The effect of hair care products on dandruff.

Synopsis Although the role of micro-organisms located on the surface of the scalp is disputed by some authors, lipolytic organisms within the hair follicle may still be implicated in the causation of dandruff. Scale formation appears to be an adaptive response to threshold scalp irritation, taking the form of minimal parakeratosis possibly induced by products of lipolysis permeating thin regions of the horny layer. No single pathogen is yet clearly identifiable but effective anti-dandruff compounds display good antimicrobial activity against the typical lipolytic scalp microflora; this activity is retained in the presence of sebum and a feature of the most efficacious anti-dandruff agents is their good substantivity to the epidermal horny layer.