Teenager daughter clean hair smells bad

[Iamnotarobot123]

Daughter is 13 and for the last year, I’ve noticed that her hair smells. She is clean, and double shampoos, but it still smells. It’s a mixture of wet dog smell, and stale smelling. If she dries it, it seems to make the smell more pungent. She doesn’t smell it. It’s probably linked to hormones, she showers every day but probably washes her hair ever 1-2 days. She assures me she properly shampoos it.

I don’t know what else to do to help her. She’s tried head and shoulders. Is there anything else she could be doing. She’s just showered and the smell is very strong when I know it’s squeaky clean!

Is she rinsing it properly?

Have you looked at her scalp?
She may have a build up on it.

Is she actually shampooing the whole of her head, rather than pouring shampoo on top of her head and just rubbing it a bit? The smell you are describing is wet hair that hasn’t been shampooed.

Is it the towel she’s using to dry it?

Could be fungal - try using Nizoral on it and see if that helps.

Is it from her pillow?

We’ve tried new towels, I’ve boil washed her current ones, we’ve tried a clean towel for every wash. I obviously don’t go into the bathroom when she washes it, but I’ve shown her repeatedly and she assures me she is washing it how I suggest.

I have checked her scalp and her hair can be quite greasy at the root, and tiny bits of dandruff but not much.

I know exactly the smell you mean. A sort of sebum build-up smell mixed with skin flakes. My DSs went through the same. One had a tendancy towards dandruff. The other didn't. Both had a similar smell so I think it was hormonal mainly.

Interestingly I have a sensitive scalp myself and have had an itchy scalp almost permanently for most of my life. Tendancy towards dandruff too, which brings with it a kind of smell too. I've tried all sorts of shampoos. Finally I used one that DS brought when he was home from uni, and it's one of the few shampoos which don't make me want to scratch my head off. It may be trial and error with shampoos and conditioners. It may just be a case of waiting for the hormonal surges to pass.

How often does she use fresh towels? Are the towels being dried properly in between?

has she tried different shampoo/conditioner?

if it was me I'd start with fresh towels & different S/C

if that doesn't fix it. I'd wash it for her. See if it being washed & rinsed properly fixes it.

i wouldn't get any 'deeper' with it until those basic things have been eliminated

I remember one of my son's clothes having a smell too, even when washed. Not a BO smell. Just a wierd smell. His wierd smell. I started using laundry disinfectant and it helped.

I know the smell you are describing
My toddler has this smell in his hair when not enough shampoo is used

I would possibly take her to the hairdressers, let them wash cut style the hair and see if it still smells.. if it does then it's likely a hormonal thing. You can buy hair perfume (particularly one called Gisou - it's expensive but honestly smells amazing) and just use that for now until her hormones calm down and hopefully the smell goes
Poor thing she must be very conscious of it

I found head and shoulders made my scalp more itchy. I have greasy roots too and use the ginger shampoo from the body shop. there is also a ginger scalp serum you could try too. Perhaps also try one of the rubber scalp scrubbers?

other suggestion is try some hormone balancing supplements or an anti fungal topical treatment.

good luck x

Is utterly definitely her hair? Is it a build up in her ears/behind her ears?

I had a problem with smelling awful after showers and hair wash. Then I found an anti fungal body and foot wash which has worker a treat. Look it up. It's a herbal product so you might be wary but I've had success with it.

You wash her hair for her over the bath or shower and see if it still does it. If it does then it's hormonal.

Surely that's the simple answer?

Get a scalp massager, it will cleans the scalp a lot better.
make sure she dries her hair straight away after washing

What current shampoo are you using?

I’m quite a sweaty person by nature unfortunately and my hair used to do this too, I use a clarifying shampoo once a week now which helps. Best one I’ve found is “Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt”

I find that heavy and shoulders smells really unpleasant.

Is she using conditioner? If she is, make sure it doesn't go anywhere on her scalp. If there's any fungus it will juat feed it. Double shampoo, really scrubbed in with fingertips to the scalp. Condition ends only and while that soaks do a soak of Nizoral or similar on the scalp.

Definitely do a vinegar hair rinse. Google it. It will do the trick.

Ooh, I'm quite relieved to read this. My 13 year old son has this smell to his hair. Even after he's just washed it, it smells of shampoo and ... Wet dog. Sounds like it might be hormonal.

Have you tried an anti fungal shampoo like Nizoral? Let the lather sit on the scalp for ten minutes then wash as normal.

The proper ketoconazole shampoo, over just seen they now do a regular shampoo which isn't the same thing.

You double wash it over the kitchen sink or the bath with Nizoral, blow dry it and see if it smells. My guess is that if you've not seen her washing it, she's not quite got the knack.

Definitely try the nizoral. Make sure she’s washing it properly - you can use all the shampoo you want but if you don’t scrub it into your scalp well then greasy prone hair won’t get properly clean. A good brush before washing if there’s any scalp flakes. Never air dry the roots, always blow dry.