Organic Shampoo is a staple in the dreadlock world! By using all natural ingredients it lessens the risk of many possible problems you can run into when using store bought shampoos. These issues include issues with dry hair strands or dry scalp, issues with product build up due to the ingredients used in the shampoo, moulding issues and so on.
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Organic dreadlock-safe shampoos should be not only cleansing but also hydrating. This is a very important component when you have dreadlocks, due to the lack of conditioner use in our regular washing routines. Organic shampoos should help to moisturise the hair strands as well as clean the scalp.
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A great ingredient in shampoo to look out for is hemp seed oil!
Hemp seed oil is a wonderful product for your hair and skin. It's benefits include holding moisture in the hair strand, preventing water loss to protect the hair strand, promote thick hair growth and revive damage hair. It's gold.
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Are store bought shampoos even that bad for your hair?
Unless the bottle states that it's organic most store bought shampoos are quite harsh on your hair and scalp. They often contain ingredients that get trapped into the individual pockets of each hair strand which overtime will build up in your locks and leave the potential for mould growth. Most store bought shampoos contain really harsh ingredients such as preservatives, fragrances, additives, surfactants and more which will strip your hair and scalp of it's natural oils, drying them out.
As we all know - dry hair is weak hair which means dreadlocks that want to snap.. Hydrated hair is strong which means long strong dreadlocks!
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Is the price worth the benefits?
Are organic shampoos more expensive? Yes. This is because the products used are high quality and organic which cost the manufacturer more money to produce. The reason store bought shampoos are cheaper is because they're massed produced using lower quality man-made ingredients and as discussed above they're filled with products that are unnecessary or harmful to your hair.
Organic shampoo only contains necessary products, with your scalp and hair health in mind. Organic shampoo will clean your scalp and hair without stripping the natural oils, disrupting your natural PH balance and quite often will also help your hair retain moisture.
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What if you need to use a dandruff specific shampoo?
Dandruff or psoriasis can be a real pain for those with dreadlocks. It can be irritating itchy, require more frequent hair washes, it can cause anxiety toward appearance etc. Dandruff and psoriasis suck.
Treatments for scalp problems are no one size fits all solutions therefore I have listed below some options for those needed help.
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1) Try to balance your scalps PH levels. This can be quite easy to incorporate into your washing routine. Simply soak your hair in apple cider vinegar or diluted citric acid. This usually is a great at home remedy to balance PH which can help reduce dandruff production, itch and irritation.
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2) Use shampoos or scalp sprays that contain essential oils such as peppermint oil, lavender, cedar wood, rosemary etc. These oils are great for helping sebum production, dry scalp, irritation and itch, and more! Scalps do climatize to their washing routines and often when we get dreadlock installed that regular washing routine is disrupted to be much more infrequent. This can cause your scalp to be itchy and irritated in the first few months of having dreadlocks. Organic shampoos and sprays will help make this process more comfortable to you.
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3) If you've tried using natural products but are still having worries with dandruff or psoriasis I do encourage to use whatever product makes your scalp comfortable! Yes this means your medicated psoriasis shampoo, or head and shoulders, or literally anything that helps your scalp feel ease! At the end of the day your comfort is the main priority.
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However, with this being said - using non-organic products will run a higher risk of causing build up. This can be prevented by more frequent deep soaking routines to help bring out any excess product and deep soak powders such as the one sold on the lunalockshop website contain PH balancing and moisture protecting products which will also benefit your scalp health.
In conclusion I would absolutely use an organic shampoo when possible. It will retain moisture, help balance your PH, you have less risk of build up and it won't strip your scalp of its natural oils.
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Shampoo pro tip - Dilute your shampoo before applying it to your locks to make the process easier. A diluted shampoo will sud up faster, be able to disperse through the locks and scalp more effectively, and it will also make the rinsing process easier and much less time consuming.
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Find Lunalockshop organic shampoo below
Find Lunalockshop Deep Soak Powder below