Scalp Exfoliation: The Key to Healthy Hair Growth

If you exfoliate your face and body, you’re familiar with the smoothing benefits of regularly sloughing off dead skin cells. But what happens when you take that action to the top of your head? The results of scalp exfoliation may surprise you but don’t repurpose your usual vanilla-scented scrubs just yet.

There are a few hair-specific reasons to learn and a few hair care products you’ll want in your beauty lineup first. So continue reading to discover what this self-care routine can do for your scalp and how it’ll help you achieve envious hair.

The Benefits of Scalp Exfoliation

If you’ve never heard of it before, the suggestion of exfoliating your scalp may raise some eyebrows. However, it’s an excellent method to manage certain skin conditions, balance oil production, and maintain healthy hair.

Whether your hair is tightly coiled or pin straight, oily to dry, you can reap the benefits of scalp exfoliation. Here are the plentiful rewards:

• Get rid of pesky flakes – Removing flaky skin is the common reason to exfoliate any part of your body. You can also tame the shedding and itch of dry scalp and dandruff conditions with physical or chemical exfoliants.
• Unclog your follicles – Your skin’s natural sebum (that moisturizing and protective oil) production, styling products, improperly rinsed shampoo, and hard water deposits can all build up in your scalp. All that backup into your hair follicles can inhibit growth. Scrubbing will allow it to breathe again and restore your hair’s normal growth rate, about a 1/2 inch per month.
• Massage – Blood flow is essential for hair growth, and the gentle massage from exfoliating offers additional stimulation.
• More volume – Less buildup equals less weight on your roots.

If that list wasn’t enough, you’ll also experience more shine and easier-to-style hair. So, how does one implement scalp exfoliation into their haircare routine? Delicately.

Using Care and Caution

Scrubbing your scalp is perfectly safe as long as you approach it with a gentle touch. Avoid using your fingernails, which can scratch the skin, limit exfoliation to about once per week, and don’t use exfoliants if your hair is damaged.

Hair scrubs are primarily for use on wet hair. That can make it particularly difficult for those with fine or thinning hair as the weight of water puts you at greater risk of breakage. It’s a good thing you can tackle this task with a dry approach by using a specialized brush like Aveda’s Pramasana Exfoliating Scalp Brush. It has flexible looped bristles to gently glide through your strands, increase circulation, and give you a thorough scalp exfoliation before heading to the shower.

After shampooing and conditioning as usual, continue building volume with Living Proof’s Scalp Care Revitalizing Treatment. Think of it as a leave-in for your scalp, with vitamins, minerals, yeast proteins, and peptides to strengthen your hair’s roots and increase thickness. It hydrates the scalp without leaving it greasy, and once you apply and work it throughout your head with the included massager, you’re all set. This versatile treatment is especially convenient if you accidentally get caught up in a Netflix binge, as it can be used whether your hair is still wet or drying.

More of the Best Scalp Exfoliation Products

Scalp exfoliation is best done with products specifically formulated to cleanse and nourish the scalp and hair. Christophe Robin’s Purifying Scalp Scrub with Sea Salt is a shampoo and scrub in one made with natural sea salt to give you the familiar feeling that it’s working. Sea salt also contains several minerals like calcium, zinc, and iron to keep follicles strong.

Color-treated hair can utilize this scrub after a chemical process to eliminate residue. This detoxifying treatment contains calming bisabolol, a plant-derived component with anti-inflammatory properties, making it great for sensitive scalps. Use it weekly in place of your regular shampoo and rinse thoroughly for best results.

If your scalp is particularly oily, another option is the R+CO Crown Scalp Scrub. It has two types of exfoliants, both of which gently remove flaky skin and product buildup. The first is salicylic acid, which is commonly used to treat dandruff because it’s such a gentle and effective chemical exfoliator.

The physical part comes from an Ecuadorian ivory palm seed powder that slowly dissolves as you work it through your hair. Lastly, kaolin clay absorbs oil and soothes irritation, making this shampoo substitute an all-encompassing formula that’ll leave you feeling supremely clean.

Need something gentler?

Did we forget to mention that fine and thinning hair also has a shampoo option for scalp exfoliation? Aveda’s Invati Advanced Exfoliating Shampoo Light provides comforting chemical exfoliation to give you a deep cleanse that preserves thickness and density, and it can be combined with the use of their aforementioned Scalp Brush.

This bubbly, sulfate-free shampoo is formulated with Aveda’s unique Invati Advanced blend of vegan, cruelty-free technology that’s proven to slow down hair loss after just three months of use. You get all this without harmful ingredients like parabens or formaldehyde because Aveda is a certified B Corp that cares about what goes into your body and the environment.

After cleansing your scalp and hair with an exfoliating treatment, always follow up with a nourishing conditioner. You can also continue the self-care routine by applying a conditioning mask like Paul Mitchell’s Hair and Scalp Treatment. This deep conditioner is helpful for those struggling with a flaky scalp. It puts the finishing touch to exfoliation with antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial essential oils from tea tree, peppermint, and lavender. And unlike regular conditioner, you can work this one throughout your scalp and the length of your hair to get that soothed, moisturized feeling all over in just 3-5 minutes.

Closing Notes

Scalp exfoliation can be an easy and invigorating way for anyone to beautify their hair and experience vibrant growth. If you’re dealing with the stress of repairing damaged strands, take different steps to avoid breakage and recover strength and shine. Visit our Beauty Resource Center for more information on how to recover healthy hair after it has been through some tough times. Everyone can find the advice they need to get their best hair and skin and live their best beautiful life.