I've been really good about adhering to my skin routine lately and my efforts have been paying off. Thanks to a little consistency, my skin is becoming clearer and more supple. The better my skin looks, the more I notice issues that are going on with my scalp. I realized that if I go too many days without using an acidic toner, my skin goes haywire. But, at the same time, I'm doing absolutely nothing to keep my scalp calm in between washes.
Isn't the skin on the scalp just as important as the hair on the face?
Actually, our scalp health might be even more important because our scalp health is directly related to the health of my hair. Flaky scalp is bad enough but if we ignore the issue for too long, we're leaving the door open for unwanted hair loss.
So I've decided to try scalp exfoliation again. Years ago, I attempted to exfoliate my scalp using products with tiny beads or even sugar scrubs. That was a huge fail. Huge. Not only did my scalp not really feel different after use, the tiny beads often got stuck in my thick hair and became a pain to remove. I almost gave up on scalp exfoliation altogether until I realized that there was another way I could approach this...
Acids toners work wonders on my face, wouldn't they also do the same for my scalp?
To experiment, I grabbed a bottle of The Ordinary's 7% Glycolic Acid solution and poured a little on a cotton round, and proceed to rub it into the visible areas where I noticed obvious signs of flaking. Like magic, the tiny flakes began to disappear, allowing my scalp to look normal again. I have several acidic, exfoliating toners in my arsenal but I find this one to be mild enough to use on my scalp without fear of adverse side effects.
Acids are great because they gently remove dead skin, dirt, and oils without aggravating the scalp. I suspect that, with regular scalp exfoliation, I'll probably experience a reduction in shedding and healthier hair growth come summer.
The only issue I seem to have is accessibility to the parts of my scalp that I don't see. Instead of using a cotton round, I think it's time to graduate to using a spray bottle to mist my scalp directly. Years ago, I used tiny misters to spray diluted ACV directly to my scalp. That method worked like a dream. I only stopped doing it because it was darn near impossible to mask the scent of my scalp being lightly coated in apple cider vinegar. But with the Ordinary's toner, I don't have to worry about such a thing which makes it easier to seamlessly integrate it into my regular rotation. I plan on doing this pretty regularly until my dermatitis calms down, but if your scalp isn't as troubled, but you still want to treat your scalp a facial, you tack on this step on wash day as part of your pre-shampoo routine.
I'm not the only one singing the praises of chemical scalp exfoliation, there are countless folks online who have experienced this for themselves. My recommendation is that you start with a gentle acid toner that you already use on your face. If your face responds well to it, chances are your scalp will too. Not long ago, I discovered that our scalp is aging more rapidly than our face. We routinely exfoliate our faces to keep the skin young and vibrant, doesn't our scalp deserve the same?
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