Dandruff is one of the most common scalp conditions that affects both men and women. It usually causes overproduction of sebum leading to greasy scalp, itchiness and flakes that are visible on the surface of hair.
There are many OTC anti-dandruff medicines and shampoos available for its treatment. No shampoo however, can permanently treat your dandruff. While you may see near term benefits, imagine how a wash off product can possibly treat something that is caused by an internal imbalance. Before we get into what causes dandruff, how to treat dandruff at home and the best anti dandruff treatment at home, let us tell you why you should try natural ingredients like therapeutic essential oils to treat dandruff, holistically.
Do Essential oils benefit dandruff?
Well, by now we are sure you already know that at Oleum cottage, we are big advocates of the healing powers in ancient, time-tested plant oils. Essential oils are potent plant ingredients that have the ability to cure severe skin, scalp and hair ailments. They are the medicinal part of plants that have their healing properties intact when the right method of extraction is used (steam distillation). If you have been unsuccessful finding the best solution for dandruff so far, your search stops here. Essential Oils are the key to your question – how to treat dandruff at home.
What causes dandruff?
Dandruff can be caused by multiple factors like hormonal imbalance, harsh synthetic ingredients, excess oil on scalp, poor hygiene or dry winter weather.
Therefore, the best anti dandruff treatment at home must involve a healthy diet both for the gut as well as the skin and scalp, avoiding or at least minimizing harsh chemicals in regular use products.
How to treat dandruff at home with essential oils?
If you’re on the lookout for the best anti dandruff treatment at home, you cannot ignore essential oils. We shall highlight just two potent essential oils here, that you need to incorporate in your home routine. Tea tree and Rosemary essential oils. Both tea tree and rosemary oils find extensive application not just in the treatment of dandruff, but also in the treatment of several other skin and hair ailments. Let’s understand how they work on a skin level and a psychosomatic level, and what makes them the best at healing dandruff.
Benefits of Tea Tree oil for hair and skin:
Tea tree oil (also known as maleleuca alternifolia) is a common active ingredient used to treat skin and hair concerns. Benefits of Tea tree oil for hair and skin are due to its antiseptic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Tea tree oil gained its popularity in skincare as an acne fighter. However, its benefits for hair are also equally popular. Above mentioned properties help tea tree oil reduce bacterial growth and itching. Tea tree oil also has the ability to balance excess oil secretion on the scalp thereby reducing build up and greasiness, a common symptom of dandruff.
How to maximise tea tree oil benefits for hair at home?
Our in-house cosmetic chemists and aromatherapists recommend using up to 5% of tea tree oil with a mix of any cold pressed oil (think virgin coconut) to maximise tea tree oil benefits for hair. Massage this mix on your scalp twice a week and wash it off with a mild shampoo.
When using tea tree oil you must ensure you are mixing it with cold pressed oil. It is a very potent oil and you really do not want to use tea tree oil directly on your skin or scalp, as it may cause irritation and itching.
Benefits of Rosemary oil for hair and skin:
Native to the Mediterranean region, Rosemary is a very healing herb, widely used for culinary purposes as well as skin and hair treatments. Rosemary essential oil, extracted from the leaves of this herb, is a versatile oil. The benefits of rosemary oil for hair and skin are one too many. It is non-comedogenic and used as a common ingredient to treat skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, and to balance excessively oily skin. For similar reasons, rosemary aids in decongestion and removes build up from the scalp. The astringent properties of rosemary oil cleans the scalp and reduces dandruff flakes. In fact, rosemary oil gets easily counted as one of the best anti-aging treatments at home, both for skin and hair.
How to treat dandruff at home with Rosemary oil?
The best way to maximise the benefits of rosemary oil for hair and scalp is to add 2-4 drops of the potent essential oil with a tablespoon of cold pressed oil like Jojoba or Olive. Massage the rosemary + olive oil mixture on the scalp 2-3 times a week. You do not need to heat this mixture as essential oils are heat sensitive. You will not just notice your dandruff go away, but you will also see how new hair grows, and the texture of hair improves! How? Rosemary essential oil stimulates the hair follicles and makes them more conducive to hair growth. Even the shafts of hair become stronger and shinier with repeated use of rosemary oil.
While dandruff is not a serious condition, it can get pretty embarrassing, and is definitely a message from your body that something needs to be better balanced. Instead of superficial treatments and strong anti-bacterials that can cause further imbalance, we would always recommend a holistic approach while dealing with this scalp and hair condition. As we believe, would any other aromatherapy expert.
Here we’ve described how to treat dandruff at home using only 2 essential oils. We’d be repeating a word of caution. High quality, therapeutic grade Tea tree and Rosemary essential oils, should only be used in aromatherapy doses for the purpose of treatment at home, preferably under the guidance of an aromatherapist.
If you are looking for a healthy way to permanently treat, or at least manage your dandruff at home, without strong medication, try our Scalp Psoriasis Oil. Being experts in therapeutic uses of plant oils, our purpose is to share this knowledge through easy to use, everyday formulations. We’ve often heard natural remedies are slow, but we’d beg to differ. We’ve seen many benefactors, in ourselves and our users. Once you start using plant oils and experience the efficacy and ease of real natural oils, your hair and skin will also fall into a visibly healthy cycle.