Advice

How to Deep Clean Your Scalp and Hair

Once every so often, an imperfect hair day is inevitable. During the time that separates washes, a fluffy bounce can require more effort to achieve as the roots become weighed down and strands lose some life. When this occurs, a personal haircare regimen can usually resolve matters, quickly sprucing the hair back to life. However, what happens when that heaviness doesn’t budge and silky locks fail to return? When the tresses have been washed and conditioned to no avail, it’s time to learn how to deep clean the scalp. Scalp-care is something that is often overlooked but plays a fundamental part in maintaining a healthy, nourished hair-look.

Discover how to deep clean the scalp for purified roots and hair.

woman taking down hair before bed

What is build-up in hair?

Build-up in the hair is unavoidable after some time. It is the accumulation of hair products, natural oils, impurities and pollution in the scalp and strands. How regularly this build-up occurs can depend on the hair’s porosity.

Curly, coily, and wavy hair types usually have a high porosity, meaning the hair absorbs moisture and product well but also finds it difficult to retain. These hair types work well with shampoos and conditioners with nourishing, thick ingredients such as kokum butter to lock nourishment into the strands. However, every so often the scalp needs to be refreshed from any excess from these hydrating, luscious ingredients.

On the other hand, low porosity hair is usually straight and build-up can occur quite easily. This is because it is more difficult for products to penetrate the hair follicle, so the majority can end up sitting on the surface.

Therefore, no matter what the hair type, it’s important to deeply clean the scalp every so often to start anew.

What does hair build-up look like?

What hair build-up looks like can differ from person to person, but there are three common signs that your scalp needs refreshing.

  1. Dull, dry strands- Natural sebum excretes from the hair’s follicles. This sebum is what provides the hair with shine and moisture. Therefore, when the follicles are blocked and this natural sebum gets trapped, the hair is restricted from its usual silky gloss. What’s more, the products being used to enhance shine cannot be absorbed, so become futile.
  2. Flakes and irritation- An irritated, perhaps red scalp is another form of what hair build-up can look like. Around this area, white flakes may be noticeable.
  3. A sticky texture- If the hair is feeling particularly oily after washes, the issue at hand may not be the hair’s natural oils themselves, but the accumulation of excess product and debris that needs to be cleansed away.

How to remove build-up on hair and scalp

Luckily, there are some ways how to deep clean the scalp and hair to remove build-up.

Before Washing Use a Purifying Scalp Mask

The first way how to remove build-up on the scalp and restore healthy, fresh hair is to draw out the build-up of impurities and pollution before washing. This can be done using a purifying scalp mask. Particularly one with mineral-rich ingredients such as Thermal Mud which works to balance the scalp and relieve that oily-root sensation.

Use an exfoliating scalp scrub

To gently exfoliate daily build-up, use a delicately exfoliating scalp scrub as part of your haircare regimen once a week. An exfoliating scalp scrub can be used as a precursor to shampooing or as a shampoo itself and works wonderfully for a deeper cleanse.

Christophe Robin’s Cleansing Purifying Scrub contains Sea Salt to gently remove the build-up from the hair and scalp while Bisabolol, extracted from the Brazilian candeia tree, helps to soothe the scalp as it cleanses. Together, the exfoliating and soothing properties of these natural ingredients help the scalp to feel rebalanced and purified, leaving hair looking beautifully fresh and shiny.

 

Finish with a Lightweight Conditioner

As a final step, finish with a lightweight conditioner to detangle your strands so that the brush can glide through the roots and lengths such as the Christophe Robin Purifying Conditioner Gelée. This conditioner is made up of a cocktail of Sea Minerals to create a light gelée that instantly detangles and improves the appearance of dry hair.

The finished result of deeply cleaning the scalp is a renewal of both the roots and the strands. A smooth, sleek finish requires a healthy base. To learn more about How to Protect Hair from Pollution, take a look at our pollution-protection guide.

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Josie Wilkins

Josie Wilkins

Writer and expert

Josie is an Online Beauty Editor with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. Her passions involve all things skincare and beauty and in her free time she likes to travel, read and get her beauty sleep.