Washing less often helps because shampoo strips the natural oils your scalp needs to stay balanced. Going every other day gives those oils a chance to build back up, which is why the flaking calmed down. The catch is it takes a couple weeks for your scalp to adjust, so most people give up too early and figure it did not work.

The phone screen thing is the real trap here. You edit on a bright phone and the next thing you know every shot looks like a neon poster, then you open it on a laptop and it's mush. Try this: edit flat at first, then bump contrast in small steps and check it on your phone at half brightness before you save. If the stars still hold their color at half brightness, you didn't overcook them. The punchy look isn't wrong, it just needs a ceiling, and half brightness on a phone is a good one to test against.