Mini Reviews 005 // Philip Kingsley Hair Care

Just by looking at the photo you can probably see a theme here. A month or two ago I had a horrible itchy and flaky scalp because of pesky eczema. I've tried everything and I thought I'd found a good shampoo, Barefoot SOS dry scalp which worked amazingly well when I first tried it. I know the shampoo isn't the cause but I thought I'd mix up my hair care completely in case my scalp had become sort of immune to it.

Exfoliating Scalp Mask - I've never tried anything like this before and I wasn't sure how my sensitive scalp would get on with it but I just had to get it. You can only get this in a 20ml tube for £4.70 so it could get expensive as it's recommended to be used weekly until your itchy scalp disappears. I've managed to get three uses out of it. You dampen your hair and apply it to your scalp in partings 3cm apart, massage into the scalp and then leave on for 10-20 minutes and rinse away. You then follow up with your shampoo and conditioner as usual. I couldn't feel this on my scalp when it was left on, for some reason I was expecting it to tingle or something. I did find it hard to use on myself so next time I'm going to see if my mum will apply it for me, this is when you really need eyes in the back of your head! It's easy to wash out and has also really helped my the dry patches I get from eczema. My scalp and roots of my hair felt really soft after using it which I've never noticed before with any other product.

Flaky/Itchy Scalp Shampoo - This smells like apples and reminds me of shampoos I used as a child which I love. This has really helped with my itchy scalp and apart from a bit of eczema at the base of my neck, it's pretty much gone on my scalp and I really think it's down to this. It lathers up really well and cleans your hair and scalp without stripping it and actually feels quite moisturising. I've already gone out and bought the full size bottle as this little travel sized tube was running low!

Moisture Extreme Conditioner - There isn't a flaky/itchy scalp conditioner so I went with the Moisture Extreme as my hair is very dry and I wanted to try a full set of Philip Kingsley products. You only need a tiny amount of this as it has a thinner texture than most conditioners meaning it applies better. I only had to leave it on for a minute or so before rinsing off and my felt amazingly soft. The ends of my hair have been incredibly dry recently but using this, even after the first use, has made such a difference. It's also helped my hair to look less frizy.

Flaky Itchy Scalp Toner - You separate your hair into one inch sections and apply the toner to your scalp, massaging it in as you go. It's used in a similar way to the Moroccanoil dry scalp oil which I talked about the other month. Luckily I'm able to have my mum apply this for me, I have no idea how I'd do it myself without pouring the whole bottle on my head! Maybe if it was in a spray bottle you'd be able to apply it yourself, I've no idea.

You can either apply it to dry hair or once you've washed and towel dried it. I tend to use it on dry hair at the end of the week when my scalp is at it's worst. I find if I use it on towel dried hair it messes up how my hair dries naturally but if you use a hair dryer or straighten/curl your hair then you wont have this problem. It isn't an oil so it doesn't make your hair look greasy once it has dried. About an hour after using it I can go out and no one would be able to guess I'd just applied anything to my hair which I was a bit concerned about before I bought it. I'm pleased it's worked out this way as it means I can apply it during the week and my hair will look fine for work without needing to wash it more often than once a week. Washing it more often will keep my scalp clean which helps my eczema but then the process of washing my hair irritates my scalp, it's a viscous circle. This, and the shampoo, have really helped with my itchy scalp and apart from a couple of stubborn patches, I'm itch free.

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