Beautiful Scalp, Beautiful Hair

For the longest time, I struggled with dandruff and an itchy scalp. "Ewww" is the typical reaction most people would have and trust me, it was not the most attractive look. But besides being unsightly and embarrassing, it was also very uncomfortable! If any of you have ever or are currently suffering from dandruff, I feel ya. And it looks like there's a solution and perhaps a product you'd like to check out.

But first, let's get down to the "root" cause! Haha, bear with my corny puns folks! It turns out there are a few ways these little white flecks can come about. So lets look at the list:

1. Dry skin- Well duh? Right? That's what causes the scalp to be so itchy? Dryness? However, one root cause to dry skin it literally just not hydrating ourselves enough. Some people believe that to stay hydrated we need a gallon of water a day. That's a bit much for me personally. I don't like to pee every 20 minutes (sorry if thats TMI), so I at the least try to chug down a half gallon a day. How much water do you drink in a day? Be honest now.

Another reason skin can be dry is a lack of healthy oils in our body. We have sebaceous oil glands in our skin that produce sebum. The sebum excretes to the surface of our skin and in return keeps it moisturized. It sounds kind of gross, but it's actually what keeps our skin protected. I could go on and on about the sebaceous glands, but I don't want to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher in your head when you're reading this to yourself.

So lets move on! Eating healthy oils keep your glands healthy too. Make sure that when you're cooking that you cook with oils that do well on high heat. Some of my favorites to use in stir fries are coconut oil and avocado oil. When using oil raw, like in a salad dressing, make sure they're cold-pressed and organic. Some of my favorites are extra virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil.

Easy peasy! Drink lots of water and eat healthy oils!

2. Hygiene- Since this is an article just about hair and dandruff, Im going to keep hygiene limited to the showering habits. It's possible you are either showering too much or too little. If you're the latter, well... I'd be curious if you were even reading this. Healthy hair washing habits range for everyone. Some people wash their hair every day. Others every other day. I prefer every other day. So for those of you that are an every day washer, make sure that you're not overdoing it and that you're not scalding your scalp with hot water every time either. That could be the cause of dandruff too.

3. Medical condition- There is a medical condition called seborrheic dermatitis. It is similar to eczema and psoriasis, which can also effect the scalp. If you're experiencing extreme itchiness and red scalp with pain, it may be best to contact your doctor. After treatment, give this product that I'm about to tell you about a try.

4. Allergies- Last, but certainly not least, are allergies. This was the ticket folks. I used regular shampoos for years. I struggled with dandruff and itchy scalp and never really put the pieces together until I started going a little granola (if you know what I mean). You know, the "all naturale" look and everything organic and my god don't eat out of teflon? Okay well, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I mean looking at my products and reviewing the ingredients. I realized that most the shampoos I used my whole life had a bunch of harmful chemicals in them. My scalp developed a sensitivity and I became allergic even after years of use.

So I tried switching it up. After trying all kinds of shampoos, even the ones that claimed to be organic "blah blah blah", I finally found the Holy Grail product, the mother load, the ultimate savior. Low and behold!

A company called Puna Noni Naturals, makes an all natural Shampoo and Conditioner. And when I say all natural, I mean totally 100% real ingredients that I know exactly what they are without needing a google search and a hazmat suit.

Just look at this list and ingredients of the coconut shampoo from their website:

100% Biodegradable (safe for rivers, lakes and streams)

PCR Packaging (100% recycled plastic)

Paraben Free

SLS Free

Dye Free

Color Free

Synthetic Free and Fragrance Free

All Vegan

Organic Scents

Gluten Free and Soy Free

Made with Sustainable Palm Oil and/or Coconut Oil Resources

Ingredients

Purified water, Coconut Oil*, Palm oil*, Glycerin,

Pine Extract, Chamomile Flower Extract*,

Nettle Leaf Extract*, Dandelion Leaf Extract*,

Clover Flower Extract*, Apple Cider Vinegar,

Hawaiian Noni Fruit Juice, Coconut Scented Oil*

* = Certified Organic

Can you see the love and care they put into this product???

After using the shampoo and conditioner for just a week, my scalp stopped itching. After two weeks, my dandruff was totally gone. It turns out that my head was having a reaction to all the ingredients mainstream shampoos use. Finally, I felt like I didn't need to wear a hat or scarf wrap.

Besides a fresh new clean scalp, my hair was flowing and glowing! Lady Godiva watch out! I totally promise, people asked me what shampoo and conditioner I was using. I'd tell them right away. And when I hugged people they would mention how nice my hair smelled. It comes in three scents: plumeria, sweet orchid, and coconut. I like to alternate between them because they all smell incredible. Plumeria is a tropical sweet smelling flower. I would say it's the stronger smelling floral one compared to the sweet orchid. Which is a more light and delicate smell. The coconut scent is absolutely wonderful. It's not like some coconut smells that overwhelm you and are clearly fake, it smells like the real deal. Similar to a sweet coconut haupia; a taro, coconut milk, and honey dessert in Hawaii. Again, these scents are NOT overwhelming. They are JUST right, especially for those who are chemical sensitive.

I love to support this company too, because they are located in Hawaii and every ingredient is natural and/or organic.

What is Puna Noni anyway? Well, Puna is actually a place located in Hawaii and Noni is a fruit, which is used in the ingredients! Noni grows abundantly all over Hawaii. If you were wondering what the picture at the top was, well yup, thats noni! It's kind of strange looking.

Noni became more mainstream in the early 2000's as a health supplement. Some people drank the fermented juice (GAG, not for the faint of heart) and others took capsules. People made all kinds of claims, but mostly seemed to boost the immune system and be full of antioxidants. Mmm, antioxidants.

Puna Noni not only uses the fruit juice, which is full of antioxidants, but also the noni seed oil. The seed oil is known to help with inflammatory skin conditions, which is probably why it works so well with an irritated scalp! So if you have eczema or psoriasis you might want to test this product out.

The other great news is you can buy a gallon at a time. It lasts a very long time and is great at reducing waste. Just make sure to get yourself a pump or a funnel!

I could literally go on and on about this company, the ingredients, the smells, my gorgeous hair *cough cough* but trust me, just test it for yourself. It's well worth the purchase!