Dandruff – it’s been the bane of my life since I hit puberty, and it’s continued well into my fifties and beyond. I’ve tried countless ways to rid myself of this irritating condition, and it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve finally found a way to tame it.   

Many moons ago, when I was about 11, I started to find white, flaky bits of skin on my shoulders, eyebrows and eyelashes, not to mention my scalp. When I shook my head, it was like stepping into to one of those snow globes! I was so embarrassed, particularly as it was around the same time as puberty started to kick in, so after trying I think it was Vosene shampoo, to no effect whatsoever (this was pre Head and Shoulders), my mother took me to the GP who suggested a shampoo called Selsun. It was a kind of orangey, yellowy gunk, and it helped keep the dandruff at bay for a while.

Fast forward to the mid-80s and I took part in a Head and Shoulders trial. I had to drive to a hair salon in Essex and be filmed having half my hair washed in Head and Shoulders and half in another shampoo. This went on for a few weeks, and then I was filmed talking about the results.  Unfortunately I don’t think the dandruff completely disappeared, but my film career did, as I wasn’t selected to appear in the advert. 

Over the years the dandruff came and went, and sometimes it would really bother me and other times not. I tried various shampoos and treatments, including visits to a trichologist, but nothing made much of a difference.

Then, in 2016, I started to develop dry patches around my eyelids.  I had seen a dermatologist for some mole removals, and I mentioned these to him, and he suggested I get a skin allergy test.  I was a bit doubtful, but when I developed really bad rashes on my hands, I finally went to the hospital to be tested. It’s quite an involved process, you have these patches put on your back and you need to return twice more to have them checked. When I got the results, it kind of confirmed what I think I’d known for years – that I’m allergic to a couple of ingredients found in scented products – so perfumes, scented skincare and the like. What I didn’t know, though, was that the dry skin on my scalp was directly related to my dandruff – this is what my derm told me when I went back to him with the results. My condition is delightfully called seborrheic dermatitis. Now I understand that not all dandruffs are created equal, but in my case, the dry skin which I had mistakenly thought was, well, dry skin, and the dandruff, are all of a piece.

So how did I rid myself of this annoying condition? I took a two pronged approach:

1. I gave up up wearing scented products, particularly perfume, on my skin. I am allergic to citral, which is found in many fragrances, including all of Tom Ford’s range. It’s amazing how many products contain citral, but what I was told was to avoid anything that has “parfum” on the ingredients’ list. Most fragrances don’t list their ingredients, but on the ones that do you will almost certainly find citral on the list. The other ingredient I am allergic to is Peruvian Balsam, which can be found in, amongst other things, fragrances, food and, apparently, haemorrhoidal suppositories – who knew.

1. I starting Nizoral shampoo, which you can buy over the counter in the UK.  The key ingredient in Nizoral is ketoconazole, which is an anti-fungal ingredient which is also used to treat athlete’s foot – lovely!

Since doing both of the above, my dandruff has disappeared and happily not returned. I do use Nizoral every few weeks just to be on the safe side, but I am pleased to say I haven’t noticed any of the pesky white flakes for some time now. I do have to be vigilant, as perfumed products lingering on my skin will bring it back with a vengeance, so if I weaken and spray myself with my current favourite scent, by Dyptique, I’ll be in trouble. 

Interestingly, or rather, irritatingly – literally and metaphorically – both Head and Shoulders and Neutrogena’s TGel dandruff shampoos contain fragrance, so I personally wouldn’t use those. But they must work for some, I assume, and that’s why I say not all dandruffs are caused by allergies.

So if, like me, you have suffered from dandruff, or seborrheic dermatitis, give my method a go and leave planet snow globe behind!

Want to see me chat about it? Watch my YouTube video.