The Ultimate Guide to Dandruff Types, Causes and Treatments

Unfortunately, a lot of people live with a stubborn case of dandruff. Fortunately, the solution to a stubborn dandruff condition is within this ultimate guide. In this guide, we will help you understand the different types of dandruff and causes, treatments and a routine that will make a difference. Let's get started.

Dandruff has unfairly been associated with “dirty scalps”. We understand that it can happen to anyone for a multitude of reasons. Let’s look at some of the most common reasons in this ultimate guide to dandruff.

Is dandruff caused by a fungus?

Pollution, harsh chemicals, season change can all contribute towards an environment that can lead to a compromised scalp health. And it’s normal for a compromised scalp to develop a fungus called Malassezia. When Malassezia grow too quickly, it can hamper skin cell renewal which leads to cells clustering together and appearing as white flakes – or what we know as dandruff.

Is dandruff caused by too much oil?

Oil-producing glands, just below the surface of our scalp, play a crucial role in keeping our scalp moisturised and healthy. Sometimes, overactive glands produce too much oil and cause our scalp to become excessively greasy. This excessive grease clumps together to form yellowish flakes.

Is the dandruff caused by both?

When your scalp becomes too greasy, it can make for a comfortable home for fungal growth. If the fungus grows in abundance, the more it stays trapped in the grease on your scalp. This can turn a mild case of dandruff into a chronic condition accompanied by hypersensitivity, itchiness, flaking and even redness.

Some dandruff treatments you can try at home:

An effective dandruff treatment treats the symptoms as well as the root cause.

Treating symptoms:

1. Eliminating fungal growth: To begin treating dandruff, we must hinder the growth of the fungi. There are many anti-fungal ingredients that can do the job. But, we love Zinc Pyrithione because it’s not just anti-fungal but antibacterial and antimicrobial too. Zinc Pyrithione is a chemical compound, known as a coordination complex, of Zinc. It’s one of the mildest and effective ingredients to treat dandruff, especially if one has an oily scalp. We pair Zinc Pyrithione with antioxidant Blue Pea Extract for reasons we get into further along in this guide.

2. Balancing excess sebum production: To calm an overactive gland that’s producing too much oil, we recommend a combination of soothing clays. If you’re worried about the clays drying out your scalp a tad bit more than you’d like, we recommend massaging your scalp with a light, quick-absorbing plant oil that has the properties of soothing your scalp and balancing its oil production. We combine Bentonite, French Blue and Kaolin clay to clarify the scalp and help balance oil production. We love pairing it up with the quick-absorbing camellia oil and gentle salicylic acid to exfoliate and further balance oil production.

Treating the root cause:

At the root of many dandruff cases is a compromised scalp. To boost overall scalp health, we pair up our dandruff treatments with antioxidant-rich ingredients such as blue pea. Blue pea has the ability to activate our body’s master antioxidant, glutathione. Antioxidants help improve immunity and act as a defence mechanism against further damage.