Scalp Cleansing Shampoo
Your shampoo may be damaging your scalp. Know why?
It comes down to the cleanser in the bottle, how hot your shower is and how often you wash.
The ingredient researchers use to irritate skin
Many shampoos clean with sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS. It is reliably harsh, so dermatology researchers use it to irritate skin on purpose. They tape a weak solution of it onto volunteers’ skin for up to a day, then measure how much damage the skin barrier takes.
A single wash is much gentler than that. Shampoo is diluted and rinsed off within minutes, and safety reviewers consider SLS fine in products that are rinsed off. What changes things is how often you do it, and how hot the water is.
Sources: Tupker et al., Contact Dermatitis, 1997; Löffler and Happle, Contact Dermatitis, 2003; Cosmetic Ingredient Review, J Am Coll Toxicol, 1983.
What makes it worse
washes a year if you wash daily, and two in three people in Singapore say they like to.
Washing every day
Harsh cleansers lift away the oils and proteins in the top layer of skin that help it hold water. Once is easy to recover from. Every day, the scalp can end up tight, dry and itchy, the way your hands get after a lot of washing up.
Hot water
In one study, the same SLS solution damaged skin more at 40°C than at 20°C. A very hot shower after a hot day feels great, but lukewarm water is easier on your scalp.
A flaky scalp
If you get flakes, your scalp is already short of the fats that keep water in. Researchers who studied this say harsh shampoos make it harder for that barrier to recover.
How to check your shampoo
Turn the bottle round and read the first few ingredients. They are listed from most to least, so a sulfate near the top is doing most of the cleaning.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)
- The one used in those skin tests.
- Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
- A close relative that is much milder on skin in the same tests.
Sources: YouGov, 2022; Ananthapadmanabhan et al., Dermatol Ther, 2004; Berardesca et al., Contact Dermatitis, 1995; Turner et al., Int J Cosmet Sci, 2012; Löffler and Happle, Contact Dermatitis, 2003.
How Scalp Cleansing Shampoo helps
It’s a thick cream with no sulfates and no lather. Expect it to feel a bit odd the first couple of times.
It cleans with polysorbate 80
There is no SLS or SLES in it. Its main cleanser is polysorbate 80, and in AYURMASTER’s lab tests on human skin cells, it took at least 500 times more polysorbate 80 than SLS to cause the same damage.
Its second cleanser comes from amino acids
It is made from amino acids and fatty acids, the same kinds of building blocks found in your skin’s own proteins and oils.
No lather, still clean
Foam helps spread shampoo through your hair, but the foam itself doesn’t clean anything. You massage this cream straight into a wet scalp, which is where the oil and sweat are.
18 Ayurvedic herbs, with jojoba and almond oil
The same Ayucelra®-SC blend as AYURMASTER’s Sculpting Medium serum, including amla, bhringraj, gotu kola, sandalwood, licorice and aloe vera. AYURMASTER says your scalp may feel softer than after your usual shampoo. It smells of orange first, then lavender, clove and fennel.
Cream shampoo · 300 mL · No sulfates · Made in Japan
How to use it
Brush your hair
Brush it through first to loosen any dirt.
Rinse for 2 to 3 minutes
Use lukewarm water and get your scalp properly wet.
Massage it in
Rub 1 to 2 pumps between your hands (2 to 3 for medium hair, 3 to 5 for long) and work it into your scalp with the pads of your fingers.
Rinse well
Keep going until your scalp stops feeling slippery. AYURMASTER suggests rinsing for about three times as long as you spent washing.
Sources: Japanese patent 7193108; Draelos, Int J Trichology, 2010; AYURMASTER product information and directions for use.
Get yours at Shunji Matsuo’s
Scalp Cleansing Shampoo is available at Shunji Matsuo. Ask your stylist about the full AYURMASTER Scalp & Hair Care range.