Most people have gone through a period of dandruff, either long or short. Dandruff is difficult to clean up and it always seems to be impossible to get rid of it. At the 3rd Chinese Scalp Health Summit held recently, experts pointed out that – to reduce the generation of dandruff, the first step is to increase the frequency of shampooing and keep the scalp clean. The survey found that the frequency of people’s shampooing has been gradually increasing since 2003, with summer higher than winter and men higher than women (related to the difficulty of shampooing). The average number of times people shampoo in China’s major cities is 2 to 4 times per week, while in the United States it is more than 6 times. The main purpose of increasing the frequency of shampooing is to get rid of the dandruff and sebum already produced on the scalp. Reducing sebum is equivalent to reducing the nutrients for fungus, which in turn reduces its number, and dandruff will naturally decrease. Some people, especially women with long hair, worry that frequent shampooing will damage the scalp and hair quality. In fact, this concern is completely unnecessary. The shampoos we commonly use today are very mild and do not cause direct damage to the scalp and hair. The real damage will be caused by scratching the scalp when shampooing, drying hard after shampooing, and using a hair dryer. The damage to the scalp and hair quality from shampooing is less than one thousandth of that from a perm or coloring. Experiments have shown that the sebum of the scalp is significantly reduced just after shampooing, but it can be restored to 60.8% after 3 hours, 82.1% after 6 hours, and to its original condition after 24 hours. Therefore, in summer, it is best to wash your hair once a day, especially if you have a high sebum secretion, so as to ensure that there is not too much sebum in your scalp. In winter, when sebum production is relatively low, there is no need to wash your hair every day. In addition to increasing the frequency of shampooing, to really get rid of dandruff you have to deal with Malassezia. Malassezia hydrolyzes the triglycerides in sebum into fatty acids and diesters, thereby damaging our scalp. It has recently been discovered that Malassezia is not only found on the surface of the hair, but also in the funnel area of the hair follicle, which is the dead center of cleaning. If anti-dandruff ingredients do not penetrate deep enough into the follicular funnel, they will not be able to clear the Malassezia bacteria that are hiding there, leading to recurring dandruff.