Are You Flaky?

Flaky in a dandruffy kind of way? I had been struggling with it for a few years (my dirty little secret) and I have dark thick hair so it was especially obvious on me. It seems when I hit my 20s that my skin got a little weirder all over, my scalp being one of the areas hit. I want to share this with those who are also struggling with this burden and need help!

 I had tried all of the obvious treatments--Head and Shoulders, Selsun Blue, wash more, wash less, cleansing shampoos, moisturizing shampoos, cool water, hot water...you name it I tried it. But nothing changed. I used to wash my hair every other day but it was getting to the point where the same day my head would start to itch and flake more and more until I washed it again. I would have relief for a few hours but then it would start back up. I even got a Benadryl rub-on stick to use on certain spots that itched so bad it was raw! I felt like a dog with fleas and VERY self conscious about it.

It was a vicious cycle....I would itch and scratch, the skin would get raw and scabby, then that would itch as it tried to heal. I felt like a psycho always picking thru my hair trying to get out the flakes before they became visible or fell onto my clothes. It seemed like over the summer it was getting worse and I was washing my hair every night before bed just so I wouldn't lay there and itch. And yes there were times where I woke up at night because I itched!

Finally I spent awhile on the internet searching for natural remedies since none of the store-bought crap was helping. I came across some sites that talked about Tea Tree Oil and it's natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial qualities. I decided to go to the store and find some!

I started out with Walmart (since ya know, they have everything) and looked in the hair care aisle. I found a bottle that was less than $3 so I grabbed it!

 

 Soon after I made a date with myself in the bathroom to saturate my scalp and let this oily goodness soak for about an hour. It felt a little tingly and smelled good but did not come out in one washing....I still looked oily the next day. And my head still itched. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt so I waited a couple of weeks and tried it again. This time I shampooed twice and got it out. Unfortunately my head was no better!!! It figured I would be the weird one that this magical oil did not work on.

At that point I looked at the ingredients and it was NOT PURE TEA TREE OIL. I felt duped! That's why it was so cheap! I brought this up to my mom and she just happened to already have a bottle of it stashed away in her cabinets!! I lovingly took it off of her hands (and later found they also sell it at Walmart but in the vitamin/supplement aisle).

 This sucker said PURE Tea Tree Oil and it smelled and looked significantly different than the first impostor. It was more watery and almost burned when I put it on my scalp, especially on the raw spots. I didn't care, I figured the burn said it was working! I only left it on about 20 minutes then jumped into the shower to wash it out.

The next day my scalp was SUPER dry. So dry I could feel my skin pull taut whenever I would move my head. Then it started to flake big flakes. But no itching! After about a week, the flaking stopped and I realized I was itching much less and had minimal flaking even in my problem spots. I waited around a month and did another treatment recently. Some of it dripped close to my eye and that was BAD news--I felt like I had a chemical burn there! Once again my skin felt really dry the next day and I had some big flakes but I was back to normal soon after and have had hardly any flakes and NO itching since!!

I think since the oil is so strong I will dilute it with olive oil for my next treatment and apply heat while it is saturating--kind of as a hot oil treatment for my scalp and hair all at the same time. I plan on doing a treatment about once a month to keep up the healthy scalp. I hope if you read this and are suffering with dandruff that you try this and it works for you too!

 Now to end this post, here are my last few things I am thankful for from November....

21. i am thankful for the few people who make the effort to come to my house for dinners and such

22. i am thankful to be able to spend the holidays with my family, as well as start my own traditions with my boys

23. i am thankful for all of the truck drivers who deal with crazy people on the road every day to bring our goods to us 

24. i am thankful for the days my son lets me sleep in

25. i am thankful for movies/shows that stream online, enabling us to cut cable completely

26. i am thankful i have the courage to be myself

27. i am thankful for mornings that hubby cooks breakfast

28. i am thankful for days i get home early enough to relax on the couch with my hubby before going to sleep

29. i am thankful that my hubby sits thru my favorite show with me even though i know he doesn't like it

30. i am thankful to have grown up with God in my heart. He has influenced so many of my decisions and kept me from doing things I shouldn't do. I'm not perfect and I'm working on it with Him as my guide!

The house is all decorated for Christmas, the lights are up outside, and all we need now is our tree! We are going to get one tomorrow, then I have a craft show all day Monday I will post about next!