My father has had stubborn dandruff his whole life. It would usually get worse in the winter and when he was stressed. It would even sometimes get to his face, nose, and beard.
He would be embarrassed to walk around with the ‘confetti’ on his shoulders when we were in public and would regret wearing black and dark colors on social occasions. I never thought it was such a big deal because he never openly complained about it. But that’s my father’s generation, they just knew how to live with some ‘cosmetic’ issues.
Until about a decade ago, when you had dandruff, you would simply buy a dandruff shampoo from the supermarket or local pharmacy. It would help in the beginning and then the dandruff would come back. So you would switch to another brand; the same thing happens and repeat.
When I started to work at Kamedis, most people around told me they knew Kamedis for their dandruff shampoo. Apparently, the shampoo has been ‘the cult product’ of Kamedis for years. Logically, I gave one to my father as well… and the rest is history. We realized that dandruff is not a destiny and you don’t have to walk around with confetti. And oh yeah, you can wear black and not have to worry.
I have learned a thing or two about scalp health in these last years. It’s the hot topic of skincare today, the ‘skinifaction’ of the scalp. Thousands of products are being developed as we speak, in order to treat scalp conditions. Around half of the population suffers from dandruff, not to mention itchiness, redness, hair loss, and they are all looking for solutions.
But to treat a symptom, first you need to understand the cause.
Dandruff is the flaking of the scalp. It usually happens due to seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis, or a dry scalp. It rarely happens due to personal hygiene, and cannot be cured by over washing your hair.
Just like the skin microbiome, our scalp has a microbiome too; which is a diverse mix of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms living on our scalp. And sometimes the microbiome gets out of balance. In case of dandruff, it’s mainly due to an outbreak of a yeast called Malassezia that creates irritation, inflammation, and flakes. However, it seems like this is not the sole reason, and researchers are still working to find other linked reasons. Dandruff research has been going on for many years and it's still incomplete. There are other triggering factors to dandruff including bacteria, stress, climate, diet, etc.
In the past, dandruff was considered to be mainly a symptom of oily scalp, hence the dandruff shampoos’ mechanism of action would be focused on drying the scalp with harsh ingredients. Today we know better - stripping the natural oils from our skin is not a healthy solution, and it will create more of the same in the long run. Nevertheless the product will stop working at some point , which we call skin ‘resistance’.
The correct approach is to bring the balance back to our microbiome. Balance and the Microbiome are two words we will always connect. Our motto at Kamedis is to ‘bring the balance back’.
How do we do that? Our products contain botanicals that have prebiotic activity. Prebiotics are known to support the skin microbiome. Apart from our special blend of botanicals, aka Botaniplex®, in the Kamedis Dandruff Shampoo and Scalp Lotion we have ingredients like salicylic acid, zinc pyrithione, glycerin, and more. These formulas are designed to balance the scalp’s microbiome, reduce inflammation, irritation, redness, and flaking. Each product has a different function, and they all complement each other.
It’s important to get to know the needs of your scalp. If you want to have gorgeous hair and a calm scalp, we recommend using products that are microbiome balancing and nourishing. How will you know if your scalp is out of balance? I promise, it will talk to you. Redness, itching, drying, hair loss and bad hair days are the signs your scalp will give you when it’s out of balance. You might need a dandruff shampoo, you might need to adjust what your scalp needs if you are using hair styling products, you might need a moisturizing lotion if your scalp has dried out, and there might be many other causes and solutions.
Skin and scalp conditions are nothing to be embarrassed about. And luckily, there are science-driven, clinically proven, user-friendly solutions available to us. Find the products that talk well to your microbiome.