I am not sure what I did to my hair and scalp the week preceding and during our trip to California, but I used something that really did NOT agree with my sensitive scalp. It got so bad that it was just like that time I didn’t wash my hair for 42 days. I would go into detail on the symptoms but trust me, you don’t want to know. It is totally gross.
At this point, I’m getting a little annoyed with how my sensitive scalp is constantly preventing me from being “green” when it comes to my hair products. I was determined to solve this flair-up with natural methods. A friend reminded me that tea tree oil and olive oil are both great for scalps. I’ve tried a ton of “natural” and “organic” tea tree oil shampoos and they never work at all. However, I had some actual therapeutic grade Melaleuca Alternifolia (tea tree) oil from Young Living, and I always have olive oil.
Here’s what I did.
Tea Tree & Olive Oil Mask
tea tree oil
olive oil
shower cap
I put a few drops of tea tree and a few drops of olive oil into my hands, rubbed them together, and massaged the mixture directly into my scalp in the affected areas. Since it absorbed rather rapidly, I re-applied multiple times to the same areas until they were saturated. I also dropped tea tree oil directly onto some of the more severe areas. I did a really good scalp massage with my fingertips. Then I covered my hair with a plastic shower cap and wore it for about an hour, possibly more. I actually fell asleep so I am not sure how long it was on.
I tried as best I could during the application of the oils to avoid getting the oils in my hair and focused on my scalp, but of course there was a good deal of oil in my hair. I have oily tendencies with my hair as it is, so I wanted to make sure all the oil was removed and my hair was still shiny and free of buildup. For this, I followed my regular hair washing and conditioning with an extra rinse with apple cider vinegar.
Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
I put this mixture into a plastic squirt-style water bottle so that I can squirt it directly onto the ends of my hair while I’m in the shower. I rinse the ACV out of my hair – there is a slight odor but it goes away shortly.
This treatment was super effective – my itchy scalp was gone, the flaking was gone, and I got several random compliments on my hair that day including “Wow, your hair looks really amazing” and “Your hair smells really good!” (from my husband).
If you’re struggling with a sensitive scalp, I’d highly recommend this treatment. I did it again about 4 days later to continue healing whatever damage I’d done and it worked just as well. Of course, you know where you can buy the tea tree oil!
I’m seriously going to have to try that… my scalp is tingling just thinking about it. How much olive oil would you estimate that you ended up using? I don’t want to go overboard!
I think it ended up being around 2 tsp olive oil? I kind of went by “feel” because I didn’t want to use so much that the oil got onto the ends of my hair. Let me know how it goes
Jenny, thanks for pointing me to this post. So, you don’t wash your hair with baking soda afterwards? Only rinse with ACV? Have you tried coconut oil instead of olive oil as well and do you see any difference?