Festive season, fragile scalp: What your hair really needs before the celebrations begin

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During festive season in India, people get busy with various functions, back to back events, blow-outs, oiling, and styling done all in the same week. As a dermatologist, this period sees my clinics flooded with patients walking in with concerns of flakes, itchiness, falling hair, and dull and straw-like hair. However, all of these are usually preventable if you have an idea about what goes on with your scalp and hair, and what not to do in order to keep it healthy. Dr. Tanya shares insights on how to take care of your mane this festive season.

Our scalp is our skin, which is why it needs to be cared for in the same way as our facial skin. It tends to accumulate dead cells, oil, and residue from treatments throughout the year. This is particularly noticeable during the holiday season since we may be oiling our hair more frequently and using dry shampoo in between washes, as well as heavy styling products for special occasions. This may lead to blocked follicles and an unhealthy scalp environment, causing dandruff, irritation, and even temporary hair loss.

That is why exfoliating your scalp is beneficial and necessary, especially during the festive season. Chemical exfoliants such as salicylic acid can effectively penetrate the layer of grease on the scalp and remove it, thus, unclogging hair follicles and removing dead cells from the top layer of the epidermis. Another great acid for scalp exfoliation is glycolic acid. It has a low molecular weight, which means it can get underneath the top layer of the skin and loosen it. This helps shed dead skin cells and allows your other treatments to penetrate the scalp more easily. Both of these acids, when used one or two times per week, will smoothen and clarify your scalp, removing flakes and congestion, while still maintaining its natural protection barrier, unlike many physical scalp exfoliators.

Festive styling usually requires a lot of heat styling, curling or straightening for the event, blow drying plus colouring for the occasion. Heat and chemicals damage the disulfide bonds in the cortex (the thickest part of your hair strand) and when they are broken beyond repair, your hair becomes frizzy, weak and brittle, and a regular conditioner can no longer help, because it only smooths the cuticle; it cannot rebuild broken bonds.

That is where bond building treatments really come in handy. The likes of Olaplex, K18 and other brands have developed products that penetrate the hair and re-link those broken disulfide bonds; unlike silicones, which only coat the hair strands. These were clinically proven to improve the integrity of the hair after multiple damage-inducing treatments (heat, colouring). Therefore, while bond repair treatments are a great marketing tool, they really do have scientific grounds to back up their effectiveness.

In the week preceding your functions, I recommend that you do a salicylic or glycolic acid mask once a week to unclog the follicles, if you oil your hair often or use styling products. Do a bond-repair mask before or after using hot irons instead of waiting until you notice split ends. Keep conditioning your hair for moisture because the bond-repair treatments and the conditioning masks target two different problems and neither of them is a substitute for the other.

Lastly, do not forget that there are basic rules to maintaining healthy hair. Avoid heating tools that are higher than 180 degrees Celsius. Do not tie your wet hair into a ponytail and remember to wash out styling products at night. Celebratory hairstyles should not mean the end of hair health. With a little scientific maintenance, you can enjoy both the party and your pretty hair afterwards.