Scalp massage: what it really does for you, and what it doesn't do

It's a gesture we know without having learned it: fingers turning at the roots while we talk about something else. Yet it ended up serving a promise that blurs everything.

Scalp massage does precise things, and it does one that nothing replaces on curly hair. Here are them, and how to practice it without damaging the skin. Our step-by-step tutorial details the six steps of the Rituel Texture® and the place it holds in it.

What it really does: move sebum

This is the strongest benefit, and it is specific to our textures. On straight hair, the sebum produced at the root descends alone along the shaft and ends up reaching the ends. On curly hair, it doesn't make it. The description under the microscope of the African fiber is enlightening: a flattened section rather than round, a tight spiral, and torsion points distributed throughout the shaft, where the fiber twists on itself (Khumalo et al., Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2000). Each of these points is one more obstacle on the path of the sebum. Familiar result: roots that can become greasy while the ends remain dry, on the same head and the same day.

Massage solves this problem mechanically. It does not make sebum, it moves it. A few minutes of circular movements at the root, then a pass of the hand along the lengths, and part of this natural body fat is distributed where it was missing. No product does exactly that, and that is why we hold on to the gesture.

Scales, tension, evening

Three other effects deserve to be mentioned, at their proper level. The first is mechanical too: circular movements lift the little skins and product residues accumulated near the roots. This is what the detangling with the Chadian finger does already, step 01 of the Rituel Texture®, which also evacuates part of the scales. If the scales are thick, yellowish and adherent, massage will not be enough and our guides on dandruff explain the procedure to follow.

The second is the most immediate: the muscles of the skull, the neck and the temples relax under a rhythmic pressure, and a few minutes often relieve a heavy head at the end of the day. The third is the most important in our salons: massage replaces scratching. An itch demands a gesture, and if this gesture is not available, it is the nails or the handle of the comb that take care of it, with the micro-lesions that follow and itch in turn.

What it does not do

It does not make hair grow, and we will not write it otherwise. The growth speed is played out in the follicle and cannot be commanded from the outside. What massage improves is the condition of the skin from which the hair comes out, and the distribution of the grease on the already grown length.

The work that is cited to affirm the opposite deserves to be looked at closely. It is a small Japanese study conducted on nine men, massaged every day for twenty-four weeks with a standardized device: it reports an increase in hair thickness, and not in growth speed or density (Koyama et al., Eplasty, 2016). Nine participants, no control group, a single profile: it is a lead, not proof, and certainly not enough to promise centimeters to anyone.

It does not treat a settled hair loss any further. Persistent hair loss, a widening part or bald areas at the contours fall under a medical opinion, and sometimes a cause that has nothing to do with hair. Massage will change nothing there, and the time spent hoping for it is time lost.

What to massage with

Your hands first, and most often only. It is the most precise tool, the safest and the only one that feels what it does. Two conditions: clean hands and short nails. We massage with the pulp of the fingers, never with the nails, which scratch a skin already stressed by hairstyles.

An oil is not necessary, and it is important to say, because many women give up on the gesture for lack of having the bottle at hand. Dry massage works perfectly. If you use one, prefer a light oil, a few drops, and keep it for the days when the skin really pulls. On a greasy or dandruff scalp, oil is contraindicated: the yeast involved in desquamation feeds on body fats, and you maintain exactly what you wanted to calm. Our notes on three light oils say which one to choose.

As for the silicone massage brushes, they do the work without doing it better. They are useful in the shower, for those who have long nails or little strength in their fingers. This is not a necessary purchase: in our method, hands and Le Peigne de Man Dol' are enough.

The method, step by step

Detangle first. Massaging tangled hair tightens the knots and transforms a pleasant gesture into a plucking session; our detangling method details the order of operations.

Start at the top of the skull, fingers spread, light pressure and slow circular movements. The landmark is simple and it changes everything: the skin must move under the fingers, it is not the fingers that slide on the skin. Then go down along the hairline to the base of the skull, the most tense area for most people. Work the temples with the thumbs, in small circles. Finish with light and static pressures on the entire skull, a few seconds each.

Five to ten minutes are enough. Beyond that, you add nothing and sensitive skin turns red. Two or three times a week is a good pace, and massage during washing counts: it is even the most natural moment, since the product facilitates the sliding and cleaning benefits from it.

The massage in the Rituel Texture®, at home and in the salon

There are two massages in our method, and confusing them makes you lose the benefit of both. The one spoken about in this article is an everyday gesture, which is practiced between two routines, on the scalp, dry or during washing.

This gesture is already at the heart of every Rituel Texture® wash: at step 02, Le Shampoing Réparateur is applied section by section, insisting on the scalp, and massaged with the fingertips before rinsing. The complete sequence is shown step by step in the Rituel Texture® tutorial.

The other has an official name: step 03, Massage lengths & ends. It is done with Le Masque Réparateur, heated between the hands, applied section by section from the ends to the roots on a towel-dried hairstyle. We leave it on for ten minutes, under a shower cap if possible, then comes the detangling with the Peigne de Man Dol' on mask-coated hair. This massage does not seek to stimulate the skin: it seeks to get the treatment into the fiber, where it needs it.

In the salon, the logic is the same, but more supported. In our salon experience in Paris, the Détox Hydratante first purifies the scalp, before the Massage Réparateur of the lengths. Many of our partner salons, trained in the Rituel Texture®, also offer a longer and more supported massage than what we do to ourselves. It is a pleasant moment, and often a good diagnosis: a trained hand feels in thirty seconds a skin that pulls, a tension at the neck or weakened contours.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources

• Khumalo N. P., Doe P. T., Dawber R. P. R., Ferguson D. J. P., « What is normal black African hair? A light and scanning electron-microscopic study », Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, vol. 43, n° 5, 2000.
• Koyama T., Kobayashi K., Hama T., Murakami K., Ogawa R., « Standardized Scalp Massage Results in Increased Hair Thickness by Inducing Stretching Forces to Dermal Papilla Cells in the Subcutaneous Tissue », Eplasty, vol. 16, 2016.
• « Seborrheic dermatitis », MSD Manual, professional edition, dermatology section.