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I think I have always suffered from an itchy scalp. I found remedies that helped – doing hot oil treatments before washing my hair helped tremendously. Sometimes I would use hair grease and that seemed to help too. Until recently, my itchy scalp was mild. Since the end of the year, my scalp has been itching really bad. There were times it felt like my head was on fire! Turns out that the air conditioning at work is hoover for moisture – and guess who sits under the vent?

I’m not a fussy person, so I was not going to raise an issue asking for a new desk because the air conditioning was affecting my scalp. Oh no! I went straight to the hair shop to buy something. I did a little reading up and I know that neem oil is good for the scalp so I decided to try it.

I am going to be very honest – this oil STINKS! The information on the internet makes you think that it is an amazing oil to use, but only a few of them says that it stinks. It reminds me of garlic and onions – yesm it is that bad. Because of the smell, I decided to a hot oil treatment with it before I washed my hair – there was no way I was going to leave this stuff in my hair! I applied it to my scalp liberally and the length of my hair. To be honest, I really like this oil on my hair and what it does for my scalp. Too bad the smell is strong contender against it. Anyways, I left this in my hair for 1 hour then washed my hair. I used my shampoo bar to wash my scalp and Johnson’s baby shampoo to wash the length of my hair – so this would mean I washed my hair TWICE! As fate would have it, my hair still smelt.

Woke up the next morning wondering if I spilt some of the neem oil because I could smell it every where I walked. Then I tentatively smelt my head scarf – the evidence was there. I sat on my bed defeated. It took me so long to wash my hair in general, and I was already late for work. There was nothing that I could do now to get rid of the smell. I decided to walk to work without wearing a hat or hoody to allow the wind to blow through my hair, in hopes that the smell of the city would help to mask the smell. Nope, I could still smell it. A colleague said she couldn’t smell it but I think she was being polite. The smell went by day two, but that was with me using a different scarf at night! The smell was very faint, so I let it slide.  

Despite the smell, it really did help with the itching of my scalp. Probably the best treatment I have ever used! I just don’t know what to think about this oil. I can either use it and have an itch free scalp but smelly hair OR don’t use it and have an itchy scalp! Life has too many choices sometimes :( .

Why does the smell have to be so potent?

I will test it out again, this time mixing it with some olive oil to dilute it a bit. I know on some aromatherapy websites it says you can mix it with some essential oils to help cover the smell but I don’t think I have the time or money to be experimenting with fragrance.

If you use neem oil, how do you overcome the smell? Please, do share! I don’t want to go through that experience again/