Here's something nobody in the 200,000-year history of humankind has ever wanted to hear from a partner or potential love interest: "Oh, you have something... white in your hair." Especially when you know it's not a piece of cotton from your fuzzy sweater or the remnants from a particularly steamy tryst, but dandruff. But if you're part of the 50% of the population with the scalp condition, you've probably experienced that scenario at least once in your life. (Slowly raises hand.)
It's not that I have any more flakes on my scalp than I do my forehead come winter, but the former tends to last through the year, only exacerbated by product buildup from my mildly unhealthy obsession with dry shampoo. And while Head and Shoulders, the holy grail of dandruff control, definitely works, the last word I'd use to describe it is sexy. So what's a girl with shallow ambitions of a pretty shower display and a head full of flakes to do? I snagged Oribe's new, irresistibly cute shampoo and prayed to the hair gods that it'd do exactly for my scalp what the millennial pink packaging promises.
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Based on the ingredients alone, I had high hopes: The sudser, like all my favorite face cleansers, is packed with salicylic acid to exfoliate any dead skin chilling on the surface, plus a kick of caffeine to promote circulation. But I didn't become a true believer until after I had been using it for two weeks.
Now, there are not enough Chipotle burritos in the world that would convince me to upload up-close photos to prove my scalp's progress — who can be sure how much grisly content your stomach can handle? But I can assure you that my head has never looked less like the victim of snowfall. This doesn't mean I'm throwing away my handy Klorane dry shampoo can, of course, so I do still notice tiny flakes by day three (or four...), but that's an impressive improvement. And the fact that getting rid of dandruff is now an experience on par with an Herbal Essences commercial? Well, that's just a huge bonus.
Oribe Serene Scalp Anti-Dandruff Shampoo,$44, available at Oribe.