Oily hair

Because the sebaceous gland is overstimulated, and the thing that stimulates it most is drying it out. It’s a cycle: aggressive shampoo, very hot water, and a rushed wash leave the scalp feeling tight; the skin interprets this as an alarm signal and responds by producing more sebum. Breaking this cycle means washing more gently, not more harshly. We elaborate on this in how to keep oily hair clean for longer.

No, and it’s worth saying because it’s often experienced as a flaw. Sebum is the natural protection for the scalp and hair fiber: oily hair is usually less damaged and breaks less than dry hair. The problem isn’t producing sebum, it’s overproducing it, and that almost always stems from having dried it out. By the way, coconut oil doesn't fix oily hair: it’s occlusive, and at the roots, it usually worsens the feeling of heaviness.

If it’s right after getting out of the shower, it’s usually insufficient rinsing or excess product, not a lack of cleansing. If it’s a few hours later, it’s the rebound effect mentioned in the first question. And if you’ve just switched from conventional shampoo to a silicone-free one, expect a two- or three-week transition period while the fiber clears itself of accumulated coating: during that time, hair may feel heavier than usual.

The night concentrates three things: heat, friction, and hours of contact with the pillow. It helps quite a bit to go to bed with completely dry hair, tie it up loosely instead of letting it fall over your face, and change your pillowcase more often than we usually do, because it accumulates sebum from previous nights and transfers it back to the hair.

MARE is the specific shampoo for oily hair. If your hair is also fine and falls flat, BLOOM. And if hair loss is added to the oiliness, GROW has a light texture designed specifically for scalps with a tendency to be oily. We guide you in which natural shampoo to choose according to your hair type and review the entire range in the definitive guide to solid shampoo.

This is the feedback we receive most often and it’s almost always fixable, so it’s not that you’re doing it wrong. Three adjustments in order of importance. One: rub the bar between your hands with very wet hair until it lathers, and apply that lather instead of passing the bar directly over your head. Two: rinse for much longer than you think is necessary, especially at the nape of the neck. And three: if your water is hard, that residue is what gets stuck to the fiber and gives the sensation of heavy hair. If you’re still not convinced after these three changes, the liquid format does the same thing without that learning curve: we analyze whether it is just as sustainable in this article.

This is a very common piece of advice with little evidence to back it up. Holding out with dirty hair doesn’t tell the gland to produce less sebum; it only makes it accumulate. What does change things is the type of shampoo, water temperature, and not scrubbing with your nails. If you wash daily with a gentle product, it’s perfectly fine.

Only if it stays wet. What happens is that the softened base sticks to the holder and washes away. The solution is simple: a soap dish with drainage or a sisal pouch, kept out of the direct shower stream, and allowed to drain between uses. Done this way, a bar lasts significantly longer than an equivalent bottle.

Yes, and skipping that step often worsens the imbalance. Oily hair at the roots is almost always dry at the ends. The key is two things: a light texture, like BALANCE, and applying it only from mid-lengths to ends, never on the scalp. We explain this in what is a conditioner for?

Because the most common sulfates, SLS and SLES, clean by excess: they generate a lot of lather and also strip away the lipids that protect the scalp. In oily hair, this translates into an initial feeling of cleanliness and, hours later, more oil due to a rebound effect. We explain this in are sulfates really bad?, and we review what it should contain in what ingredients a good shampoo should have.

They are the other burden for oily hair, especially if it’s also fine: they coat the fiber, accumulate wash after wash, and weigh it down, causing the hair to fall flat and look dirty sooner. Our entire hair range is formulated without them. About what else is worth discarding: toxins in shampoos.

It’s normal: with the heat, the gland produces more sebum, added to sweat, salt, and chlorine. The temptation is to wash more harshly, which is exactly what fuels the problem. It is better to wash more often but with a gentle product, and rinse the hair with fresh water after getting out of the sea or the pool. More guidelines on how to care for hair in summer.

It is the most uncomfortable combination, because what works for one thing usually works poorly for the other. Our recommendation is to first treat the scalp with the dandruff and sensitive scalp range and, when the itching subsides, alternate with MARE for the sebum. More guidelines on how to stop scalp itching and how to eliminate dandruff without irritating the hair.

Yes, if you apply it where it belongs. Velvet is a pre-treatment that is applied to dry hair before washing, from mid-lengths to ends, avoiding the roots. If you apply it in the shower, it gets diluted with water and doesn’t do its job: this is the most common mistake with this product. Directions for use in how to use a hair mask.