By Gritty Pretty
@gritty_pretty


Let’s talk about … dandruff.

It’s a reality for over 3 million Australians, equating to approximately 1 in 8 people trying to cleverly conceal their scalp problem on a daily basis, frequently checking their backs and dusting themselves off. Not exactly ideal.

The most talked-about solution is medicated shampoo or washing your hair more (who wants to do that?). Recently, we learnt about a way to prevent its onset altogether – and it’s so simple!

“Women should avoid washing their hair at night,” says Kathy Gilbert, founder of Crown Hair Salon. More specifically, she says, “we should wait for hair to dry completely before sleeping or tying it up.”

“It’s an Aussie girl thing – we don’t let our hair dry entirely before putting it up. Especially in summer, we shower at night, go in and out of the surf, go to the gym – it’s the active lifestyle and we let moisture sit in our hair,” she adds.

Gilbert also points out that dandruff is a bit of a misnomer. In her opinion, hardly anybody has dandruff, what they’ve normally got is a dehydrated or dry scalp, which is aggravated by letting a scalp sit damp for hours.

“It is like leaving water sitting on your skin, after a while the surface of the skin goes puffy and shrivelled and if you do that for a long period of time to your scalp and add styling products, eventually it’s going to build-up and flake or peel, and get itchy,” she explains.

The remedy is to wash your hair in the morning so it has enough time to dry throughout the day or blow-dry it more frequently especially in winter, ensuring it is completely dry.

Dyson Supersonic comes highly recommended as it provides heat-temperature control. Not only won’t it overheat, it also distributes the same amount of heat so all your strands dry evenly. Pop a bit of Wendy Iles’ lush Iles Formula Haute Performance Finishing Serum in there for heat, UV and anti-frizz protection to avoid additional dehydration.

Just a PSA for your day. As you were (minus the damp hair).