By HANNAH BETTS, BEAUTY COLUMNIST & FEATURE WRITER, INSPIRE MAGAZINE
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How’s your hair? Yup, same. One minute, I was all hair-tossy, summer luxuriance; next, autumn hit, cue a frizzy, flat, diminished affair. ‘What’s going on?’ I ask Dr Margo Gkini at regrowth specialists Hair & Me (hairandme.com). ‘Hair loss during autumn is very common,’ she assures me. ‘It’s a form of a temporary condition called telogen effluvium. People notice increased moulting because a higher proportion of follicles enter the telogen (resting) phase of the hair cycle.’ Eat well, go easy on styling, and all should be well.
L’Oréal Professionnel’s Abigail Butler agrees: ‘Telogen effluvium is common in autumn and spring.’ She recommends L’Oréal Serioxyl Advanced Purifier & Bodifier Shampoo (now £18.59, lookfantastic.com). Powered by magnesium salt, it gently cleanses roots from build-up that can curtail growth, users reporting up to 22 per cent more volume after one use. Serioxyl Advanced Denser Hair Serum (now £42.75) comes next. A spritz-and-leave conditioner, it stimulates follicle renewal, promoting the illusion of denser tresses.
L’Oréal Serioxyl Advanced Purifier & Bodifier Shampoo £18.59
Shop Serioxyl Advanced Denser Hair Serum £42.75
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What if your hair’s vanishing act feels less time of year, more time of life? This is where you need an expert, and there is none more expert than Anabel Kingsley, daughter of the late Philip (virtual trichologist consultations from £200, philipkinglsey.co.uk). The pair have treated stars such as Jane Fonda, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham.
Anabel’s approach is gimmick-free. As she explains: ‘Hair loss-wise, we opt for clinically-proven techniques and ingredients, then add stimulating massage plus styling boosters.’ First, a scalp examination using a x20 magnifier. Anabel is keen to rule out frontal fibrosing alopecia, a type of scarring hair loss causing a receding hairline and eyebrow shedding due to autoimmune destruction of the follicles. This used to be rare, but she’s seeing more of it. Happily, IN MY CASE it’s a no, but postmenopausal women should look out for symptoms including redness, flakiness and itching.
Androgenetic alopecia, or ‘pattern baldness’ is the next issue she checks for, that is, baldness deemed to follow a traditionally ‘male’ or ‘female’ pattern. The male variety involves thinning at the temples and crown, leading to a characteristic m-shape or receding hairline. The female pattern sees thinning across the crown plus a widening of the central parting, often with no recession at the front, creating a sort of Friar Tuck tonsure. Confusingly, both genders can suffer from male or female forms, brought on by an imperfect storm of genes ageing and hormones.
Again, I don’t show signs. For those that do, prescription-grade actives such as minoxidil should help to prevent further hair loss and increase density. Still, discipline will be required. As she tells me: ‘Hair loss is a progressive condition for which there is no cure. If you start something, you’ve got to keep doing it, or the benefits are lost.’
In fact, my hair’s weirdness has been caused not by hair loss, but growth, which I am covered in since shedding hair through inadvertent weight loss last year. ‘You’re sprouting a forest – nice units! – but they’re currently short thus a bit unruly,’ reports my guru. This means I did the right thing by using non-prescription, caffeine and/or peptide scalp-stimulators to prolong my growth phase when my thatch turned puny. My favourite is the Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum (£54, livingproof.com), a cocktail of pea-sprout extract and amaranth peptides. While The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density (£13.50, Boots.com) makes a budget choice.
Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum £54
Shop The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density £13.50
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Anabel arranged a blood test to check my thyroid function and that I’m getting the right nutrients: protein, iron, and vitamins B and D being crucial. Then, it was off to the spa for a blissful hour’s nurture (from £100). I am now addicted to my Kingsley regime, observing therapist Jenny’s dictum that ‘condition, not colour, is the hair ager’.
Philip Kingsley Density Stimulating Scalp Mask £25
Shop Elasticizer Deep-Conditioning Treatment £21
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Once a week, I massage the tingling Philip Kingsley Density Stimulating Scalp Mask (£25) into the roots, Elasticizer Deep-Conditioning Treatment (from £21), created for Audrey Hepburn, onto the ends. Next, I wash with the Body Building Shampoo & Conditioner Duo (£49.28), spritz on Daily Damage Defence Leave-in Conditioner (from £21), then add Density Preserving Scalp Drops (£52) under the hair at my crown and on each side. The result? Utterly magnificent, thank you. The Betts hair game is back on.
Body Building Shampoo & Conditioner Duo £49.28
Shop Daily Damage Defence Leave-in Conditioner £49.50
Shop Density Preserving Scalp Drops £52 Shop
Autumnal Liners
Ruby Hammer Precision Eyeliner Pencil in Brown
Older fans with sensitive eyes are obsessed with this smudge-proof, natural-look shade.
£18 Shop Rimmel Scandaleyes Exaggerate Eye Definer in Smokey Grey
If black feels too harsh, then this creamy, easy-to-apply slate is pure autumn elegance.
£3.99 Shop Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal Liner in Sequin Green
VB’s kohls provide buttery, waterproof brilliance, this being a shimmering gold khaki.
£32 Shop Estée Lauder Double Wear 24hour Waterproof Gel Eye Pencil in Sapphire Sky
A deep jewel blue shot through with subtle silver sparkle to flatter cool-toned wearers.
£24 Shop L’Oréal Paris Infallible Gel Crayon Waterproof Eyeliner in Velvet Bordeaux
Knockout on warm-toned women, this silky gel liner delivers a no-smudge finish.
£7.99 Shop
Race You To It: Nip+Fab Salicylic Blackhead Steam Cleaner 8% (£19.95, Boots.com)
Our noses will not be at their best after a summer of sunscreen, slap and sweat – especially unappealing as midlife pores loom ever larger. Seek out Nip+Fab Salicylic Blackhead Steam Cleaner 8% (£19.95, Boots.com): a heat-up exfoliating mask with active-level salicylic acid to get pores unclogged. It does the trick.
Nip+Fab Salicylic Blackhead Steam Cleaner 8% £19.95 Shop
Cosmetic Craving: Escentric Molecules M+ Cistus Eau de Toilette (£125 for 100ml, LibertyLondon.com)
New Escentric Molecules alert – and it’s a cracker. You may remember me writing a whole column about the brand, and its nose Geza Schön’s passion for Iso E Super. This aroma-molecule was concocted in a lab, hovering in the background of perfumes to create a fresh, yet velvetily musky, hypnotically alluring effect. Schön’s genius was to ramp up the volume and put Iso E Super centre stage with his cult brand, launched 20 years ago in October. His latest concoction, Escentric Molecules M+ Cistus Eau de Toilette (£125 for 100ml, LibertyLondon.com) melds Iso E Super with cistus, a resinous note that is bright, smoky and leathery; crisp and crackling as an autumn walk.
Escentric Molecules M+ Cistus Eau de Toilette £125 Shop
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