If ditching the shampoo doesn't help with the itchy scalp, you might go to your dr. I had the same problem & it ended up I have psorriasis on my scalp. Only on my scalp, go figure. I use Head & Shoulders shampoo & my dr gave me a steroid gel for when it flairs up. I am looking for some herbal remedies, though, too, that I could use on my scalp w/o smelling like a pasta dish or affecting my hair health or color.

It looks like Tints of Nature hair color (home box color) might be a little better chemically than Wella. The same company also has a professional salon version called Organic Colour Systems. Henna can be another option, I think some Hennas use Indigo, so they can make more colors than just reds, like browns, and possibly black. I've read that with some of the more chemical free shampoos, your hair can go through sort of a "detox" phase for a month or less where you can experience greasy hair, dry hair, dandruff, etc. before it gets back to feeling normal. Hard water can also affect the shampoos, but there are things you can add that can be helpful with this. For really chemical free shampoo and other beauty/personal care products you might want to check out Bumble and Bee Organic, Real Purity, or Natural Joy Beauty (sells some of the products from the other two companies along with others). Natural Joy Beauty and Bumble and Bee both sell samples of some of their products. You can checkout the companies on facebook too, I know the owner of Bumble and Bee Organic is active on there answering people's questions on her products or chemical questions on their personal care products and make up, since she has a chemical background. http://www.bubbleandbee.com/ http://www.realpurity.com/ http://www.naturaljoybeauty.com/servlet/StoreFront

Head and Shoulders ruins your hair. Pantene is not good either. Go to a place where they sell professional products and talk with the owner. There's one type of shampoo that is supposed to be really good, but for the life of me, I can't remember the name LOL Not sure if it's kelp or what. Will have to find out. It's a "natural" product. A bit pricey but well recommended by many professional hairdressers. Re rinsing hair well - that's so true! Do you use a lot of products on your hair (gels, sprays, etc.)? You might need to get a product that removes all of that which you use about once a week.

I went no poo this week. My hair is curly and I hate frizz so I always use conditioning shampoo, conditioner, AND a conditioning leave-in product. I used baking soda in the palm of my hand to wash, then I used a tablespoon of Bragg's apple cider vinegar in a half cup of water in a spray bottle. It was easy to direct it onto my hair without getting any in my eyes. I combed it through and the comb slid right through my shoulder length hair. Impressive! I was really surprised at how well it cleaned and conditioned. It's actually better conditioned than it was from all the products I was using. Yesterday I only water washed it after giving my scalp a good massage. Then I conditioned with the ACV. It was a little greasier than I'd like, so today I washed with the baking soda again. I know I'll need to taper off the baking soda, but is every other day okay for now?