, non-stripping, and deeply cleanses while removing heavy metals, minerals, chlorine, pollutants, and product buildup. Pair it with a moisturizing conditioner to hydrate your scalp, like OLAPLEX Nº.5 Bond Maintenance® Conditioner.
Refrain from Overwashing Your Hair
Based on your hair type, avoid overwashing your hair. Generally, no hair type should be washed more than once a day; this can thwart your scalp’s sebum production and strip the good microorganisms in your hair, leading to an imbalance in the microbiome.
Massage Your Scalp in a (Hot) Shower
Between and during washes, give your scalp some TLC with an easy massage in a hot shower; doing so will help exfoliate dead skin cells.
Try a Scalp Treatment
There are solutions for treating an imbalanced scalp at home. OLAPLEX Nº.0.5 Scalp Longevity Treatment™ Serum is a weightless, leave-in scalp treatment that immediately hydrates and soothes the scalp and protects against accelerated scalp aging to promote hair health over time. It’s clinically proven to repair and strengthen the scalp barrier. Moreover, its Scalp Barrier Building Complex re-links disulfide bonds within keratin to strengthen the scalp barrier. Plus, a blend of essential fatty acids and ceramides provides nourishing lipid replenishment to hydrate a dry scalp.
To use this scalp treatment:
- Part hair with the needle nose applicator. Squeeze gently and apply directly to the scalp.
- Continue for as many sections as needed. Splitting up 3-4 sections on the crown and back of the head is recommended.
- Gently massage thoroughly into the scalp to ensure proper absorption.
Healthy hair starts with a healthier scalp; that’s why it’s so important to properly care for it. Take the Hair Quiz today to get closer to achieving your hair and scalp goals.
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