Lightened Hair & Oily Scalp

Q: Thank you for your site and especially for your questions and answers part. It helped me a lot with information I couldn’t find elsewhere on the net. Here is my question. I have dark brown hair, and I have had it professionally foiled blonde. It cost me a lot of money, and I want to maintain it. However, I have an oily scalp, so my roots get dirty while the blonde foils are screaming for moisture.

If I use a shampoo to correct the scalp, it dries out the rest of my hair. If I use a shampoo or moisturizer that nourishes the highlights, it makes my scalp extra greasy. Of course I have tried to only condition the ends but because my hair is quite layered the ends of one layer grease up the roots of another.

Do shampoos for an oily scalp and dry ends really work? And will they maintain my blonde highlights? Or am I doomed to stay with oily roots forever?

A: This is actually a more common problem than many people think. Those who have oily hair types often find themselves with conflicting needs after having their hair lightened or having other chemical services.

The solution lies in dealing with each problem independently. You need to treat the oily scalp, while also adding special conditioning for the drier, lightened hair. The easiest way to achieve this is to use a shampoo and conditioner for oily hair types, in addition to using a “spray-on”, “leave-in” conditioner which you can spray only on the ends of the hair, therefore bypassing the scalp and avoiding the risk of adding to the oiliness.

After shampooing and conditioning the hair using the “oily-scalp” formula, proceed to use the leave-in conditioning spray by lifting sections of the hair away from the scalp and misting them with conditioner. Use a wide-tooth comb to distribute the conditioner evenly.

If your problem is more dealing with oily build-up in between shampoos, you can use a cotton ball dipped in Witch Hazel to swab the scalp area of the hair and remove excess oil. Simply part the hair, treat the scalp with Witch Hazel, then part the hair again an inch over in one direction or another until the entire scalp has been treated. The Witch Hazel will remove the extra oils without drying out the scalp too severely.

Another thing you can do is to brush the hair carefully each night using a natural bristle brush. Work from front to back and brush the hair until you’ve covered the whole scalp and the hair is smooth. The stimulation of the scalp will help to increase circulation and regulate oil production.

Finally, by adding a second “rinsing” step after shampooing and conditioning the hair using cool water, you can close the pores of the scalp and therefore slow the oil and sweat production for a period of time, which can help reduce the problem.

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See also: Causes and solutions for oily hair