Dandruff: Dry or Oily Is Not the Same Problem

Let's start with the most useful thing in this article, and the least commercial: if your flakes are oily, yellowish and stick to the scalp, no TORVIA product will treat them. You need an antifungal shampoo, from a pharmacy. More on that below.

But not all flaking is dandruff. The confusion is expensive, because the two situations call for opposite responses.

The test, in three questions

• Are the flakes fine, white, dry, and do they fall away on their own? → dry scalp.
• Are they thick, yellowish, greasy, and do they cling at the root? → true dandruff, fungal in origin.
• Is the rest of your skin dry too — arms, legs? → dry scalp, almost certainly.

True dandruff: a yeast, not poor hygiene

Oily dandruff is linked to overgrowth of Malassezia, a yeast naturally present on every scalp. In some people it feeds on sebum and speeds up cell turnover, so cells shed in plaques.

It's neither a cleanliness issue nor a matter of washing too rarely — washing more often changes nothing. What works: an antifungal active, zinc pyrithione or ketoconazole, two to three times a week for a month. Those products are in pharmacies, not here. We don't sell any, and a gentle shampoo will not replace an antifungal.

Dry scalp: here we can help

This is the more common case in winter, and it has nothing to do with a yeast. A scalp deprived of lipids sheds fine white particles. Three causes, all fixable:

• A shampoo that's too stripping, or used too often. The subject is covered in our piece on sulfate-free shampoo — including what's in ours.
• Hot water. It dissolves the scalp's protective film just as it does the skin's.
• Dry indoor heating. In a Canadian winter, indoor humidity often drops below 20%.

What works

An oil treatment before washing nourishes the scalp and limits what the shampoo can take away. It's the most effective move, and the most neglected.

How many drops, before or after washing: it's all here.

Then space out washes to two or three times a week, shampoo the scalp without scratching with your nails, and rinse lukewarm.

What to stop doing

• Scratching. It detaches flakes in the moment and sustains the irritation that produces them.
• Washing daily “to clean it”. On a dry scalp, that's exactly what makes it worse.
• Rotating five different shampoos. Give one routine a month before judging it.
• Confusing dryness with dandruff and buying an aggressive anti-dandruff product for a scalp that simply lacked lipids.

When to see a doctor

Thick red patches, intense itching, spread to the eyebrows or sides of the nose, or associated hair loss: that needs medical advice, not a shampoo. Seborrhoeic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis are treatable, but not with cosmetics.

Frequently asked

Is dandruff contagious?

No. The yeast involved is present on everyone; it's the individual response that differs.

Anti-dandruff shampoo forever?

Often as spaced-out maintenance, yes. The yeast doesn't disappear; you keep it at a level that stops causing problems.

Does apple cider vinegar work?

It rebalances pH and smooths the fibre — useful on a disrupted scalp, with no demonstrated effect on fungal overgrowth.

The full INCI list for every formula is published on its product page.