Are You Exfoliating Your Scalp?
We exfoliate our feet, knees, elbows, lips, and face. Why leave out your scalp?
It’s common knowledge, exfoliation removes dead skin cells and promotes cell turnover – regardless of where it occurs.
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Why Use a DIY Scalp Scrub?
The scalp is no different than the skin on your lips, legs, or anywhere else.
Your scalp can benefit from a little extra TLC too!
Clean hair follicles are crucial to maintaining healthy hair and promoting hair growth. Daily use of a variety of hair products causes build-up. In addition to typical dead skin cells accumulating on the scalp.
All of which adds up to clogged hair follicles, dull, greasy hair, and slower hair growth.
Count Me Out!
Detox Your Scalp for Beautiful, Healthy Hair
Remove the build-up of hair products, oil, and dead skin cells. And clear clogged hair follicles with a DIY scalp scrub and detox for healthy, shiny hair.
This is a two-step scalp detox that starts with a clarifying scalp massage to exfoliate and remove build-up allowing your scalp to breath. Followed by a mask to detoxify your hair roots, oil glands, and follicles.
Are you ready to detox your scalp?
Here’s what you’ll need:
Coconut Oil: 1 tablespoon
Moisturize and hydrate hair with coconut oil. It’s packed with antioxidants and vitamins for healthy hair. Did you know it helps to prevent frizzy hair? (Find coconut oil in my DIY natural hair conditioner)
Sugar: 2 tablespoons
It’s a gentle natural exfoliant. I love to use pure cane sugar to create body scrubs and lip scrubs. In this DIY scalp scrub sugar buffs away buildup, dandruff, and dead skin cells. By exfoliating the scalp it unclogs follicles and
Apple Cider Vinegar: 1 teaspoon
Haven’t you heard? Nothing makes hair clean and shiny like apple cider vinegar! Use it in this scalp scrub for dandruff and oily locks. Apple cider vinegar lifts the impurities that cause scalp build up. And as a hair rinse it smoothes frizzy hair.
Honey: 1 teaspoon
An incredible natural resource of nutrients, enzymes, and vitamins, honey helps to restore the scalp during the mask treatment.
Rosemary Essential Oil: 3 drops
Encourage blood flow to the scalp and stimulate hair follicles with rosemary essential oil. In addition to balancing oil from the sebum glands and clearing clogged pores.
Related: Easy DIY Dry Shampoo Spray
Related: Natural Frizzy Hair Remedies
How to Make Clarifying DIY Scalp Scrub:
In a small dish combine two tablespoons natural sugar, one tablespoon coconut oil, and one teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Mash with a fork until scrub forms.
Add one teaspoon honey and three drops of rosemary essential oil. Blend into the scrub with a fork.
How to Use a DIY Scalp Scrub to Remove Scalp Buildup:
Apply one to two quarter-size amounts of scalp scrub to wet hair. Using your
Massaging the scalp not only increases circulation but exfoliates dead skin cells, dirt, and oil that
Allow the scrub to detox your scalp for several minutes. You can shave your legs or just soak in a
After allowing the mask to set, rinse and cleanse with shampoo. And apply a conditioner as normal.
Do you have normal, dry, mature, oily, or combination skin? Take our Skin Type Quiz now to discover yours!
How Often Should You Apply a Scalp Scrub?
Once a month is ideal for a normal to dry scalp. For oily hair or hair prone to becoming greasy apply twice a month.
5 Tips to Prevent Scalp Build Up
- Add six to eight drops of rosemary essential oil to your shampoo. It’s one of the most common ingredients for anti-dandruff and scalp build-up.
- Use an apple cider vinegar rinse to help kill bacteria, combat dandruff, and relieve an itchy scalp.
- Brush your hair. Seriously, brushing your hair with fine bristle brush like a natural boar hair brush helps to distribute natural oils throughout hair. And a great hairbrush can massage your scalp and remove dead skin cells.
- On days you are skipping a shampoo, apply a natural dry shampoo to absorb oils and prevent excess build-up.
- Switch to natural products or make your own by choosing to only use ingredients beneficial to your hair.
You May Also Like: Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid
You May Also Like: Easy DIY Hair Detangler
So, be honest how often do you exfoliate your scalp? Scalp exfoliation is just as important as other areas of the
This DIY scalp scrub recipe is packed full of antioxidants to keep your scalp healthy and prevent build up. Regular application will help to ensure healthy, dandruff free, non-greasy hair.
Carrie
I’ve just got to say this scalp scrub is AMAZING! I have fine hair medium/long hair that gets dry on the ends, I have an oily scalp, and I live in central Mississippi. I’m creeping up on 40, so my hair is changing in more ways than just greying. *sigh* Nothing I used seemed to help…my hair was heavy feeling, I couldn’t do anything with it, I’d just wad it up and put it on top of my head every day. Nothing was working like it did before.
Insert me Googling things to help my hair. I came across your blog and found your recipe for a scalp cleanse. After my first use, I was HOOKED! My hair felt SO amazing, soft, light, and I could actually do stuff with it! I use this once month (for at least the past 4 months) and my hair just keeps getting better and better.
Thanks so much for sharing!
lifenreflection
Carrie that is amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing with me. I know just what you mean by a heavy feeling in your hair. I can always tell when its time for me to do scalp scrub.
Olive
hi! i used this scrub and it definitely helped my dandruff! however, a couple days later my hair is still very oily. i’ve tried rinsing with apple cider vinegar a couple of times but still finding it oily (aka it looks wet when it’s dry)…any tips for this? thanks!
lifenreflection
Olive, happy to hear it helped your dandruff! Everyone loves this scalp scrub, I get a lot of DMs on Instagram about it. I haven’t had the experience of it leaving my hair oily. Are you shampooing after? Or do you have fine hair? Or did you maybe use too much? You could reduce the amount of coconut oil in the recipe if needed. In the meantime shampoo twice or try my aloe vera hair rinse recipe it’s clarifying.
Kelly
I had the same experience—my scalp feels good but my hair looks wet. I used fractionated coconut oil and I think this may be the root of the problem!
lifenreflection
Oh yes, that would be the problem! It’s just too moisturizing for the scalp. And you only need to apply a small amount of this scrub, not the whole thing.
Brandy
This also left my hair really greasy looking and I have thick, coarse curly hair that can take a lot of moisture. I did use all of it. So maybe there should be a note about how much actually a “generous amount” is. Next time, I might try to leave out the coconut oil or put a teeny tiny amount. Any suggestions on how to decrease my hair quickly? Leaving for vacation tomorrow and don’t have time to repeat the process. Thanks!!
lifenreflection
Sorry to hear that Brandy. I will update the instructions now. You can use apple cider vinegar or clear club soda to rinse out excess oil.
PEPPER
IS THE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR SAFE TO USE ON COLOR-TREATED HAIR?
lifenreflection
Yes it is to my knowledge
Nabila
I’m looking forward to using this scrub as i suffer from build up which can make even my dry hair get greasy after 1 day of washing. I was just wondering if washing it wouldn’t be hard with the sugar particles ?
lifenreflection
The sugar functions as an exfoliator, it washes out just fine.
Becky
Could you replace the coconut oil with almond oil??
Laura
Hi,
I have everything on hand but the coconut oil – can I replace it with another oil or maybe just equivalent amount of shampoo? Thank you!
lifenreflection
Laura, I haven’t tried with a different oil or shampoo. But, if I had to choose – I’d opt for the shampoo.