
While it’s more common in the winter, dry scalps with dandruff can happen at any time of the year. While they are often lumped together, dry scalp and dandruff are two different problems and need to be treated separately. How can I tell the difference? Dry scalp is caused by a fungal infection on the scalp. It’s created by a yeast-like fungus called malassezia, or pityrosporum. Most people have malassezia on their scalps and it rarely causes them problems.