Do you have yeast on your head? Don’t worry... almost everyone does. 

Although everyone has some form of fungus on their skin, not everyone experiences the same itchy scalp and flakes known as dandruff. Dandruff is an incredibly common condition which can leave people feeling uncomfortable and frustrated. If this sounds familiar, then listen up!

Dandruff can seem similar to a dry scalp but actually has nothing to do with it. Dandruff is a form of seborrheic dermatitis (pronounced seb - or - ray - ic) which is caused by a fungus known as malassezia furfur.

While we all have malassezia on our skin to some degree, some people’s immune systems are better at dealing with it than others. Unfortunately, some people end up falling prey to its rapid growth.

Your Unwanted Guest: Malassezia

Malassezia is a bit like the house guest who has overstayed their welcome. Although tolerable at first, malassezia can quickly become problematic.

Seborrheic dermatitis occurs when there is an overgrowth of malassezia on your skin. This overgrowth of malassezia can be difficult to manage as the fungus creates a biofilm protecting it from antifungal agents, and it feeds on the oils in your hair follicles and hair care products. 

Unfortunately, malassezia has become very good at protecting itself from outside threats. The biofilm is essentially a biological shield that secures malassezia in place and protects it from any threats it may face. This biofilm makes a lot of antifungal products ineffective, as they simply cannot penetrate this biofilm. 

Adding to the difficulties of managing dandruff is the fact that malassezia feeds on oils, which are found in your hair follicles and in many skincare products. Even antifungal oils such as coconut oil can feed the malassezia. 

As a result, people with dandruff might want to consider avoiding putting oil in their hair, even if the oil is normally antifungal (like coconut). When it comes to malassezia and dandruff, the coconut oil might be causing more harm than good.

Why Most Dandruff Shampoos Stop Working

While dandruff shampoos could provide some relief in the short term, they usually stop working. This can happen for several reasons. 

First off, the biofilm adapts very quickly. This means that a dandruff shampoo could work in the short term, but then could stop working once the biofilm adapts.

Additionally, many dandruff shampoos are formulated to target the fungus but fail to disrupt the biofilm first. In order to clear the fungus, the biofilm must first be disrupted so that the products can properly target the malassezia.

Finally, many hair care products contain oils like coconut, jojoba, and castor oil. While these oils can be great for people without seborrheic dermatitis, all oils feed malassezia so people with seborrheic dermatitis should avoid them.

The Three Steps to Dandruff Relief

To finally get some dandruff relief, three steps have to be taken. First you must disrupt the biofilm. Then you must clear the fungus. Finally, you have to soothe the irritated skin.

Step 1: The first step you must take when managing dandruff is disrupting the biofilm so that your antifungal products can properly target seborrheic dermatitis. Five ingredients that can deactivate this shield are vinegar, colloidal silver, sugar alcohols, selenium sulfide, and lactoferrin.

Step 2: After disrupting the biofilm, the next step you need to take is to remove the overgrowth of malassezia. Both natural and chemical-based methods are effective at clearing away the malassezia. These include raw honey, garlic, sea salt, grapefruit seed extract, tea tree essential oil, salicylic acid, ketoconazole, coal tar, and pyrithione zinc.

Step 3: Finally, after disrupting the biofilm and clearing away the malassezia, you have to soothe the irritated and angry skin. This can be quite tricky as most hair care products contain oil, which feeds malassezia. When looking for products to soothe your scalp, you want to avoid oils with a fatty acid chain length between C11 and C24. Six products that could help soothe your skin without fueling the malassezia are aloe, MSM, urea, MCT oil, sorbitol, and hyaluronic acid.

The Shortcut to Scalp Relief

These three steps to soothe your seborrheic dermatitis can seem overwhelming. We understand the frustration, which is why we combined all three steps into one convenient formula.

The Calming Seborrheic Serum works by first disrupting the biofilm with xylitol and colloidal silver, and then clearing away malassezia with grapefruit seed extract, sea salt, colloidal silver, and tea tree oil. Finally, it soothes the skin with urea, MSM, and 200x concentrated aloe. 

Try the Calming Seborrheic Serum for yourself.