ANGFA Co Ltd is a Japanese company that develops health and anti-ageing beauty products like medicinal shampoos for the scalp.

Wanting women to know the importance of good scalp care, which is reported to help keep hair beautiful five and ten years down the line, on October 19th this year the company launched a campaign called “Scalp D Hair Care ‘Scalp Revolution”.

The first part of this project focused on, would you believe it, the smell of women’s scalps.  The research included verifying the strength of the smells of the scalps of 500 men and women between the ages of 20 to 30.  They also took part in surveys and interviews with body odour care specialists.  The results were posted on a special site.

◆ How would women’s scalps fare when compared to the smell of the American crawfish?

The results from using a odor detector 24 hours after their last shampoo found that the average woman’s scalp had a smell factor of “59”.  Using the same smell sensor on other stinky objects, the group logged American crawfish’s smell as “10”, sanma, or saury fish, had a measure of “44”, while onions clocked in at “72”.  This reveals that a woman’s scalp smells stronger than saury and is close to 6 times stinkier than the American crawfish.

◆ How about compared to the smell of old books, a gymnasium matt, or your cat?

The men and women who took part in the survey were asked “Have you ever been concerned about the smell of your scalp?” 56% of the men and 67% of the women replied “yes”.   Surprisingly, the women prove to be more concerned about their smelly scalps.

The women who showed concern for their smelly scalps were asked what their scalps smelled like.  A 37-year-old from Tokyo commented that her scalp smelled of well-worn dirty old books.  Another 27-year old also from Tokyo said that her head smelled like a gym matt.  And a 20-year old from Hokkaido said the smell reminded her of her cat.  It seems that women’s scalps have a variety of smells.

◆ Can the problem of stinky scalps be solved by daily shampoo?

It seems the answer is in the reason for the smell.

According to Professor Akira Gomi, the head of Gomi Clinic who has consulted with over 10 thousand people concerned about body odor, it is important to find the reason for the smell and prevent it rather than trying to cover up the smell after detecting it.

“With that in mind it is an extremely difficult thing to do.  That is because hair is always growing so it is complicated to keep clean and keep it from smelling.  Hair smells are made up of a number of smells making them a complex odor.  What is more, everyone’s smell is different so there isn’t one cure that is effective in deodorizing all scalps,” Professor Gomi further expanded.

Professor Gomi says that a good point to remember is not to let the pores on your scalp get too clogged.  There are body oils that clog pores from the inside and a shield-like substance that clogs the pores from the outside that can show up as unsightly dandruff in the hair.  It is important to keep a balanced environment for your hair to grow in – shampooing your hair is, of course, very important but it must be washed correctly. Learn to wash and dry your hair properly without damaging your scalp!

Source: nifty news