I have a lot of requests on how I take care of my hair. Well.. Truth is, I don’t.
Not necessarily at least.
Here’s a little background story. For the longest time, I knew I have sensitive scalp. I’ve tried quite a few different products in the past with a low success rate. The major fails for me were Pantene (sorry, I tried but you gave me massive dandruff with terrible itches every single time).
There were a lot of misunderstandings. I thought I had dandruff, so I went to use Head & Shoulders for a few years, even tried the different variety (the mint/menthol one was the best). It worked fine until it didn’t anymore. So this is where I was starting to have a hard time.
Gradually, my scalp started to get really itchy and blemishes appeared. Tiny red bumps scattered around the head. Because my scalp was itchy, I couldn’t help but scratching it, resulting in a bloody aftermath. The dried spots would get scratched again and again. I remembered this had happened previously when I was in middle school. I would picked the same spots constantly. I would even patiently waited for them to dry out so I can pick them again. It’s a VICIOUS cycle. It was an awful habit until I noticed the area had become bald. That’s when I knew I had to stop. When the condition reappeared again, I was wary.
I was recommended to use Kérastase Bain Vital Dermo-Calm shampoo and its hair tonic (discontinued) by my cousin who had a similar situation. I continued to use the shampoo as I felt it calmed the scalp. But, after years, it started to take a toll, considering it’s not exactly cheap. So I cheated here and there, trying to find other (more affordable) options that’s easily available in the supermarkets/drugstores. I had tried Herbal Essences, some “organic” brand (I’ll update), Mane ‘n Tail, Furatasse; all to no avail. After a few uses, my scalp acted out again. The worst part was, when I came back to Kerastase, it didn’t work! Crap.
I am very used to this condition, mind you. I thought it’s just the way it is and I just have to be more cautious about it. It’s like a daily intake, every time I go to a salon, people will make a comment about how red my scalp is. And they’re scared that they might do something wrong or they’d being too rough handling my head (since I usually asked them to scratch the scalp real good during washing, a guilty pleasure, I know). And I’d explain my condition to them so on and so forth.
But after the Kerastase ordeal, I was stranded. I had to deal with these issues for months while trying to figure something out. I’m not shampoo-less, I still use it (have to wash my hair, obviously) but the condition got more severe. I thought about going to a doctor, but if you know me, I don’t lose hope easily. I was frustrated, I won’t lie. But I took it as a sign though. It’s time to make changes!
After careful assessments and guesses, one of the biggest probabilities about what’s causing these issues is my scalp couldn’t take sulfates (SLS, SLES, ALS) anymore. I’m not going to attempt on explaining what they are because that would take forever and I’d rather leave you to read around (hint: Google). I suspect these surfactants strip the crap out of my scalp and left it gaping for nourishment. But that’s one of the possible causes. I’m willing to test this one out.
As far as the actual hair goes, I am blessed with thick hair and barely any issues. It’s naturally straight and doesn’t get tangled easily. OK, there’s some breakage and fall outs but it’s still considered normal (based on what my hairdressers said). When this happens, I usually resort chopping my hair off as the usual fix. That being said, I also noticed the fall outs got worse as my scalp’s health deteriorated. I haven’t dyed or perm my hair in years. So what you see in the photos are my real natural hair, with styling tool involved to curl the ends.
In this new Scalp & Hair section, I will dish out the new findings and routine that I’m currently on. I’m starting to get a hang of things so I’m quite confident I can *finally* be a little more adventurous when it comes to hair care.
Stay tuned!