I joined Melaleuca recently as member, and started switching to their product for most of the household items, including the girls’ shampoo. While most of their products are good, I find the Herbal Shampoo which came highly recommended, too rich and too overly scented.

Now, I’m not sure if this was the cause of it, but after changing the girls to the Herbal Shampoo for about a month, I discovered a couple of ‘crusty’ patches on Zara’s scalp, cradle cap like.

There are 2 patches above her ears, and she’s scratching them frequently. Crusty, scaly, itchy, and when scratched, there’ll be scaly flakes coming off.

It fits the description of seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp from here :
~ Red, oily skin covered with greasy white or yellow scales
~ Yellow or white scales that may attach to the hair shaft
~ Patchy scales or thick crust on the scalp that may be easily removed
~ Patches usually confined by hairline
~ Itching, which may be severe

I used to have this after I’d given birth to Zaria. Probably due to hormonal changes. And I had a bigger patch. For a whole year, I’d tried different shampoo, bought over the counter, organic, prescribed by the doctor, but nothing worked. I have to stop wearing black because it was very embarrassing, a slight scratching would create an avalanche of dandruff.

After a year of searching for a solution, I finally came across something that worked. Kaminomoto Medicated Shampoo! After using for a few weeks, the itch on the scalp stopped, and slowly, the skin healed!

With Zara, initially, I thought maybe she has not rinsed away the shampoo properly, and the residue has caused this. For 2 weeks, she continued to use the Herbal Shampoo and I rinsed her hair for her. No improvement; and the spots were still very itchy and flaky.

Then I started her on the Kaminomoto Medicated shampoo. Sure enough, after a week, the ‘crust’ thinned out, and within 2 weeks, the 2 spots have cleared. Thank goodness! I don’t see her scratching her scalp fervently any more.

This is something I would like to recommend to all who has dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp. It has worked for both Zara and me. The only problem is, it’s not available in Malaysia but you can get it in Singapore.

Nowadays, I alternate this with another shampoo of my choice, just to keep the scalp healthy.

As for Zara, I’d moved her back to a kids’ shampoo from Buds, and stopped the Herbal Shampoo from Melaleuca totally. I’m now stuck with the remaining 1 liter of the shampoo. Sigh.