‘Tis the season for holiday festivities, cozy fires, and warm drinks – and also the season for chapped lips, dry skin, and flaky scalps, but who says the withering effects of winter can’t be a part of the holiday cheer? Both only come during a special time of the year, which is how my seasonal dandruff has become an integral part of the holiday season — as soon as the weather gets colder and my scalp gets dryer, I know the holidays are coming: The first fall of dandruff always gets me in the Yuletide cheer.
The transition from fall to winter is brutal – saying goodbye to beautiful autumn foliage and saying hello to dead, bare branches can easily kill all the cozy vibes amassed before the winter holidays even begin. Winter after winter, no amount of Mariah Carey or eggnog lattes could get me in the holiday spirit. All I could gripe about was the onslaught of harsh weather, until one day, I was brushing my dandruff-dreary hair and as I saw a soft flurry of flakes fall on my bathroom floor, I suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia for a familiar sight I’ve seen every year for the past two decades.
Instinctually, I found myself humming “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and having an urge to bake sugar cookies.
Maybe because I’ve conflated my seasonally-dry scalp with opening presents on Christmas morning, or maybe because the blizzard of dandruff falling from my hair is the closest thing I’ll have to a white Christmas because of global-warming, but now my winter dandruff never fails to get me in a holiday mood. If I’m ever feeling the seasonal depression creep up before the holidays, all I have to do is shake my hair like a human snow globe and reminisce on happy (itchy, flaky) times.
Now when my hair starts to feel as crumbly as a block of ricotta, I know it’s time to put on Michael Bublé and re-watch Love Actually. More effective than storefront decor or only eating gingerbread-flavored desserts, my seasonal dandruff has become my internal body clock for the holiday season. In fact, now I take all my cues from seasonal body changes – the first sneeze of spring reminds me to plant flowers, and as soon as I start sweating profusely down my ass crack, I know summer is approaching. So start listening to your body, folks; it’s great for intuitive holiday thinking!
