Ep. 1: Thinning Hair, Hair Loss, and the Best Shampoos
In this first episode of HairLife, I want to welcome you. I've never done this and am hoping you like what I'm putting out. Today we're kicking things off by chatting about the emotional topic of hair loss and hair thinning. I go over what I feel has worked for my clients and friends in the past, and what I really believe is going on.
Audio Transcript - Episode 1
Hi guys. Welcome. This is episode 1 of this podcast - I was going to say this lovely podcast, but I can’t really tell if it’s going to be lovely or not.
These are my thoughts about hair, being a hairstylist, being behind the chair and seeing clients day in and day out. I wanted to compile all of the questions that I get from you guys into one podcast, into one kind of spot, resource, library that you guys can just click on whenever you want to learn some more things about hair. And I’ll also, once in a while, probably rant and tell you some new discoveries about hair. And I’ll talk about life as well because I love self development and that's really really important to me. I’m not just a hairstylist. I do a lot of other things and I’m a creative person and I’m sure you are as well.
So today's first episode we're going to start off by talking about thinning hair and what I know about thinning hair.
Intro.
So today we’re going to be talking about thinning hair. It’s a big topic. I’m going to keep it simple and I’m simply talking about hair loss. This is a very complex topic because I feel like it's a very emotional topic for a lot of us, men and women, and gender-neutral folk. I know that it's very hard to lose your hair and you’re out there looking for a solution.
I'm going to start off by saying that hair loss is largely genetic and hereditary. It sucks when we hear this because we are looking for the magic pill that's going to bring back our hair. If there is a genetic predisposition to losing your hair, then that’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to lose your hair.
I don't know where to start with this to be honest. I want to say that there is something you can do about it. Most of the time there isn’t. But having said that, I have had clients who have had hair loss due to stress, but they had a very strong genetic predisposition to very strong hair, very strong thick hair. And so when they did all of the things that were good for them, the hair grew back.
The answer on whether you can get your hair back or not is it depends. Everyone is so different, and there are so many different variables including genes, lifestyle, hormones, sleep, diet.
So I want to talk about a couple of the products that have worked for either myself or my clients. The Invati line from Aveda is one that my friend used when she said she had alopecia it brought back a lot of her hair. So this is one person. This is not a scientific study, but this is one person who used the line religiously and found that it worked beautifully for her. So that’s really really great.
Another one is Nioxin. Nioxin is one that you can get I believe at Sally's. If you're in Canada you can get it at Winners or Marshalls and you can get the whole system. You can get the shampoo and the conditioner and the serum or the treatment. So the treatments are actually what you have to use. If you are trying to get your hair back to health, you have to use these products the way that they are meant to be used. If you skip them or if you switch it up and use a drugstore shampoo for a long time and then go back to it, it's not going to give you the same effect as if you were using them consistently. So it’s kind of like, I like to say, when you go to the doctor, they give you antibiotics. You have to start with a very high dose consistently for a long time until you see results. There’s absolutely no evidence though scientifically that this actually works, but it has worked for one of my clients.
One of my clients used it for an entire year. He came back with a new head of hair. Nioxin is a clarifying shampoo and it also has mint in it or something. It’s very tingly. Even the conditioner’s very tingly. You put it on your scalp for a couple of minutes and you let it sit. It tingles. And I think what it does is it literally just exfoliates your scalp. It allows the hair to kind of wake up. If there is already hair follicles sitting underneath the skin and they are not closed, there is a possibility that your hair can grow back. And that's why I don't want to completely rule off the shampoos and conditioners, even though there's no scientific evidence that shows these actually work.
So the last one that I used was - personally I use the Kevin Murphy Plumping line: the Pluming shampoo and conditioner. This one also works for a lot of people. Also comes with a treatment. Did my hair grow back? I don't know. It made my hair super full and super thick. It made my hair so so vibrant. I don't think I used it long enough and I didn't stick with it long enough to actually see a difference. I wasn't using it religiously. I didn't have a hair loss problem. I've always had fine hair. I was on Accutane when I was 17 and I lost a lot of my hair and it just stayed that way.
Also my aunt has very thin fine hair and you can actually see her scalp. I already have a genetic predisposition to losing my hair. Accutane made it worse. These products can help but I don't know if there's a miracle product.
Another thing I want to talk about is obviously supplements. We wish there was a magic pill. I want to talk about biotin because biotin that everybody likes to say is the miracle supplement for hair growth and I want to tell you that scientifically there is zero evidence to show that biotin actually works for your hair.
I think it was like a study that was done decades are go on like five people. The sample size was very small. There were many different variables that weren't measured properly. I actually heard that folic acid makes your hair grow fast, and I find a lot of women before they have babies they go on folic acid and their hair will grow fast. That’s one. If you want your hair to grow fast you can try folic acid.
I also think that if your hair is not growing very well it could be a lack of vitamin absorption. You could be low on iron. So women we menstruate once a month and we lose blood. It’s just biology. So you have to take iron. Once you stop taking iron, your hair is going to fall out. I noticed it's immediate. As soon as my my iron’s low, my hair will start falling out, no matter how long or short my hair is it will fall out your iron levels are good. Make sure your B vitamins are good. Vitamin D is very important. I think vitamin K as well. Zinc is very important for hair as well.
I love to do a protein shake and throw a ton of leafy green vegetables in there, whether it's kale or spinach. I love spinach. You can throw in some peanut butter so you can get some healthy fats and protein. Protein is very good for your hair too guys, even if you don’t work out. Your body is made up of do protein. I have to do some more research about this but I am sure from all of the research that I have done that your tissues are protein based. Your skin, hair, and nails are made up of a lot of protein. So if you're lacking in essential proteins and vitamins…I don't know the details of this…like the macronutrients and micronutrients. I don’t know the difference but I do know that protein is good for you.
So eat your eggs. Eat your meat if you are a meat eater. And eat some Greek yogurt and get your protein bars in there. If you’re snacking on things that don't have protein, change it up. Get a protein bar in there. You’ll see a difference even in your energy levels and in how satiated you feel.
So those are the three products that I really like. There’s Aveda, Kevin Murphy and Nioxin that I know have worked.
I also got a couple of products from Viviscal. I don’t know if it grew back my hair but it does make your hair super full and it feels so so so thick.
So that's what I wanted to talk about.
Hairloss is largely genetic.
What you can do is make sure that your scalp is healthy. I think that’s the first thing you should do. I should have mentioned this from before. Because if your scalp is clogged with oils — a lot of people don’t wash their hair thinking that if you wash it it’s going to fall out more.
The hair has already shed. If the hair is going to fall out, it pushes itself out of the follicle. It's just sitting on your head and you're not brushing it. It’s going to fall out eventually because it’s already pushed itself out of the follicle. Not washing your hair is not the solution. You have to wash your hair to make sure that your scalp is healthy. So having a healthy scalp means using a clarifying shampoo and a conditioner that cleanses your scalp. And an example is Nioxin. It really does cleanse the scalp very very well.
When you have a lot of sebum on your scalp the hair follicles are not going to be able to come out. They're just going to stuck and clogged. You’re just clogging your pores. That’s no bueno. You don't want to do that.
Thank you guys for listening to this episode and I hope I helped.