I had itchy scalp last week.

How on earth did I, the founder of Pressed, the one who talks endlessly about the importance of scalp care, get itchy scalp?!??!? Who sent you!?! As I write this today, I’m happy to report the problem was VERY swiftly dealt with and I’m back in my fresh scalp era. But let’s do this a story time followed by some very important takeaways that I think will be very helpful for you.

How did this happen?

Alongside many I have been taking a deep dive into the brands I use. And wherever possible switching to brands that I align with from a political and ethical standpoint. For this reason, I was looking at alternate brands for my shampoo and conditioner duo. I decided to first switch out my shampoo and see how my hair was liking it. After using the new shampoo for two weeks I noticed my hair was feeling off, and my scalp even more so. And into week two, the itch that started was WILD. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

What did I do?

I should have acted about 5 days earlier than I did, but that’s neither here nor there. Let’s say I last washed my hair on Thursday, on Friday I said “No ma’am” got into the shower and did a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse for my scalp. Let it sit for a few minutes and then rinsed it out followed by conditioner, no shampoo.

No other changes were made.

Why did I do this?

I suspected that there was an ingredient or ingredients in the new shampoo that was settling on my scalp and creating a buildup which, overtime, was getting causing itchiness. Remember itchiness is your scalp way of communicating that it is not happy. I used diluted apple cider vinegar because it’s a great option to clarify your scalp (also because I ran out of my clarifying shampoo).

3 Important takeaways for you

1. Make small changes: I was able to correct the issue quickly because there was only one change that I made in the hair care routine. So, when I saw such an adverse reaction, I knew exactly what caused it. If you are making changes to your hair care routine, make one change at a time, be patient.
2. Just because a product works for others, doesn’t mean it will work for you: The brand I tried out is well respected in the hair care space. Recommended by hair care professionals, it checks all the boxes. It did not work for me. And that’s ok, on to the next.
3. Don’t ignore symptoms: If your scalp is itchy, dry, burning, do not ignore this. It is your scalp’s way of communicating to you that it is not happy.

I hope this was helpful. And if you’re dealing with itchy scalp, we have several resources that can help, here are some articles:

• An itchy scalp is not normal
• Dry Scalp vs. Dandruff
• Do you have scalp buildup?
• Here is your scalp care routine.