Dry + sensitive scalp
Calm the scalp. Keep the routine simple.
Professional scalp care for dryness, tightness, sensitivity, visible flakes and dandruff-prone scalps — organized around what you're actually noticing rather than treating every flake the same way.
Comfort starts at the scalp.
View products
Start here
Your next step depends on what you're actually noticing. A flake is a symptom, not a diagnosis — and the same flake can come from three completely different places.
The difference matters
Dry scalp isn't buildup.
Buildup isn't dandruff.
Dry scalp
The scalp itself is dry — it can feel tight after washing, uncomfortable through the day, and it can shed fine, dry-looking flakes. It often changes with the season. The answer is gentler cleansing, hydration and something left on the scalp, not a stronger wash.
What you're noticing:
Where to start: Gentle Cleanse · Hydrating · Soothing / Calming
Shop dry scalpFlake-focused care
Visible flaking is the main thing you're noticing and it keeps coming back regardless of how the scalp feels. This is the shelf for products whose makers position them specifically for dandruff-prone scalps or persistent flaking — SACHAJUAN Scalp and RICA Soothing Relief. Nothing else on this page gets that label.
What you're noticing:
Where to start: Flake-Focused — labelled only where the maker says so
Shop flake-focused careBuildup
Styling product, dry shampoo residue and oil accumulating at the roots can flake off in a way that looks exactly like a scalp problem — and no amount of hydration or soothing will fix it. This one needs a clarifying reset, and it lives on its own page.
What you're noticing:
Where to start: Clarifying + Scalp Reset — a different page, a different job
Shop clarifying + resetThey're not the same thing, and they don't respond to the same product. We don't label flakes, sensitivity, dry scalp or itch as dandruff — only products whose own makers position them for dandruff-prone or persistent flaking carry that label here.
Three ways to calm the scalp
Same uncomfortable scalp aisle. Different reasons — and different levels of routine.
Davines
The comfort + hydration route.
CALMING + ELEVATING
“My scalp needs less aggression and more comfort.”
SACHAJUAN
The flake-focused route.
Scalp
“Visible flaking is the bigger concern.”
EVO
The full scalp-balance routine.
Scalp
“My scalp does a bit of everything.”
Same uncomfortable scalp.
Different reason.
Sometimes, but avoid stacking multiple intensive scalp treatments just because they all live in the same category. Start with the main concern and build only the steps the scalp actually needs.
Find my routineWhen cleaner isn't the answer
Two products, two steps, and the whole idea is restraint. If the scalp is dry, tight or reacting rather than congested, another clarifying shampoo is usually the wrong tool — and reaching for a stronger one tends to make it worse. Sometimes the scalp needs less cleansing and more comfort.
Wash gently.
Leave comfort behind.
An easier place to start
For clients who want straightforward professional scalp care at a more accessible entry point, RICA gives Moda useful options for soothing, balancing and scalp comfort. Useful for first-time professional-haircare buyers, teens, families, and anyone testing a scalp routine before committing to a full system. Live prices are on every card.
Yes, both can be true
Visible flakes do not automatically mean the scalp needs richer hydration. A scalp can feel oily at the roots and still have a flaking concern — and treating it as dry usually makes the oiliness worse while doing nothing about the flakes. Equally, it isn't a reason to reach for the strongest clarifier on the shelf.
Did the reset go too far?
If frequent clarifying, exfoliation or intensive cleansing has left the scalp feeling dry or sensitized, more deep cleansing is not the next step. This is the one scalp problem that gets worse the harder you work at it — and the way out is a gentler wash plus something left on the scalp afterwards.
Where does comfort happen?
Three places a scalp routine can do its work, and most people only need two of them. The card on every product says which step it is and whether it rinses out, so you can see what you'd be adding before you add it.
The product doesn't
have to foam
to be scalp care.
Do you need the scrub?
Exfoliation can be genuinely useful when the primary issue is surface buildup, product accumulation or a coated feeling at the roots. But if the scalp is dry, tight, sensitized, reactive-feeling or uncomfortable, a physical or intensive exfoliation step may not be the best place to start — and there is no universal weekly schedule that suits every scalp.
For teens too
A teen scalp can be oily and still feel sensitive, flaky or over-cleansed. Start with what the scalp actually needs — not automatically the strongest cleanser. The fuller teen journey lives on the Clarifying + Scalp Reset page.
When the weather changes the scalp
Colder, drier months bring more tightness, dryness, fine flaking and sensitivity for a lot of people — indoor heating, hot showers and less humidity all land on the scalp first. It's worth saying plainly, though: not every seasonal scalp change is simple dryness, and if it doesn't settle when the weather does, it's worth a closer look.
The Moda shortcut
Six stylist-selected starting points. Oily + flaky and the full-routine options are in the sections above — balancing care in Oily + Flaky, and the three systems in the comparison.
Dry + tight
Davines ELEVATING Scalp Recovery Treatment
Moda Pick
Visible flakes
Sachajuan SACHAJUAN Scalp Shampoo 250ml
Moda Pick
Sensitive / reactive-feeling
Davines CALMING Shampoo
Moda Pick
Post-clarifying
EVO Ground Control Scalp Treatment
Moda Pick
One leave-on step
EVO Home Base Scalp Serum
Moda Pick
Accessible start
Rica Naturica Soothing Relief Shampoo
Moda Pick
When it's more than a dry scalp
Professional haircare can support scalp comfort and routine care, but it cannot diagnose every cause of persistent flaking, itching or irritation — and nothing on this page is trying to. If you're seeing significant redness, pain, open sores, bleeding, severe persistent itching, thick or persistent scaling, patchy hair loss, a sudden significant change, or symptoms that simply aren't improving, an assessment by a healthcare professional is the useful next step. Getting the cause right is what makes everything after it worth doing.
Not sure which kind of flake you're seeing?
Moda's scalp service can help take a closer look at the scalp, talk through the routine you're already using, and observe things like buildup, oil, visible dryness and surface flaking before you choose home care. It's an observation and a conversation — not a diagnosis.
Scalp questions?
Dry scalp is the scalp lacking moisture — it feels tight and can shed fine, dry-looking flakes, and it often tracks with the weather. Dandruff-prone flaking tends to be more persistent and returns regardless of how the scalp feels. They're not the same thing, and treating one as the other is why a lot of people cycle through products that never quite work. This page separates them rather than calling everything dandruff.
No. Flakes can come from dryness, from a flaking concern that has nothing to do with moisture, or from product and oil buildup that's simply flaking off the scalp. Three causes, three different answers — and adding a rich hydrating product to a buildup problem makes it worse.
Yes, and it's common. A scalp can produce plenty of oil at the roots and still have a flaking concern. That's why we don't route everyone with flakes toward heavy hydration — and equally why we don't send them all to the strongest clarifier.
Buildup is what you've put on the scalp — styling product, dry shampoo, oil — accumulating until it flakes off. It looks like a scalp problem but it's a residue problem, and it needs a clarifying reset rather than comfort care. If the scalp feels coated, start on the Clarifying + Scalp Reset page instead.
Something gentler at the wash step and something left on afterwards. Davines CALMING plus ELEVATING is the pairing built exactly for this; EVO Home Base, RICA Soothing Relief and the Eufora AloeTherapy range all do the same job. What tightness usually doesn't need is another clarifying shampoo.
Soothing before anything else. A sensitive scalp doesn't need to be cleaned harder — a gentle cleanse, and a leave-on that adds comfort rather than actives. If the sensitivity started after a period of heavy clarifying, the Post-Clarifying Recovery section above is the route.
CALMING is the shampoo — the gentler wash for a sensitized-feeling scalp. ELEVATING is the leave-on treatment that goes on afterwards and stays there. One cleanses, one comforts. They're designed to be used together, and most people who need one need both.
A lightweight leave-on scalp serum for a dry, sensitised or dehydrated scalp. Davines' own clinical data reports a 23% increase in scalp hydration after a single use and improved skin barrier integrity over 28 days. It goes on after cleansing and is not rinsed.
No. It's a leave-on treatment — applied to the scalp and left in.
Yes. Davines permits applying it to a dry scalp during the day as well as after cleansing, which makes it genuinely useful on the days you don't wash.
Two different ranges with two different jobs. Scalp is flake-focused and built for scalp care — shampoo and conditioner for flakes, oiliness and irritated-feeling roots. Clarifying is buildup and reset — a clarifying shampoo, a scalp scrub and a post-clarifying conditioner. If the scalp feels coated you want Clarifying; if it flakes you want Scalp.
What they're solving. Davines is for how the scalp feels — dry, tight, sensitised — and pairs a gentle wash with a leave-on. SACHAJUAN Scalp is for what you can see: persistent visible flaking, in a straightforward shampoo-and-conditioner routine. Feel versus flakes, roughly.
Depth. Davines is two products doing one job very deliberately — gentler cleansing plus leave-on comfort. EVO gives you a cleanse, a between-wash treatment and a concentrated serum, so you can build a broader routine for a scalp that does a bit of everything. Davines if the answer is 'less'; EVO if the answer is 'it depends on the week'.
Ground Control is the between-wash maintenance step — applied to the scalp to soothe and rebalance the environment. Home Base is the more intensive one: a concentrated serum for persistent concerns, with a higher concentration of actives. Most people start with Ground Control and only add Home Base if the scalp needs more.
No. Start with the step your scalp actually needs — usually Common Ground, the shampoo. Add Ground Control if the scalp is uncomfortable between washes, and Home Base only if that isn't enough. Head Start, the exfoliator, is for buildup and lives on the Clarifying page; it's the step most people don't need.
RICA. The Soothing Relief Shampoo and Leave-In Treatment are a complete two-step routine at the accessible end of the shelf, and the Natura'rt Remedy shampoo and mask sit lower again. Good for a first professional scalp routine, for a family with more than one person using it, or for finding out whether you'll keep a routine going before committing to a bigger system.
RICA's scalp-comfort pair, positioned by RICA for sensitive, dandruff-prone scalps — a purifying shampoo and a leave-in treatment, both built around Piroctone Olamine. It's one of only two ranges on this page we label flake-focused, because RICA states that positioning itself.
Not automatically. Exfoliation helps when the issue is surface buildup or a coated feeling at the roots. If the scalp is dry, tight, sensitized or reactive, a scrub is often the wrong starting point and can make things worse. And there's no weekly schedule that suits every scalp — we won't pretend otherwise.
Yes, and it's one of the most common things we see. Frequent clarifying, exfoliation or intensive cleansing can leave a scalp tight and sensitized. The instinct is to clean harder because it feels like something is wrong — which is exactly backwards. More cleansing isn't always more clean.
Step back rather than forward. A gentler shampoo, and something left on the scalp afterwards — Davines CALMING with ELEVATING, EVO Ground Control or Home Base, or the RICA leave-in. Give it a few weeks before deciding whether anything else is needed.
Something gentle and consistent rather than something strong and occasional. A teen scalp can be oily and still be sensitive or over-cleansed — oily doesn't mean invincible. Start with the right shampoo for what the scalp is doing, add a comfort step only if it's uncomfortable, and use Ask Moda below if you'd rather not guess.
A gentler cleanser and a leave-on hydration step, which together handle most seasonal tightness and fine flaking. Worth saying though: not every seasonal scalp change is simple dryness, so if it doesn't settle when the weather does, it's worth a closer look.
When you can't tell which kind of flake you're seeing, when you've been cycling through products without getting anywhere, or when you'd rather someone looked properly before you buy anything else. It's an observation and a conversation about your routine — not a diagnosis.
See a healthcare professional for significant redness, pain, open sores, bleeding, severe persistent itching, thick or persistent scaling, patchy hair loss, a sudden significant change, or anything that simply isn't improving. For everything else, use Ask Moda below — tell us what the scalp is doing and we'll help separate dryness, buildup, sensitivity and flake-focused care, and say honestly when it's outside what home care can do.
Still wondering about something? Ask Moda
Dry? Tight? Flaky? Sensitive?
Tell us what your scalp is doing.
Fine dry flakes? Persistent visible flaking? Oily roots with flakes? Scalp feeling tight after too much clarifying? Tell us what you're noticing and we'll help separate dryness, buildup, scalp sensitivity and flake-focused care.
