April 17, 2019
Dr. Michele Burklund, Chief Science Officer at Puriya, takes us through her answers for common questions on the topic of dandruff. These questions include…
1. I’ve used other tea tree shampoos that have dried out my scalp. Does this product dry your scalp?
2. Can I use the scalp therapy line on my children’s hair as well?
3. Can this get rid of my dandruff permanently?
4. What PH is this shampoo?
5. Does this help scalp psoriasis?
6. Is it safe for keratin treated hair?
7. How frequently should I use to get rid of dandruff? Is twice a week sufficient?
8. Can I use this shampoo if I am breastfeeding?
9. Does this help with hair loss?
10. Is this product cruelty free?
11. Can I mix this down with water for a spray bottle for my beard to combat flakes and itch?
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Right below, you will find the transcript of this video.
Transcript:
(00:01) – Hey, guys, Dr. Michele Burklund here. Thank you for joining me today on Facebook Live to answer some of your questions. I am the Chief Science Officer here at Puriya. And a lot of what I do is behind the scenes work of formulations, writing a lot of the literature, writing educational material. But once a week I will be here answering your questions Friday at 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. So each week, we will be focusing on a different condition and what I do is, I gather the questions from the week before on this condition and then I go over them with you. So I also want to remind you that if you do have any questions on different conditions, go ahead and write them in the comments below or send us an email with them. And I wish I could answer more of your questions online, but I have a lot of questions that you guys have already sent in for me to go over today. And of course, after the session I’ll always do my best to get back to you with any questions and comments you have.
(01:07) – So, also, I’ll wait a little bit for more people to join in. Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter, the link is above me in the description, and you can get reminders of our Facebook Live session every Friday. Also, we’ll be doing different Facebook Lives with interviews of different people in every different area of holistic health and I’m very excited to start doing that soon. You’ll also get our blog post if you sign up for our newsletter and of course any discounts or events or anything that’s going on with Puriya. So you can also follow this here while you’re watching this or ask your friends to join in as well. So, this week, it is dandruff and I have a lot of great questions that you guys have sent in already for this. Okay, so I’ll just kinda jump in with the first question here.
(02:06) – “I’ve used other tea tree shampoos that have dried out my scalp, does this product dry out your scalp?” So, we are referring to our Scalp Therapy Shampoo, and it’s actually formulated to help with dryness. There is tea tree oil and tea tree oil can be drying to the skin, but that’s just one component of our formulation. And inside of that, we also have a lot of nourishing ingredients combined with coconut, B vitamins, and different amazing botanicals, as well. So, no, it’s not going to be drying on your skin, if anything, it’s going to be nourishing. And so, I can see the tea tree oil, maybe you might think it could be drying, but our overall formulation will give you more of a nourishing feel than creating dryness on your scalp.
(03:03) – Okay, here’s another good question. “Can I use the Scalp Therapy line on my children’s hair as well?” So here at Puriya we typically recommend to use our products with children ages 5 and above, and a lot of younger children too have a lot of different sensitivities, so we always recommend 5 and older can go ahead and use our products. But that said, I would say to always patch test an area before you do a full application of any of our products, just to make sure there are no sensitivities, and be sure to read all the ingredients in our shampoo to make sure that if there is anything you might know about that your children might have sensitivities to or yourself, be aware of those ahead of time. And on top of that here at Puriya, we have 180-day guarantee. So no questions asked, if our products don’t work, if you have some sort of sensitivity, you can go ahead and take it back. Because our goal is to help you get over your condition, to help you heal. And we wanna do everything we can for that and we understand that each person is different, and so, we wanna support you on your journey to health. So yes, it can help with your children, but we advise 5 and up to start using our products. And always do a little patch test first, because each person is different.
(04:33) – Okay, this question: “Can this get rid of my dandruff permanently?” Well, and I say this in a lot of the Facebook question and answer sessions, everybody is different and we need to address the underlying cause as you are using our shampoo. And dandruff can be caused from different things, it can be overly dry skin, flaky, or it can be seborrheic dermatitis, which actually 50% of the population suffers from some sort of dermatitis, a recent trial said, which I thought was very interesting. And the symptoms include itching, red scalp, scaly, but it can be caused from too much oil build-up in your skin or overly dry skin, but typically dandruff is caused from seborrheic dermatitis. So, what I would say is, can this get rid of my dandruff permanently, answering that question, it has to do with consistency too.
(05:41) – Sometimes if the dandruff is caused from not washing your hair consistently enough or an overly dry scalp, I recommend using our product on a consistent basis. Our product is great to help restore the condition of the scalp and stop the itching, and nourishing your hair as well, and we also have so many great botanicals in there, including tea tree oil, arnica, sage and rosemary to help directly control dandruff. So, answering your question, everybody is different and it depends on the underlying cause, as well, but using our shampoo consistently will dramatically take away the symptoms and control the dandruff.
(06:30) – I like this question too: “What is the pH of the shampoo?” So, shampoos are not required to list the pH. And why? I think it’s very important for our Scalp Therapy line, is that typically, people with scalp conditions need to have pH of the shampoo around the scalp, so our Scalp Therapy shampoo has a pH of 5.5. And the scalp has a pH of 5.5, and it’s also the pH that different clinical trials and dermatologists recommend for people who have dandruff. So it depends on their condition, but surprisingly, if you go to a store and buy a shampoo, the pHs can range dramatically. They can be from 1-2 to 12-13. So it depends on your focus of the shampoo, but for us specifically, focusing on scalp conditions, 5.5 is ideal, and that is what the Scalp Therapy shampoo is. So I hope that answers your question.
(07:42) – The next question is: “Does this help scalp psoriasis?” And yes, the Scalp Therapy line helps both the shampoo and the conditioner treating the symptoms associated with inflamed and itchy skin. So the triggers of psoriasis can be complex, it can be a genetic component and they can be made worse, of course, by stress and diet, environmental factors. So we always advise a holistic approach, but it can definitely help with scalp psoriasis, and a lot of the symptoms associated with it, with the itching and the inflammation as well. Okay, moving on to the next question.
(08:26) – Okay, I like this question, as a naturopathic doctor. “Is it safe to use the Scalp Therapy Shampoo and conditioner on keratin treated hair?” So first, as a doctor, I want to discuss keratin treated hair. So typically, at a salon, if you go and have a keratin treatment, there’s different phases of the treatment and one of the phases includes the use of formaldehyde in the product, which is an extremely harsh chemical on your hair. So first off, if you are getting salon keratin treatments that are using harsh chemicals, first, I would advise strongly against that, because that can irritate your scalp dramatically and you’re exposing yourself to a lot of different chemicals.
(09:19) – So, if you do like to use keratin in your hair, I would recommend more of a natural way and avoiding the chemicals that are in most salons when you’re getting that treatment. Okay, so after I’ve said this and I’ve given my little spiel on keratin and the harsh chemicals involved, our shampoo is safe for keratin treated hair, because it does not contain sulphites or sodium lauryl sulfate. So those are the two things that can disrupt that treatment and our products do not contain those. But here at Puriya we do recommend a more holistic approach, and if you are having any scalp conditions, I would advise against using a chemical-based keratin treatment, because that could be contributing to part of your scalp condition as well.
(10:18) – Okay, moving on to the next question: “How frequently should I use the shampoo to get rid of my dandruff?” And here at Puriya we recommend using the shampoo for dandruff control twice a week. Now, with that said, everybody is different. If you have an overly oily scalp and using the shampoo twice a week isn’t enough, then go ahead and adjust to that. So, two weeks is kind of like our average, but we do understand everybody is different and a lot of people with this condition can have a very greasy and oily scalp, so you can use it more, you can use it every day if you like, or to see some results we recommend at least using it twice a week. So I hope that answers your question.
(11:12) – For anybody joining in now, I also want to remind you that you can like our page or follow this Facebook feed and get announcements for our next one. We try to have it every week at 10:00 in the morning Pacific Standard Time. So I just wanted to throw that out there and also sign up for our newsletter. The link is above where you can get a lot of great information that I personally write, in that we have a lot of great blog posts and you’ll always be informed of what’s going on here at Puriya, and we have a lot of exciting things coming up.
(11:49) – Okay, moving on to the next question. This is a good question too. “Can I use the Scalp Therapy shampoo and conditioner while I’m breastfeeding?” And so, number one, our Scalp Therapy shampoo and conditioner are plant-based formulas, we don’t have harsh chemicals, we don’t have synthetic scents, we use everything plant-based. We do have a lot of amazing and powerful herbs in them, though, we have tea tree, we have rosemary, we have nettle, we have sage, we have arnica extract. And of course, while breastfeeding or pregnant, we never recommend ingesting any of these herbs. Now, this would applying topically. And yes, it is plant-based, and yes, it is natural, but I would always recommend talking directly to your gynecologist, your PCP, primary care doctor and ask them what they would advise in this situation. Because there is always possibility that you can absorb some of the herbs and other things through your skin. So, on this subject, it’s plant-based, it’s natural, but always consult your doctor on this, because there is a tiny bit that can be absorbed, and if you’re worried at all, just wait until you are finished breastfeeding and then begin. So, it’s better on the safer side. But we don’t have any synthetic ingredients here at Puriya in those formulas.
(13:28) – Okay, the next question is, “Does this help with hair loss?” So the Scalp Therapy shampoo and conditioner was formulated for scalp issues, specifically dandruff, but we also created the shampoo to have an overall foundational approach on the hair’s health. So we have rosemary, which can stimulate circulation and has been shown to help increase hair growth that way. And we also have a lot of nourishing components, like B vitamins added to the shampoos. So, we haven’t formulated the shampoo directly to help hair growth, but we support it in a lot of different ways with the botanicals we have chosen for that.
(14:18) – Okay, the next question is, “Is this product cruelty free?” So to be clear here at Puriya, we do not use any type of ingredient that causes any type of harm or death to animals. So that’s something that you should know. We use plant-based ingredients, we don’t use harsh chemicals and we don’t use anything that can cause any sort of harm to animals.
(14:42) – Okay, the next question, this is an interesting question. This will be our final question, and this says, “Can I mix the Scalp Therapy shampoo with water to create a spray so I can spray it on my beard to help combat the flakes and itch?” This is a good question, and I’m not a beard expert, but I will go into this a little bit. Beards are different than the scalp, because it’s on the face and the face can be very sensitive as well. So, there are two things I would recommend if you have a lot of flaking and itching with your beard. First off, I would recommend exfoliating, taking a light brush and brushing your beard. Not heavy, because it can irritate it more, but just like a light brush to help get rid of a lot of the extra build-up and the flakes on your beard, it’ll help remove the dead skin. And then also, I want to… I would recommend putting the shampoo on the beard and washing it, but first, because it’s a sensitive area, I would advise patch testing to see how you respond in your beard before applying all the shampoo all over your beard.
(16:10) – Do a little patch test first and if you’re successful, and you don’t have any sensitivities, go ahead and put it all over your beard, like you’re washing your hair, and rinse thoroughly. So I don’t recommend taking a spray bottle and spraying and then keeping it on, because that could even irritate that area more by keeping a little bit on even though it’s diluted. So if you don’t have any sensitivities, then go ahead and wash and rinse that, and then, keep that cycle up. Try exfoliating, try brushing, and wash it maybe once a week too with these products and that can help quite a bit. So I’m not an expert on beards, but I would recommend just constantly washing it, making sure it’s moisturized and exfoliating it and you can use our products on your beard in the same way, and it can help with that area.
(17:07) – Okay, that is all for this week. I think we answered a lot of great and interesting questions from breastfeeding and pregnancy and using the shampoos, to helping dandruff on your beard, cruelty with animals and knowing where we stand with how much we love animals here at Puriya. And also, keratin hair and the pH of shampoo. So, I hope all of you guys learned a lot in this session, and remember, if you have any questions, we’re focusing on specific conditions each week, because it creates more of a consistency and it’s easier for any of you guys if you’re interested in a specific topic to join in instead of waiting for a certain question to be answered. So, go ahead and remember if you have any more comments or questions, feel free to put them in the comment section, or email us and follow us on Facebook, sign up for our newsletter, and we’re so excited that you join us, or if you guys are catching me on the replay, we’re gonna have lots and lots of questions to answer every week. So I hope to see you next week as well. Take care.