9 Most Embarrassing Questions Answered By Science

This fungus, known as Malassezia globosa, is similar to yeast, but lives on the scalp because it just can't get enough of your oily hair. M. globosa uses enzymes to feed off the sebum secreted by your skin, but this process produces a substance called oleic acid, which some people are sensitive to. This will cause certain people's immune systems to kick into overdrive, ramping up the skin-shedding to max levels. So, whilst everyone has the fungus, only some people will suffer from dandruff.