woman getting a head massage

Crown Care: How to Care for Your Scalp

Rebecca Nelson

It’s time to get back to your roots! Cultivate healthy hair by focusing on the source of stunning strands—your crown! Just like you need great soil to grow beautiful flowers, your hair health is reliant on the health of your scalp. By caring for your crown, you can encourage luscious-looking locks that are vibrant and healthy.  

We’ve recently fallen in love with the new Paul Mitchell Clean Beauty Scalp Therapy haircare line designed to be kind to your crown. We have high standards when it comes to hair and skincare products, and this line is made with holistic and sustainably-sourced ingredients while using bio-based packaging! This beautiful collection perfectly complements our Beyond Collagen® formula that nourishes your roots, inside and out.

Supercharge your morning beauty routine by adding a scoop of Beyond Collagen® to your morning coffee or smoothie. Then take a refreshing shower and wash your hair with Paul Mitchell's Scalp Therapy Shampoo to give your hair the strength and shine that it needs. Create a foundation of simple habits that illuminate beautiful hair and nurture the health of your scalp, one day at a time!

What Are the Signs of a Healthy Scalp?

A healthy scalp looks good and feels good. Just like the health of your skin is a sign of what’s going on inside your body, your scalp can mirror your inner health. 

A healthy scalp will be free of

♦ everyday flakiness
♦ typical itchiness
♦ common redness
♦ occasional pimples
♦ mild sunburn
♦ product build-up

Benefits of a Healthy Scalp

We all want beautiful, strong, healthy hair with shine. Our hair is a reflection of our personality and our health. Giving your scalp a little extra love can promote healthy hair growth, elasticity, and durability. When hair follicles are nourished and not clogged by oil, dead skin cells, and product buildup, they can do their job effectively, resulting in luxurious hair. Neglecting your crown can lead to common scalp issues that result in the hair being typically dull and dry, prone to everyday breakage, and minimal hair growth.

woman's hair routine

How to Use Crown Care to Keep Your Scalp Healthy 

Crown care is a collection of practices you can do to pamper your scalp to keep your hair beautiful and growing strong. You may already be doing some things here and there to encourage scalp health, but crown care is a devoted multi-step self-care routine designed to give your scalp the best life possible. Crown care routines often include scalp-friendly techniques and products, but we also like to focus on nourishing the scalp and hair from the inside out. Try to incorporate these into your everyday habits, as the best results will come from doing these practices on a regular basis.

Use Haircare Products That Are Gentle on Your Scalp

Opt for a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo that doesn’t strip away all of the natural oils from your scalp. Yes, you want your hair and scalp clean, but there is such a thing as “too clean” when it comes to your crown. Certain shampoos and haircare products can disrupt the microbial balance of the protective barrier that your skin provides. Harsh shampoos can be overly drying, which long term, can lead to typical flakiness, everyday breakage, or even a surge in oil production as your scalp attempts to rebalance. You will love Paul Mitchell’s Clean Beauty Scalp Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner for a gentle option to keep your scalp and hair balanced.

Wash Your Hair Less Often

There are so many opinions out there on how often to wash your hair. Over washing your hair can, of course, lead to typical dryness of the scalp and hair shafts. Under washing can also cause common irritation of the scalp and lead to typical oil buildup and everyday flakes. While a good general recommendation is to shampoo every two or three days, it is best to experiment and see what the right length of time between washes is for your hair type. 

Be Gentle When Shampooing

A nice gentle cleansing is enough to get your hair and scalp clean. Especially if you’re doing other crown care practices, you should see less product buildup, oil, and dead skin cells that need to be removed, so you can take it easy when you are shampooing. 

Live Conscious OmegaWell

Take an Omega-3 Supplement

Omega-3 fatty acids are wonderful supplements for supporting overall health, and they can also benefit your scalp and hair. All skin needs the right balance of good fats to stay healthy. Having an abundance of omega-3s in your diet can help the body regulate oil production on the skin and scalp. They will help the skin of the scalp to stay soft and supple and are essential to healthy, manageable, and shiny hair. High-quality fish oil supplements that contain DHA and EPA, such as OmegaWell by Live Conscious®, can help support a healthy scalp and promote the thickness and density of everyday hair growth

Take a Probiotic

Just like your gut, your scalp has a microbiome and is reliant on a delicate balance of microbes that keep the skin, follicles, and hair healthy. Yes, there are bacteria, yeasts, and other fungi that live on your scalp, but they belong there and contribute to beautiful hair and other aspects of scalp health and maintenance. The skin and gut microbiomes are connected, so by keeping your gut microbiome in balance, you can benefit the well-being of your skin and scalp. Daily supplementation with an effective probiotic with a plentiful diversity of probiotic strains, such as Live Conscious® Pro-45™, can help keep your gut and scalp in harmony. 

Eat Mushrooms

Functional mushrooms seem to have endless health benefits, so it may not be a surprise that they are beneficial for scalp and hair health. Because of the way mushrooms are able to reduce everyday oxidative stress, benefit the microbiome, and support the immune system, they can provide specific support for the health of the scalp and can contribute to beautiful hair. Chaga mushroom has specific benefits for hair follicle cell health and follicle strength, may promote blood flow to the scalp, and protect scalp skin tissue. Reishi mushroom also has a reputation for enhancing normal hair growth and may reduce signs of typical skin aging. 

Functional mushrooms that have a hard cellular structure, such as chaga and reishi, are most effective when extracted before consumption. We get ours in a daily dose of our favorite mystical mushroom mix, Beyond Brew

Use a Scalp Scrub

Just as your skin needs exfoliation, your scalp benefits from removing dead skin cells on a regular basis. Although our skin and scalp do this naturally, certain styling products, accumulated dirt, other common pollutants, and the oils emitted by glands in your hair follicles can make it extra challenging for this to happen in the unique environment of the scalp. 

scalp massager

In addition to scalp scrubs, there are special exfoliation tools and brushes you can use to get rid of unwanted gunk, freeing your follicles from buildup. You can even make your own scalp scrubs; just remember to be gentle when massaging these preparations into your crown area. 

Try a Scalp Massage

By gently massaging your scalp, you can support healthy circulation to each and every follicle. Healthy blood flow brings oxygen to the area, helps the lymph to remove metabolic wastes, and encourages everyday hair growth. You can do this morning and evening or before, during, or after you shower. It’s also a great habit to start doing before you go to bed. Brush your hair at the end of the day (which can also enhance circulation), and then give yourself a soothing massage by delicately rubbing your fingers on the scalp in small circles. Although your fingers work just fine, there are a variety of scalp massaging tools that make it easier to give yourself an effective scalp massage.  

Moisturize Your Scalp

By using oils and special conditioners directly on the scalp, you can soothe and nourish  right at the roots to encourage healthy hair growth, shine, and manageability. Hair masks are great options too, and it’s fun to try different kinds to find what works best for your hair type. A quality serum is a good option, and some, like the chamomile-infused Paul Mitchell Clean Beauty Scalp Therapy Drops, can be used as a leave-in treatment for soothing common irritation on the scalp. 

Different oils and products will be beneficial for different hair types. If you tend to have oily hair, a lighter oil such as jojoba (technically a wax) or raspberry seed oil won’t be too heavy. If you tend toward having a dry scalp or hair, a blend of heavier oils such as olive oil or rosehip seed oil are soothing and incredibly moisturizing. Argan oil is a great option for almost any hair type. 

Live Conscious Beyond Collagen

Nourish Your Scalp: Crown Care From the Inside Out

You can nourish your scalp externally, but it’s also important to think about giving your body the right nutrients to keep a healthy crown. Collagen supplements help to replenish the precious collagen throughout the body, and the amino acids in collagen provide the building blocks for healthy skin and hair. Our Beyond Collagen® blend is formulated with five different types of collagen, vitamin C, and biotin. It’s an all-in-one supercharged collagen supplement that nourishes your scalp and promotes dazzling locks!

Waking up to Wellness 

We all would love to have gorgeous, thick, shiny hair, and by rejuvenating your scalp with ongoing crown care, you can ensure you are developing habits that will help you maintain your mane. No matter what hair type you have, nourishing yourself with Beyond Collagen® can help you keep your scalp healthy and your hair radiant. Plus, your skin, nails, and joints will also thank you for it! By providing a healthful foundation for your crown, you can preserve your flowing hair that will flourish for years to come.