The adage rings true: out of sight, out of mind - it is easy to neglect what you can’t see. This explains why so many of us tend to overlook a part of our body that’s out of sight: our scalp. A lack of scalp care, however, can lead to an onset of a host of undesirable problems such as irritation, itchiness, dandruff and worse, unhealthy hair regrowth and hair loss. For a happier scalp and fuller tresses, here’s a simple scalp care “facial” routine that you can do at home.
But first, why is scalp care important?
Many of us are fixated on our hair strands. How healthy and shiny it looks, how much breakage and frizz we have and so forth. But we should pay just as much (if not more) attention to our scalp. After all, a healthy scalp lays the foundation for healthy hair. The scalp contains about a hundred thousand hair follicles where hair grows from. When these follicles get inflamed and weakened, they are less able to support healthy hair growth and could result in hair loss.
What are the common causes of poor scalp health?
There is a fine balance we have to maintain between washing our hair too infrequently and too often. A buildup of sebum, sweat, dirt and hair products will occur with the former and result in breakouts and irritation. Washing your hair too often can strip the scalp of natural oils needed to keep it moisturised, which can be compounded by using a shampoo that is too harsh. Moreover, improper shampooing techniques, such as the use of excessive scrubbing or scratching force and tugging at the strands, can result in itchiness and flaking. Either way, poor scalp care weakens and damages the hair follicles, leading to breakage, fallout and unhealthy hair regrowth.
Scalp care as "skincare"
Think of scalp care as “skincare”, which means to consider the condition and health of your scalp before building a customised regime that works for your needs. Then, build your scalp care routine in terms of the basic steps of skincare - exfoliate, cleanse and moisturise. Here’s how you can do so with KEVIN.MURPHY’s latest products to their scalp health-focused SCALP.SPA range.
To prevent tugging and pulling at your tresses and scalp, start with KEVIN.MURPHY's SCALP.SPA BRUSH ($25). Ergonomically designed to fit comfortably in the palm, the brush contains ball-tipped bristles that affords a spa-like experience by gently exfoliating and massaging the scalp. Moreover, the brush handle is made with biodegradable plant starch in line with the haircare brand's sustainability values.
Follow up with the SCALP.SPA SCRUB ($47.25) that has perfectly spherical perlite to exfoliate and clarify. Finally, go in with the SCALP.SPA WASH ($47.25) that employs gentle micelles to cleanse and soothe the scalp.
Then, supercharge the scalp and restore any moisture that was lost during the washing process with SCALP.SPA TREATMENT ($46). The foaming masque is formulated with hyaluronic acid that hydrates the scalp and smooths hair and carrot root extract that moisturises, conditions and clarifies the scalp. These ingredients work in tandem with celery seed extract, the key ingredient to soothe and hydrate dry, itchy scalp while reducing impurities and regulating sebum production for those with oily scalps.
To use it, dispense and massage the rich foam onto clean damp or dry hair along the scalp and rinse after 20 minutes. The foam helps remove dirt and excess oils. In addition, the masque is powered by the innovative Pro-Viron Mist technology which uses a climate-friendly propellant that is VOC-exempt, non-flammable and non-ozone depleting. In all, the SCALP.SPA TREATMENT ($46) aims to relieve sensitive scalp, restore scalp health and promote healthier hair growth.
Finally, finish your scalp care routine with the SCALP.SPA SERUM ($42). Containing celery seed extract, rose flower oil and lavender oil, the lightweight and fast-absorbing leave-on scalp serum instantly soothes and balances irritated scalp. Apply the serum on the scalp on either damp or dry hair, focusing the product on problem areas and let it work its magic without rinsing off.
With the new SCALP.SPA products, you can address your scalp problems and get ahead of any hair loss problems that might occur by optimising the best conditions for future growth.
The new KEVIN.MURPHY SCALP.SPA products are available at WOOSHOP and KEVIN.MURPHY Salons islandwide from 1 December 2021.