Hair Care Alert - Heads Against Dandruff!

Dandruff...what a bore! Dandruff is one of lifes ways of messing up your hair, and often messing up your day in the process. Dandruff is a nightmare, dandruff is irritating, dandruff is so insignificant in the big scheme of things that it becomes even more annoying when it does affect you. Dandruff is something we dislike and we think it is about time we took a stand. So let's launch the heads against dandruff club!!!

Well, this is where the Heads Against Dandruff Club begins. We are going to take over the net, we are going to get all over blogs, onto website and onto Facebook and Twitter like a flakey white batch of dandruff on your head! But fear not, we are here to help, we are going to find the best cure for dandruff, we are going to use a little science, a few case studies and lots of hair products to make dandruff a thing of the past. So, I guess there is just one more thing to ask...are you with me?!!

What is Dandruff?

So, before we wage war against dandruff, we are going have to know what we are up against. Dandruff is essentially dry skin, but of-course, there is a lot more to it than that. Dandruff isn't just called dandruff, oh no, it also has a really long and pretentious medical name as well: Pityriasis simplex capillitii, we aren't going to worry about that though, it took long enough to type correctly the first time.

The dandruff page on Wikipedia says that dandruff is "the shedding of dead skin cells from the scalp (not to be confused with a dry scalp)." Yes, like she said, don't cnfuse it with dry skin...silly.

It is a completely common for your skin to dry and 'flake' off, dandruff just abuses this normal right. Dandruff can be caused by a number of different things, and in true journalistic fashion, I have done some research and found a fantastic list of causes which I am now going to reference for you now...with full credit to the Hair Care Guide of course, thanks guys!

Causes of Dandruff:

Hormone imbalance
Excessive perspiration
Allergic reactions
Excessive stress
Poor hygene
Poor nutritioin/health
Lack of sleep
Inherited genetic trait
Inadequete shampooing and rinsing of the hair
Tight fitting hats
Excessive use of hair styling products (gel, mouse, hair dye, hair curler...)
Cold weather
Dry enviroment
Excessive Heat

Wow, looks like we have a job on our hands, in-fact, there is almost less stuff that doesn't cause dandruff. So, what has this research taught us? Well, we are up against a tricky customer. Dandruff has a heavy arsenal of weapons against your perfect hair and so you are going to have to be prepared. So, let's select our first weapons to fend off dandruff whilst we decide on our next move...and remember, don't flake out, we are all in this together (ahem, excuse the 'flake out' pun there).

Anti-Dandruff Shampoo and Conditioner

Ok, so we are looking for a quick fix to dandruff. We will need two simple tools, a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner. Both will have to be optimised for fighting dandruff and both will have to used carefully to ensure the best results. These will be our quick fix shampoo and conditioner products for dandruff whilst we work on a long term strategy to give dandruff a kick up the bum!

• The Anti Dandruff Shampoo - There are lots of anti dandruff shampoo proucts out there, so finding one wasn't too much of a problem, what we wanted to do though was find a really good one, one that will do the job properly. So with a little hunting around we found one that is going to give dandruff a shake up (and it doesn't have Head and Shoulders in the name, come on, there are more types of shampoo out there than that!).
  
  We chose to go with Simply Zen Dandruff Controller Shampoo. This anti dandruff shampoo is amazing, it is top top quality, it smells really nice and most importantly, it works! From the science side of things, this shampoo includes "anti-bacterial properties of zinc pyrithione which soothes the irritation and itching whilst botanical extract allantoin help restructure proteins." If I translate this back into English, this basically means that Simply Zen anti dandruff shampoo is good for your scalp and it will help to get rid of dandruff. So, squirt a bit of that on and come back to me when you are ready to condition your hair.



• Anti Dandruff Conditioner - The conditioner for the job was a little more of a hunt. Whilst shampoos are ten a penny, finding a real good quality conditioner is very important. As I have said time and time again, if you are going to spend the money on your hair, spend it on conditioner, you really can't go wrong. So with all of that out of the way, let's see which conditioner to use.
  
  We have gone for a more un-conventional conditioner for our war on dandruff. As opposed to a normal conditioner, Milkshake Conditioning Whipped Cream is made of a magical formula that is wonderful to use. This anti dandruff conditioner is aimed at caring for dry and damaged hair, but take my advice, it is gentle and it works absolute wonders on dandruff and dry scalps. Because it is made using natural milk proteins, it is as gentle as a conditioner comes. It will work magic on your scalp and keep the flakes at bay, use it and smile!

So, the war is on! We have won the first battle but there will be more to come. The war will be long and scalp dust will fly, but in the end we will be victorious. So, go forth and tell your flakey friends of the revolution, Hair Care 1 - Dandruff 0!

Picture by: Ed Yourdon on Flickr, used greatfully under a Creative Commons licence!