so you’ve gone no-poo/low-poo and now you’ve started seeing some flakes…
or maybe the cold weather has dried up your poor scalp.
let’s check out some ways to keep your scalp moisturized and healthy!
causes of dry scalp/flakes/dandruff:
- dry scalp
- irritation to ingredients
- bacteria/fungus on the scalp
so what can we do to help our scalps out? try these natural solutions! you don’t need to do them all. experiment and see which one/s work best for you and your hair type 🙂 when trying one, use it for a few washes before you judge it. some of these will take a little time, and others will be a little more immediate (depending on the severity of the dandruff and your hair type). the “**” denotes low-poo friendly options only, and should be avoided by no-poo-ers!
natural solutions to dandruff –
overall tips:
- drink enough water. you should be drinking roughly 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight, or 2/3 oz of water per pound of body weight if you’re very active.
- wash your hair less & remember to scritch and preen!
- take fish oil supplements. i swear by this fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend. it’s pricey, but the best money can buy (that i know of). you can either get it in capsules (easier to take daily), or as a gel (what i have… it’s tough taking it, but i don’t mind much anymore. it goes great in tuna salad! haha).
natural solutions:
each solution is unique, so don’t be afraid to play around with them (and maybe even mix some things up!)
- try a different wash – if you’re a no-poo-er, ditch the baking soda and switch to a no-poo alternative or a low-poo (you can even try water-only, which is what i do now!). the bs/acv routine could very well be too drying for your scalp. you can always switch back later on down the road!
- raw honey – slather raw honey on your scalp and massage into wet hair. let it sit for 15-20 minutes and rinse well with cool water.
- acv – use an acv rinse on your scalp. this should be stronger than your usual acv rinse. try 3-4 tbs per cup instead of the usual 1 tbs. rinse well with cool water.
- EOs – add a few drops of tea tree oil or rosemary oil to your bs/acv mixes. rinse well with cool water.
- pure aloe vera – slather pure aloe vera on your scalp and let sit for 15-20 minutes. rinse with cool water. *this is my go-to remedy!
- lemons – rinse with lemon water (1 tbs fresh lemon juice to 1 cup water). rinse well with cool water.
- witch hazel – rinse with 3 tbs witch hazel and 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice. rinse well with cool water.
- whip up a couple egg yolks and apply it to your scalp on dry hair. let it sit for 15-20 minutes and rinse very well with cool water.
- onion – blend an onion and massage the “paste” into your scalp. leave on for 30-60 minutes and rinse very well with cool water. a lemon juice rinse will get rid of the onion smell!
- coconut oil – massage coconut oil into your scalp before you wash your hair. let it sit for 20 minutes to overnight and wash out. you can add in 1 drop of tea tree oil or rosemary oil for every tbsp of coconut oil for extra flake fighting power! **
- oils – as with CO, you can also massage almond oil or jojoba oil into your scalp before you wash your hair. let it sit for 20 minutes to overnight and wash out. you can add in 1 drop of tea tree oil or rosemary oil for every tbsp of oil for extra dandruff fighting power! **
- DIY scalp rinse – try this heavy duty scalp rinse!
whew! i hope this helps!
what’s worked best for you? any other tips you have?? leave it all below! ❤
and don’t forget to enter in the “thank you giveaway”!! just as a little THANK YOU to my crunchies, i’m giving away an essential oils kit! ENTER HERE! CLOSED.
the title picture is clearly edited for pinterest reasons… lol
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I’ve been sticking with the ROM for nearly a year now. It’s going well, except for the dandruff! It’s enough to tempt me back to washing, and I don’t know what do do. HELP!
Try epsom salts. Try both dissolving it in water and rinsing through your hair and scalp as well as scrubbing your scalp with epsom salts. Exfoliate your scalp, basically. Epsom salts is in a lot of hair care products already. Might not help, might be your secret weapon. I use it on my husband and it works great. He’s had dandruff for his entire life and I only started seeing it going totally no poo (from not scrubbing so well I believe), I don’t use bs/acv though. Just epsom salts and I’m doing pretty well. I have long thin hair but I have a lot of it.
Hi, so I have some dandruff that I want to get rid of and I have tried the coconut oil one twice but both times my hair was falling out like crazy when the oil was in and it is super hard to get out even though I am using SheMoisture shampoo. so I would like to try Raw Honey but I am worried that my hair will be sticky and also do I need to wash my hair like normal after putting the honey in and rinsing it out? if I tried the ACV rinse when would I wash my hair like normal?
does anyone have an answer to these questions, it would be greatly appreciated because my no poo/low poo journey hasnt really went really well and I still get greasy hair one or two days after I wash even though I only wash once a week. it is very frustrating.
my hair is thin and oily.
honey wont leave your hair sticky if its wet prior to. But make sure you wring out gently as much excess water as possible so that its doesnt get too diluted. Your hair will smell like honey too! 🙂 It works really well on your hair.
PS… this is also genetic… my mom had the same thing when she was younger and treats it with a harsh dandruff shampoo also.
What about cradle cap for kids. My daughter has had this since she was born. It never went away…we finally tried dandruf shampoo and all it did was make her head itch really bad and now the cradle cap is white instead of yellow. My daughter is now 8 and I am afraid she will have to deal with this her whole life. So if you know of anything that may slow or stop the over production of cells… I think that is what cradle cap is…. let me know. It’s not dandruff but I can’t seem to find anyone that knows how to stop the stuff. Thanks!
Angela, I have no idea if this would be helpful to chronic cradle cap….but when my girls were babies, I rubbed olive oil into their scalp, combed through it, then washed and over time that alleviated the cradle cap. I’m not sure how helpful this would be with what you are dealing with, but perhaps worth a try?
Cradle cap can be a form of eczema. My daughters have struggled with it their whole lives as well (3yrs & 7yrs). I haven’t found anything that has completely worked yet, but we are trying baths with ACV in it or spraying their hair while they are in the shower with ACV to see if it helps. (I found some resources that say ACV is suppose to be great for eczema). Any way just a thought on another route you might look into.
I had the same problem with my daughter and I use mineral oil and a soft toothbrush! I would just rub a little on the scalp and very gently use a toothbrush in a Circular motion and then just wash!
I hope this works!
Hey, i have now been no poo washing for months not and i swear its the best thing i ever did for my hair!… i totally would never go back to shampoo and conditioner again! but heres my question i deal with Scalp Psoriasis/dandruff which sucks big time!… and i just read that using vodka is a very good way of dealing with it! but i dont know if it no poo wash friendly and what kinda treatments to use… i am looking for a good all natural way to deal with it… i use coconut oil, raw honey, aloe to deep condition my hair and scalp, i use the crunchy method with the clay and acv raw honey and water mix and i am wondering if u know of any good ways to treat my scalp? if the vodka would help? and how to do it? if its safe for my no poo washing… PLEASE HELP winter is here and its all kicking in full gear now! ( which is really annoying)