Salicylic Acid For Hair: Benefits, Side Effects, and How to Use It

Scalp and hair care go hand in hand because a balanced scalp equals healthy-looking hair. Just like your face, your scalp benefits from a routine that includes exfoliation, cleansing and conditioning. Without it, we risk product build-up and clogged follicles, leading to scalp and hair conditions. With a tailored haircare routine, it's possible to avoid many of the underlying causes of common hair issues like dandruff or increased hair fall.

When you consider the fact that the scalp has the same biological composition as the rest of our skin, it makes perfect sense to integrate skincare-inspired haircare into your routine. Skincare-inspired haircare refers to the usage of haircare ingredients that first became established in skincare. And salicylic acid is one of these.

 

First, what is Salicylic Acid?

 

Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid (BHA) originally extracted from the bark of willow trees.

One of the main uses of salicylic acid in skincare is as a chemical exfoliant, helping to shed dead skin cells from the skin's surface and promote skin cell turnover. Salicylic acid helps break the bonds that hold dead skin cells to the surface, allowing them to be easily washed away. Salicylic acid is also oil-soluble, so it's able to penetrate clogged pores. Here it mixes with the sebum (natural skin oils) found both there and on the surface of the skin, and helps in regulating excess sebum production and removing excess oil.

 

How Salicylic Acid Works on Hair and Scalp

Salicylic acid's exfoliating and oil regulation properties are just as useful in a haircare routine.

 

Exfoliation of Dead Skin Cells

As with elsewhere on the body, dead skin cells can accumulate on the scalp, leading to visible skin flakes and dandruff. When used in an exfoliating scalp treatment, salicylic acid results in a cleaner, fresher scalp, and also paves the way for other hair products to penetrate the scalp more effectively.

 

Regulation of Sebum Production

An oily scalp can lead to limp, oily hair, and even increased hair fall in some cases. Salicylic acid steps in by regulating excess sebum production, penetrating the pore to exfoliate inside the hair follicle, and ensure that excess sebum is kept at bay.

 

Deep Cleansing of Hair Follicles

Hair follicles can become clogged with a combination of sebum, dead skin cells, and product build-up. Salicylic acid's deep-cleansing action ensures that these follicles remain unobstructed, promoting optimal hair condition and growth.

Dandruff is also a scalp condition marked by the shedding of excessive amounts of skin flakes. It often produces larger, yellowish flakes from a combination of both dead skin cells and excess oil, accompanied by itching sensations on the scalp.

However, dandruff is not related to skin type, nor the result of a build-up of dead or dry skin cells caused by infrequent hair washing. It's a recurring issue prone to relapses that affects up to 50% of the population, with a negative impact on quality of life.[1]

 

Causes of dandruff

• An unbalanced scalp microbiome: The microbiome is the invisible ecosystem of microorganisms which forms an integral part of the skin’s surface. What makes a balanced microbiome varies from one part of the body to another, but it's always essential to skin wellbeing and plays a key role in skin protection. If the scalp microbiome is unbalanced, it can lead to excessive skin cell proliferation and flaking.

• Unbalanced sebum composition: Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands in the skin. It's made up of various oils, some of which are important nutrients for the microbiome. Excess oil production on the scalp can lead to an imbalance of the microbiome. This can potentially cause discomfort on the scalp, and trigger dandruff.

• An altered skin moisture barrier function caused by both microbiome imbalance and dysregulated sebum production, resulting in rough skin and a flaky scalp.

These three can aggravate each other in a self-perpetuating cycle.

Other factors can also contribute to the incidence of dandruff, as well as individual predisposition and environmental factors like the changing of the seasons.

 

Symptoms of Dandruff

If you have dandruff, you may experience any or all of the below:

• Flakes that are white or yellowish in colour.

• Areas of oily skin on the scalp.

• Itching sensations on the scalp.

• Occasional redness and skin sensitivity.

 

Treatment options for Dandruff

DERCOS anti-dandruff DS shampoo range for dry hair and normal to oily hair combines two dermatologically active ingredients in selenium disulfide (DS) and salicylic acid. S

 

Introducing salicylic acid shampoo into your haircare routine

As experts  in hair & scalp dermatology, DERCOS Laboratories treat scalp the same way you treat skin. Each product is formulated around dermatologically recognised active ingredients, designed to stimulate and improve the condition of the scalp.

The DERCOS Anti-Dandruff shampoo range includes:

DS Shampoo for Normal to Oily Hair and DS Shampoo for Dry Hair each feature a pair of dermatologically active ingredients in selenium disulphide (DS) and salicylic acid. Selenium disulphide works to rebalance both the scalp microbiome and sebum composition, whilst salicylic acid is a chemical exfoliant that loosens dead skin cells and removes visible flakes from the scalp.

Both shampoos rebalance the scalp microbiome after just four weeks' use [1], eliminate up to 100% dandruff from first use [2], and provide +6 weeks anti relapse 

Other key ingredients include the antioxidant Vitamin E to prevent oxidation of sebum, and Ceramide R to reinforce the skin moisture barrier.

Anti-Dandruff K Deep Purifying Shampoo is a gentle exfoliating formula formulated with salicylic acid, Piroctone Olamine and glycerin. Hypoallergenic and tested on sensitive scalp, it's suitable for daily use. Dandruff is visibly reduced after 4 weeks [4], with significant results from the first week of use.[5]

1. Cosmeto-clinical study, 56 subjects with 3 applications a week for 4 weeks.
2. Consumer test on 262 subjects after 2 weeks of regular use.
3. *Cosmeto-clinical study on 32 subjects after 4 weeks of use and 6 weeks of remanence.Self assessment, 32 subjects, over 4 weeks.
4. Cosmeto-clinical scoring, 32 subjects, over 4 weeks
5. Cosmeto-clinical study on 32 subjects after 4 weeks of use and 6 weeks of remanence.