How to do a scalp analysis at home

Before you start: wash timing matters

Check your scalp 24 to 36 hours after washing. Immediately after a wash, everything looks fine because the sebum has just been removed. A day later you see your real oil output and how quickly flaking returns — which is what you actually need to manage.

Step by step

• Pick three fixed zones: the front hairline, the crown, and one temple. Problems usually appear in one zone before the others.
• Part the hair firmly with your fingers so the skin is fully exposed — a photo of hair is not a photo of scalp.
• Use bright, indirect daylight. Avoid direct overhead spotlights, which cast harsh shadows and make normal skin look inflamed.
• Hold the camera 4 to 6 inches away, tap to focus on the skin, and take three shots per zone so at least one is sharp.
• Note what you feel, not just what you see: itching, tightness, tenderness, or a burning sensation after washing.
• Save the photos with the date. The comparison is the whole point.

What to look for

Work through the same checklist each time so your reads stay comparable.

• Colour: healthy scalp skin is pale and even. Pink or red suggests irritation or inflammation.
• Shine: an even sheen is normal; visible droplets or a wet look at the roots means high sebum.
• Scale: dry white powder points to a barrier problem, greasy yellow flakes point to seborrheic dermatitis.
• Follicle openings: clear openings with one to three hairs each are normal. Plugged, dotted openings are build-up.
• Shaft thickness: many thin, short hairs among normal ones is the earliest visible sign of pattern thinning.

Turn the photo into a score

Eyeballing works for obvious problems but is unreliable for slow change — nobody can remember what their crown looked like six weeks ago. Uploading the same three photos each month to an AI scan gives you numbers you can compare, plus a care plan matched to the pattern it finds.

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