It’s the age-old question. When styling your hair you see flakes and feel an itch… is it dryness or dandruff? Often they are misdiagnosed for each other.

As hard as it can be to differentiate, there are some key distinctions and hints that can help find an answer. And interestingly enough, dry scalp and dandruff technically have polar opposite causes. That is because dry scalp is caused by a lack of moisture, and dandruff is caused by an excess of oil, along with an overgrowth of fungus called Malassezia.

What do the flakes look like?

Dry scalp typically manifests as tiny white flakes, about as small as granules of sugar.

Dandruff typically manifests as larger flakes that range more in size and color. Think the texture of nutritional yeast (sorry for the graphic), color anywhere from white to yellow, and sometimes an oily appearance.

What else is going on?

Dandruff is also referred to as Seborrheic Dermatitis.

Seborrheic Dermatitis is a common skin condition that causes inflammation, scaly patches, and you guessed it - dandruff. It affects oily areas of the body, such as the scalp, sides of the nose, eyebrows, ears, eyelids and chest.

The exact cause of Seborrheic Dermatitis is currently unknown, but it has been linked to certain underlying conditions such as: HIV, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, nutritional deficiencies and alcoholism. Triggers of the condition range from stress and hormonal changes to the use of certain detergents or medications.

Dry scalp is similar to other dry skin on the body, typically caused by a lack of moisture.

When the scalp dries out, it can become irritated, flaky and feel itchy. Potential causes of dry scalp include: weather changes, allergies to hair products, over-shampooing, bleaching services, dehydration, psoriasis, scalp ringworm, sun exposure, nutritional deficiencies and stress.

Let’s talk about treatment.

Regardless of cause, both dry scalp and dandruff are treatable. A combination of using the correct products and making lifestyle changes will typically solve both scalp issues.

For dry scalp

The remedy is quite simple…HYDRATION HYDRATION HYDRATION.

Veer away from products that dry the scalp out further, like alcohol-heavy stylers, SLS-heavy shampoos, clarifying shampoos, and certain volumizing shampoos (don’t get us wrong - we love volume, but be mindful that some volumizing formulas are lacking moisture).

The two most effective product types for scalp hydration are shampoos and serums.

We recommend:

For dandruff

Like dry scalp, dandruff is best treated with a combination of the right shampoo and topical product. The two most important targets here are oiliness and fungus. Pyrithione zinc, salicylic acid, piroctone olamine, probiotics, aloe vera and menthol are all ingredients that have been proven to minimize dandruff and its associated inflammation. And luckily, you don’t have to sacrifice the look or health of your hair or color with these industry-leading options.

We recommend:

And remember - the first step to healthy hair is a healthy scalp!