Dandruff – it’s not nice and it’s not pretty. Those little white flakes are what stops you wearing your favourite black shirt, and you hate it when he runs his hands through your hair as a snow flurry of activity happens around you. Everyone knows how unpleasant it is to live life with dandruff. While these annoying flakes are often symptom of medical condition and if you want to get rid of this permanently, you probably need to talk to your dermatologist, there are ways you can minimize dandruff using home remedies.
Olive Oil
Apparently olive oil has a thousand and one different uses these days; this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a natural remedy or beauty treatments containing olive oil!
Studies have shown that when olive oil is used consistently on the scalp, dandruff is significantly reduced over an extended period of time. Basically the longer you use it, the more dandruff-free you will find yourself.
There are not only the natural clarifying properties to love about using olive oil in the fight against dandruff, it is also a natural moisturiser and when you consider that dandruff is generally caused by dry skin, the hydration you can pump in there, the better, right?
The easiest way to use olive oil in your anti-dandruff beauty treatment is as a mask. If you have one night free this week, go and buy yourself the most luxurious bottle of olive oil you will allow yourself to buy, wash your hair and smother it in the oil, placing a shower cap or old hat that you can don’t mind ruining over your head to stop the oil from going everywhere. Ideally you should be looking at keeping it on overnight, but if you can only manage a couple of hours, that’s fine.
In the morning, you’re going to need to wash it A LOT. Remember that the oil is going to be somewhat difficult to wash out so it will take some time. More on olive oil hair treatments here.
In fact, it’s not just olive oil that can help you to combat dandruff…
Castor Oil
We’ve already discussed how to use castor oil for hair growth but it turns out it can treat your dandruff as well. You can use castor oil in the same way as you would use olive oil, and once again, it’s been shown to have great effects on dandruff levels. The vitamin E found in castor oil gives your hair that boost of hydration it so desperately craves, and there are also antibacterial and anti fungal properties to remember at the same time. All in all, castor oil could be the way forward!
Vinegar
This is one that you might not like the sound of and although you’d think the highly acidic vinegar would dry your hair out too much, it can actually have a soothing effect on the flaky signs of dandruff.
There is a lot of potassium present in the vinegar, (apple cider vinegar is best) and this helps to get rid of the dead skin cells that are causing your problem. It also helps to boost the circulation of your scalp, something else needed in the fight against dandruff. Believe it or not, the smell doesn’t linger on your hair for too long if you wash it out properly!
For vinegar treatment, simply mix one part of apple cider vinegar with one part of warm water and rinse your hair with this mixture. Keep for a while then rinse well with warm water. If you have any unhealed scratches, pimples or rashes on your scalp it will burn. If it makes you feel uncomfortable rinse just that area with warm water.
Vinegar addresses the root cause of dandruff which is accumulation of dead skin on the scalp and elimination fungus. This is the reason why vinegar treatment is much more effective than anti-dandruff shampoos that only provide quick fix.
You may need to repeat this treatment once every week or every two weeks to maintain results.
With Aloe Vera, eggs, Tea Tree oil, apple juice, beetroot juice, aspirin and many more all-natural remedies for dandruff out there, isn’t it time you gave them a shot to see if you could make a change for the better? We bet you even have olive oil in your kitchen that you could use right now!
[wp_ad_camp_1]Getting rid of dandruff without washing
There are some quick fixes that don’t even involve washing your hair, but their effectiveness is questionable. For example, some suggest to use baby powder or corn starch to remove dandruff flakes during break right at the office, then moisturize with oil.
The issue is that regardless your hair color, baby powder or corn starch will be visible on your hair and if you use too little, it will do nothing for your dandruff. Ultimately you risk to end up looking worse than you did with dandruff right there in front of all your colleagues. If you only had dandruff in your hair before, now you have dandruff and some weird powder!
Remember, there is no instant fix for dandruff and if you are serious about getting rid of it for good you should address medical condition that causes it and this will need an appointment with your dermatologist.