People are generally surprised to learn my age; they tend to think I'm younger than I am. Although it could be my youthful charm that fools them, I think the real reason people think I'm younger is my hair. For one thing, my hair's natural colour hides the grey and secondly, I still have a lot of it — and I would like to keep it that way.
However, one of the factors that determines hair loss is genetics and my father's hair thinned significantly once he reached his 60s. Of course, my father, being the frugal child of the Great Depression that he was, believed shampoo was an unnecessary extravagance and used Dial soap to wash his hair, and I'm sure that didn't help his hair health. I, on the other hand, use salon-quality shampoos and conditioners, but even so, I've noticed a little thinning on the top of my head recently.
Darla Dilbert, who owns Eclipze Hair Design & Day Spa where I get my hair cut, is a certified trichologist — a specialist trained in the science of trichology, which is concerned with human hair and scalps. She has told me that one contributing factor to hair loss is the accumulation of hair care products. Since I have experienced scalp folliculitis — clogged hair follicles — in the past, I know I probably have an undesired accumulation of hair care products on my scalp. So when Darla offered me the opportunity to have a scalp residue treatment to purify and detoxify the scalp from any residue left by gels, mousses, hairspray and some shampoos and conditioners, and then write an article for Camana Bay Times about the experience, I was willing to put my golden locks in the hands of her capable staff.
I must admit, I was a little leery about getting the treatment, especially when I learned it would take about an hour and 15 minutes to complete. I'm used to getting haircuts at Eclipze that take about 20 minutes, so this was out of my comfort zone.
When I arrived, I was immediately put at ease.
"This is basically a scalp therapy," the therapist said. "The same way you have to care for your skin and face, you should care for your scalp."
It made sense to me.
The treatment started with a shampoo, followed by a rinse, followed by another shampoo and another rinse. Then, a plastic hair bag was put over my hair and I was taken to the back room, where I put my head under a steaming device. This would help open up my hair follicles, I was told. After about 20 minutes, the therapist returned, took off the hair bag and sprayed another treatment on my hair and then put the hair bag back on my head. After another 20 minutes, she returned, took me to the front room and washed my hair with another shampoo, rinsed, and then repeated. After that, I returned to the back room where my hair was dried and styled.
In total, four different products were used in the treatment. The products, some of which are sold at Eclipze, contain a variety of ingredients that are designed to remove residues left on the hair and scalp. They also replenish vitamins for the hair and balance the pH of your scalp. The treatment not only promotes new hair growth, but also helps prevent hair loss, I was told.
When dried, my hair was shining, but more importantly, my head felt strangely lighter and like ... well, like it was breathing.
The treatment is recommended for everyone — adult men and women of all ages, regardless of whether they are experiencing hair loss — to have the scalp residue treatment every six months. For me, it was a worthwhile experience and something I plan on doing on a regular basis so that I keep the hair I have for as long as possible.
For those interested in giving it a try, in August Eclipze is offering CI$27 off the 75-minute treatment in recognition of its 27th anniversary this year. But the discount isn't offered to everybody — only to those who clip and use the coupon located in the August 2020 print edition of Camana Bay Times.
This article originally appeared in the August 2020 print edition of Camana Bay Times with the headline "Eliminating scalp residue."
About the author
Alan Markoff has worked with Dart as the editor for Camana Bay Times for three years and has been writing professionally since 1997. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Alan graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a degree in English, and first moved to the Cayman Islands in 1982. He has 16 years of experience in the real estate industry and previously worked as a journalist for Cayman Compass before joining Dart to relaunch the Camana Bay Times monthly newspaper. An avid baseball fan, Alan loves travelling but also schedules trips back home around catching a summer game or two with his home team, Cleveland Indians. He is a movie buff who spends many an evening catching a film at Camana Bay Cinema. It was at one of these movies that he met his wife, Lynn!