Beyond Dermatologics’ Scalp Oil. Photo Credit: Beyond Dermatologics.
According to dermatology research, dandruff is a chronic condition that ails 50% of the adult population worldwide. So, since there are currently 7.6 billion people in the world, that’s almost 4 billion people with scalps and hair flaking like Canadian snow storms.
Dr. Elizabeth Hughes and her new Beyond Dermatologics CBD Scalp Oil is here to prevent those undesired dandruff-scalp-blizzards.
Hughes’ scalp oil is an eclectic mix of finely-tuned ingredients: from the faithful CBD, to licorice root, Argan oil, and bamboo oil for hair texture and shine. To Hughes and her company, ingredients are the most important part of a skin-product; she believes in simplicity and transparency. Her product list every ingredient on the bottle with no technical science-jargon items. For example, many shampoos contain hard-to-pronounce ingredients like “Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose” — not Hughes’ products.
With this simplicity comes additional benefits. For example, the scalp oil is fragrance-free, hypo-allergenic, and non-comedogenic (meaning it doesn’t block pores).
Hughes created her brand, Beyond Dermatologics, and their first product, the CBD Scalp Oil, to focus on ingredients that work and to offer a product that outperforms many other products on the market that aren’t as effective.
Dr. Hughes’ Background and the Development of her Product
Hughes is a board-certified dermatologist that has been working in her field for over 25 years. In her 25-years of experience, she’s become averse to the incessant prescribing of steroid medication and other products that simply don’t work well for certain skin-conditions, such as dandruff.
“There are all these products that have the ‘dermatologist approved’ label,” Hughes told Emerald. “But no one asked me! Some of these products are horrible!”
So, she set out to produce a skin-oil that she did approve of. She began ordering raw materials and experimenting with different combinations of ingredients. After turning her kitchen into a chemistry lab, and testing the prototypes on herself, friends, and family; she found the ideal set of ingredients.
Now, she’s turning it into a commercial product with objective reviewers and mass-production.
The Issues with Other Skin and Scalp Products on the Market
There are two different kinds of products on the market that customers use to address dandruff and itchy, dry, scalp. The first is over-the-counter shampoos and low-dose steroids. The second is prescription topical steroids or other medical-grade shampoos.
Hughes dismisses shampoo for treating dandruff and other conditions outright:
“Shampoos are designed to clean the hair and remove oil and dirt, and that’s necessary and [a] good thing. But it actually dries out and can damage the skin,” says Hughes. “The issue is, people see dandruff on their hair, But their hair isn’t the problem. It’s the scalp. Shampoo only stays on your head for maybe a minute, so where does all the active ingredients and medication go? Right down the drain.”
This scalp/hair distinction is why dandruff is a condition that a dermatologist (whose job deals with skin) rather than a cosmetologist deals with.
So, I guess we can all throw away our Selsun Blue and Head and Shoulders…
Further, Dr. Hughes explains how topical steroids and other treatments are actually counterproductive to the goal of making a scalp more comfortable and less flaky.
First, she explained, “long term use of steroids thins the skin out. If you use it a lot, you get little old lady skin and then that skin is super fragile,” she added. “Also, these steroid products cause a dependence on them. Particularly if you have a skin condition where you need to use the steroids regularly, the skin comes to expect it. When you stop using that steroid, the skin gets much worse, not back to where it was, but it gets a little bit worse. And sometimes you’ll be prescribed a stronger one and it becomes a cycle.”
Hughes’ product avoids these pitfalls by not drying out the skin and not causing any skin-dependence.
How it Works
The company is called Beyond Dermatologics because of its commitment to supplying products that go beyond what’s currently offered in the dermatology market, and CBD is a big part of this mission.
There are four properties of CBD that make it perfect for skin and scalp products according to Hughes: (1) It is anti-inflammatory, (2) it is anti-itch, (3) it repairs the skin-barrier that some other products can harm, and (4) it has antibacterial properties as well. All these properties make CBD perfect to treat dandruff.
These properties are well-documented and the effects that CBD has on the skin and scalp can be found in peer-review research. Although most of the research is pre-clinical, and researchers aren’t exactly sure how CBD functions, there is plenty of reputable research that CBD is effective for skin-conditions such as dandruff, eczema, and other inflammatory conditions.
The fact that the product is oil-based—with bamboo oil and argan oil—also helps restore scalp-health. Oil, unlike shampoo, remains in the hair rather than immediately washing out.
Additionally, because the CBD Scalp Oil is fragrance-free and hypo-allergenic, people of any age group can use it—including children (which isn’t the case for other prescription products or those that could potentially dry out the skin).
For Hughes, the product is all about balance. “In medicine we call it homeostasis, that point where everything is in order that needs to be maintained,” she said. “That’s part of my goal with the product.”
The nearly 4 billion people who suffer from dandruff should consider Hughes’ Beyond Dermatologics CBD Scalp Oil; it promises to be better than those other shampoos with unpronounceable ingredients.
Remember: people need something that cleans their scalp, not their hair.
Visit Beyond Dermatologics at beyonddermatologics.com or on Instagram @beyonddermatologics
Written by Teddy Duncan
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