I have psoriasis, I’ve had it since I was a child and it’s bothered me non-stop since then and I’ve tried all kinds of shampoos and treatments to try and ease, or preferably get rid of it. I’ve tried everything from those prescribed by the doctor, to shampoos like T-Gel and even head and shoulders (I thought it might work well for the scalp even though it’s for a different condition) and nothing has ever done it any good. I settled on using whatever shampoo I fancied that would benefit my hair at that time, since nothing was helping my scalp.
I noticed this on the Aveda website and was sent some to try out – I thought it couldn’t hurt and I do have a degree of trust in the brand from many years ago when I used to pinch my sisters Aveda shampoo when I was a teenager (I hope she’s not reading this now)! The website blurb says:
"Healthy hair begins with a healthy scalp. That's why our Scalp Benefits™ Shampoo is formulated to:
• cleans down to the root
• removes excess sebum and buildup
• creates the ideal foundation for healthy hair"
My first thought is one on the smell, and that that it is a million times better than anything the doctor has prescribed me and certainly better than T-Gel too. It’s quite herbal and whilst this isn’t the usual kind of scent I would go for, it’s actually quite nice – certainly not offensive.
The shampoo lathers well, and you don’t need to use gallons of the stuff in order to do so – so whilst it costs more than your average supermarket brand, you may find you go through less bottles for the same amount of uses.
I've used this in the same way that I use any other shampoo, always massaging into the scalp and giving it a good massage and I have to say, I noticed a difference after the first use; I can honestly say that my scalp feels much smoother with every use. It’s not completely cleared up, but I am impressed that with such relative ease and speed that it does feel much better.
My hair feels nice and clean when I’ve used it; it’s even dealt with my hair perfectly when I’ve been a lazy bum/running late and have used dry shampoo instead of washing it so that it’s had 2 or 3 days worth of product and dirt in it. This is without having to do any extra ‘washes’ or use any extra product – very impressive.
My hair also feels in great condition whilst I've been using this, so it isn’t suffering from the shampoo being aimed at helping the scalp – something that always bothered me about being prescribed shampoos from the doctor (that neither helped my hair, or my scalp and that stunk to high heaven – errgh) as my hair was always at its worst when using that stuff.
I always use some form of styling product when doing my hair after I’ve washed it, even if it’s just heat protection spray so I can’t say if it’s helped with being able to style my hair any better, but it has certainly not made it any worse to do so.
All in all, I would completely recommend this shampoo to anybody who has any kind of scalp problem or irritation, and even to those who just want to maintain a healthy scalp since this product also seems to work brilliantly for the hair, and not just the scalp.
I used this shampoo with the Scalp Benefits conditioner by Aveda, which is a lovely product in itself. It’s not too heavy and not too light (at least not for my hair), I was even able to massage that into my scalp without it making my hair limp or greasy; and once dry I found that it left my hair feeling lovely and soft, without any flyaway - bliss!
The website says about the conditioner:
"This daily formula nourishes and balances all hair and scalp types to:
• hydrate the hair
• soothe the scalp
• create the ideal foundation for healthy hair"
