Four Easy Steps for a Healthier Scalp (2025)

How to Use: And unlike detox shampoos, it’ll work as a regular shampoo.

Best Shampoo for Dandruff

If you’ve got dandruff, you’ll want an anti-dandruff shampoo packed with fungus-fighting ingredients, like ketoconazole, that will shut down flakes, itching, and build-up. (Once you’ve cleared up the flakes, you can transition to a dandruff-preventing shampoo that uses ingredients like sage extract to keep your scalp fungi-free.

How to Use: You can use the preventative stuff maybe once a month as dandruff insurance, or whenever you start to notice some itching or flaking.

2. Add a Targeted Scalp Treatment

Scalp is skin. Like any skin, it’s also happiest when you’re blessing it with the hydration and nutrients it craves. Scalp treatments can be anything: hair masks, serums, creams, oils, and more.

How to Use: Dr. Rubin recommends incorporating a hair treatment into your routine up three times a week or more, if needed. No two provide the same benefits, and they all tend to have their own instructions on how to use and apply. Follow ’em so your scalp gets the best of what they offer, whether that’s moisture or nourishment or prevention.

Best Scalp Oils & Masks

These aren’t only for people with routinely dry scalps; we can all use a little hydration, especially after a deep shampooing.

Best Scalp Clarifiers

These treatments cut through oil, and sometimes use the chemical exfoliation (salicylic acid, witch hazel, and apple cider vinegar are popular ingredients) to rid the scalp of dead skin and keep pores clear.

Best Scalp Balancers

These treatments will diminish oil, but they’ll also soothe and calm the scalp with ingredients that prevent the kinds of bacterial and fungal threats that lead to itching, inflammation, and flaking.

3. Exfoliate Your Scalp Once a Week

Exfoliating means physically scrubbing off the dead skin cells and sebum that can clog pores and mess with hair follicles. Some of these treatments, serums, masks have chemical exfoliants in their formulas, like salicylic acid and lactic acid—but you can also exfoliate just by using a silicone brush, either with or without a liquid product. Your call! (Just don’t over-exfoliate, and dial it back if your scalp isn’t happy.)

Best Scalp Exfoliators

4. Go Easy on the Hot Water

When it's cold out, blasting yourself with hot water can feel good—but it might not be the best move for your scalp. Lukewarm water is better at keeping dry, irritated scalps under control. “Avoid very hot water in the shower since it can dry out your scalp and skin,” Dr. Rubin says. That doesn't mean you need to suffer, but you should try to avoid especially steamy situations until your dome looks and feels healthy again.

What Causes Dry Scalp?

If you've been noticing some flakes here and there, don't panic—and don't automatically assume it's dandruff; there's a key difference between the two. “Just like you can get dry skin on your body, you can get dry skin on your scalp,” says Dr. Iris Rubin, Dermatologist and Founder of SEEN Skin & Hair Care. “This condition is simply dry skin, and it can involve flaking and itching.”

That tell-tale sign it might be something more insidious is if you find yourself experiencing flaking (but no other symptoms) only on your scalp, regardless of the season. “Dandruff is a mild form of seborrheic dermatitis, which is linked to a yeast called malassezia on the skin,” says Dr. Rubin. “Unlike more severe seborrheic dermatitis, dandruff is limited to the scalp and typically lacks significant visible inflammation.” Mercifully, dry scalp, even if left untreated, cannot eventually turn into dandruff; the latter is linked to excess yeast production, the former simply means your skin is in need of a little extra hydration.