Shampoo, or Adventures in (Scalp) Itching

All brand names used in this blog post are the property of their respective owners.

I had no clue that Pantene and Garnier Fructis used wax in their shampoo formulations. This wax has been known to interact badly with permanent wave solutions to the point of the wax peeling off taking pieces of scalp with it.

I also was unaware that Herbal Essences conditioner has a wax formulation that again builds up on the scalp.

I also had no clue that using Pantene at least was damaging to my hair as well as to my scalp. Do a search for Pantene hair damage via Google or Bing and you will see what I mean.

I started noticing about a year ago after washing my hair with Pantene Pro-V (shampoo and conditioner) that my head/scalp would itch like crazy for an hour or so after shampooing.

This itching was so severe that I actually avoided washing my hair so that I wouldn’t spend an hour clawing at my head afterwards.

I asked one of the employees at Perfect Look what was happening.  She said that the wax that Pantene products use builds up on your scalp, your scalp can’t breathe, and then it starts itching.

I switched to Garnier Fructis — also used Herbal Essences conditioner along with the Garnier Fructis  because Garnier Fructis is not a shampoo/conditioner all-in-one like Pantene–and for a while all was well. But then the itching started again.

So I switched back to Pantene Pro-V, all was well for a few shampoos but then again the intense scalp itching started again.

I went to get my hair cut last week (the sheep dog look is only becoming on sheep dogs, and I ain’t one!) so I asked the person cutting my hair what I could do to stop the itching as it was driving me nuts, to the point I didn’t even want to wash my hair at all.

She suggested that I use Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo because it strips off the wax buildup and revitalizes the scalp.

I also discovered I had a partially full bottle of Perfections Aloe-Joba Shampoo (Perfections is the brand sold by Perfect Look themselves) which also strips off the wax buildup as well as moisturizing and healing the scalp.

So I’ve used the Aloe-Joba Shampoo for the last two hair washes and I am happy to report that the scalp itching has dramatically decreased.  A side benefit of the Aloe-Joba shampoo is that because of the aloe content in this shampoo it is also a good moisturizer for your skin.

I did buy a 16.9 fluid ounce bottle of the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo and will start using it once the Aloe-Joba bottle is empty.

As for the 3/4 full bottle of Garnier Fructis fortifying shampoo with reinforced active fruit concentrate and the 1/2 full bottle of Pantene Pro-V, they will find a nice new home—the contents will be poured down the toilet and the bottles will be thrown away.  Although I hate wasting shampoo (or anything else), I cannot force myself to use these products any longer knowing that they cause intense itching for me each time I use them.

I know there are some idiots out there who would FreeCycle opened containers of shampoo and other personal products, but to me that is just carrying the concept of FreeCycling way too far.  I wouldn’t share shampoo, conditioner, or other health/beauty products with total strangers.  I even have problems sharing those type of products with family members.

1 comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *