Flora & Curl Coconut Mint Scalp Refresh Shampoo

For a scalp that is itchy, flaky and tight, not for hair that is dry.
This is a scalp treatment that happens to be a shampoo. Three mild sugar-derived cleansers do the washing instead of a sulfate, and a heavy blend of essential oils plus white willow bark does the actual work on the skin. Peppermint and menthol give it the cooling tingle. Lavender water and aloe stop it leaving you tight afterwards.

What makes it different

• It is built for the skin, not the lengths. Most shampoos treat the scalp as somewhere product passes through. This one is formulated to sit there for two to five minutes and act on it.
• Sulfate free and protein free. Gentle enough for colour treated curls, and safe if you are keeping protein out of your routine while your hair rebalances.
• The tingle tells you where you missed. Menthol makes it obvious which parts of your scalp you actually covered, which is oddly useful if you tend to wash the same three spots every time.

Worth knowing before you buy: the essential oil load here is high, and menthol plus peppermint makes the tingle strong rather than subtle. If your scalp is genuinely sensitive or broken, that will sting rather than soothe. It also does very little for the lengths of your hair, so it needs a conditioner behind it.

Authorised Australian stockist. Genuine Flora & Curl, shipped from our Gold Coast warehouse, backed by qualified curl specialists who use these products in the salon every day.

This is a scalp shampoo, so almost everything happens at the roots. Use it on wet hair at the start of wash day.

1. Wet your hair thoroughly, then apply a generous amount of the cleanser to your scalp with your fingertips.
2. Massage it into the scalp with the pads of your fingers, not your nails, working in small circles across the whole head.
3. Leave it on for two to five minutes so the willow bark and essential oils have time to work on the skin.
4. Rinse it out, letting the suds run down through the lengths on their own rather than scrubbing them.
5. Follow with the Flora & Curl Coconut Mint Curl Refresh Conditioner for moisture through the lengths, then style on soaking wet hair.
6. Squeeze out excess water with a microfibre towel or an old cotton tee, then air dry or diffuse on low heat.

Pro tip
It can be used after a pre-shampoo oil. If your scalp is flaky as well as tight, oil it first, leave that on, then bring this shampoo in over the top. The oil loosens the flakes and the cleanser carries them away.

Hero ingredients

• Caprylyl/capryl glucoside, decyl glucoside and cocamidopropyl betaine, three mild sugar-derived cleansers doing the work instead of one harsh sulfate. This is what lets you wash the scalp properly without stripping the lengths.
• Peppermint oil and menthol, which give the cooling tingle and are the reason this shampoo feels like it is doing something the moment it hits your scalp.
• White willow bark extract, a natural source of salicylates, used here to help clear a flaky scalp.
• Tea tree, rosemary, eucalyptus and sage oils, the purifying side of the blend.
• Lavender water and aloe vera leaf juice, which soothe and put moisture back so the scalp is not left tight.

Full ingredient list

Aqua (Distilled Water), Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Glucoside, Sorbitol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Apium Graveolens (Celery) Seed Extract, Xanthan Gum, Malachite Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Water, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Oil, Cedrus Atlantica (Cedarwood) Bark Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Flower Oil, Menthol, Menthyl Lactate, Salix Alba (White Willow) Bark Extract, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice Powder, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Benzyl Alcohol, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Geraniol, Linalool, Limonene, Citral, Citronellol.

Protein free and sulfate free. Geraniol, linalool, limonene, citral and citronellol are natural components of the essential oils rather than added fragrance. The essential oil load in this formula is high, so check the list above if your scalp is reactive.