India, Feb 25 : Nat Habit, one of India’s fastest-growing Ayurveda-rooted beauty and wellness brands, today unveiled “The End of the Dandruff Trade-Off” – a category-defining campaign that challenges one of haircare’s most entrenched beliefs: that dandruff is something you‘manage’, wash it away, suppress it temporarily, accept that it will come back, forcing consumers into a lifelong loop of dependency.
As India transitions from winter dryness to rising pre-summer heat and humidity, dandruff cases typically surge. Today, dandruff control shampoo accounts for nearly 18% of India’s haircare market and drives close to 30% of hair-related online searches. Yet despite its scale, most available solutions rely on aggressive, single-pathway antifungal formulations that over-strip the scalp, often leading to dryness, irritation, and recurring flare-ups.
With this campaign, Nat Habit reframes dandruff not as a problem to be managed, but as a scalp health imbalance shaped by climate, sebum fluctuation, stress, microbial activity, and barrier disruption. Rather than positioning dandruff as something to suppress aggressively, the brand is introducing a biological balance approach, one that treats scalp health as a system, not a symptom.
“Dandruff in India is not just a fungal issue, it’s often a skin barrier issue, an oil-regulation issue, and a resistance issue,” said Swagatika Das, CEO & Co-founder, Nat Habit. “When nearly 30% of hair-related searches are about dandruff, it signals not just prevalence but frustration. Consumers are stuck in a cycle – control flakes, strip the scalp, trigger dryness, and repeat. The category has conditioned us to manage rather than treat. We believe that is outdated science. High performance does not have to come at the cost of scalp health.”
As part of the campaign, Nat Habit highlights four systemic gaps that continue to shape conventional dandruff solutions:
- Over-reliance on single pathway synthetic anti-fungal shampoo
- Limited focus on scalp barrier health
- Aggressive oil stripping that can trigger rebound flaking
- Reduced efficacy over time due to repeated single-mechanism use
To address these gaps, Nat Habit introduced FlakeZero technology with an entirely different approach – multi-pathway microbial inhibition, inspired by how resistance is prevented in advanced biological systems. At the core is 5% Beracyl™, a naturally derived active that kills dandruff-causing fungi within two minutes of contact, before adaptation can occur.
FlakeZero™ works at three critical levels:
- At the microbial level, it neutralises Malassezia through multiple pathways, preventing regrowth at the source.
- At the sebum level, it regulates excess oil-the primary trigger for fungal proliferation without stripping the scalp.
- At the barrier level, it calms irritation, reduces redness and flaking, and restores the scalp’s protective function.
What makes this breakthrough truly significant is that it achieves medicinal-grade efficacy without synthetic antifungals.
Gaurav Agarwal, Co-founder, Nat Habit said
“Most anti-dandruff shampoos rely on single-mechanism synthetic actives such as Ketoconazole or Piroctone Olamine. While they may suppress flakes temporarily, they rarely address the broader scalp imbalance. Our R&D team spent two years studying microbial adaptation, sebum dynamics and barrier disruption to develop a naturally derived active that delivers medicinal-grade efficacy without compromising scalp health. 5% Beracyl™ is the outcome of that work — a multi-pathway innovation designed to target dandruff at the root while staying true to our natural, Ayurveda-led ethos. For us, innovation means delivering performance without sacrificing integrity.”
Swagatika added,
“This formulation is further strengthened with Neem to directly suppress Malassezia, Green Tea to reduce sebum via 5-α reductase inhibition, Bhringraj to support scalp barrier recovery, and Lactic Acid to gently exfoliate while maintaining hydration and optimal scalp pH. Navdha is not a ‘dandruff shampoo’. It is a 9-care scalp system delivering dandruff relief, scalp health, hair strength, shine, growth support, frizz control and long-term balance. Our belief is simple: consumers deserve solutions that work, not cycles of compromise. Dandruff should be eliminated, not managed. And it can be done safely, naturally, and decisively.”
The campaign will be amplified through a multi-touchpoint rollout, including founder-led thought leadership, influencer storytelling, retail and quick-commerce integrations, and social-first myth-busting initiatives.
The range will be available across Nat Habit’s D2C platform and select retail outlets, as well as leading online marketplaces including Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa.