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A Color Specialist

Styling Professional located in the West Coast who excels at silver hair. He works with Hollywood stars and well-known figures.

Which budget-friendly product is a must-have?

My top pick is a microfibre towel, or even a smooth cotton shirt to dry your hair. Most people don’t realise how much harm a standard towel can do, notably with grey or color-processed hair. This one small change can really reduce frizz and breakage. Another affordable staple is a broad-toothed comb, to use while conditioning. It safeguards your strands while smoothing out tangles and helps maintain the integrity of the strands, particularly post-bleaching.

What item or service justifies the extra cost?

A high-quality styling iron – featuring innovative technology, with smart temperature control. Grey and blonde hair can yellow or burn easily without the correct device.

What style or process should you always avoid?

Self-applied color lifting. Online tutorials can be misleading, but the actual fact is it’s one of the most hazardous actions you can do to your hair. There are cases where individuals cause irreversible harm, snap their strands or end up with striped effects that are incredibly challenging to remedy. It's best to steer clear of chemical straightening processes on color-treated or grey hair. These formulations are often too aggressive for already fragile strands and can cause long-term damage or undesired tones.

What’s the most common mistake you see in your salon?

Clients selecting inappropriate items for their specific hair needs. Certain clients overapply colour-correcting purple shampoo until their lightened locks looks lifeless and muted. A few overdo on strengthening conditioners and end up with rigid, fragile strands. A further common mistake is using hot tools sans safeguard. In cases where you employ hot tools or dryers without a heat protectant, – particularly on bleached locks – you’re going to see yellowing, dryness and breakage.

Which solutions help with shedding?

Thinning requires a comprehensive strategy. Externally, minoxidil remains a top choice. My advice includes follicle treatments containing stimulants to enhance nutrient delivery and aid in hair growth. Incorporating a clarifying shampoo regularly helps eliminate impurities and allows products to perform better. Oral aids like specialized formulas have also shown notable improvements. They support the body from the inside out by correcting endocrine issues, anxiety and nutritional deficiencies.

In cases requiring advanced options, blood-derived therapies – where a concentration from your blood is administered – can be effective. Still, my advice is to seeing a dermatologist or trichologist first. Thinning can be linked to medical conditions, and it’s important to determine the origin rather than chasing surface-level fixes.

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A Hair and Scalp Specialist

Scalp and Hair Scientist and head of a renowned clinic centers and lines targeting thinning.

How frequently do you schedule salon visits?

I get my hair cut every 10 to 12 weeks, but will remove split ends personally every two weeks to keep my ends healthy, and have color touches every two months.

Which low-cost item is a game-changer?

Toppik hair fibres are remarkably effective if you have thinning spots. The fibres cling electrostatically to your own hair, and it comes in a assortment of tones, making it seamlessly blended. It was my go-to post-pregnancy when I had significant shedding – and also presently during some marked thinning after having a bad infection previously. Since hair is non-vital, it’s the initial area to show decline when your diet is lacking, so I would also recommend a balanced, nutritious diet.

Which premium option is truly valuable?

If you have female pattern hair loss (FPHL), I’d say prescription hair-loss topicals. When dealing with temporary hair loss, known as TE, buying an retail solution is fine, but for FPHL you really do need prescription-strength formulas to see the most effective improvements. From my perspective, minoxidil combined with additional ingredients – such as endocrine regulators, blockers and/or soothing agents – works best.

What should you always skip?

Using rosemary essential oil for thinning. It shows no real benefit. The whole thing stems from one small study done in 2015 that compared the effects of 2% minoxidil to rosemary oil. A mild formula such as 2% is inadequate to do much for genetic balding in men, so the study is basically saying they work as little as each other.

Also, high-dose biotin. Rarely do people lack biotin, so consuming it probably won't help your locks, and it can alter thyroid level measurements.

Which error is most frequent?

I think the term “hair washing” should be changed to “scalp cleansing” – because the real aim of shampooing your hair is to rid your scalp of old oils, dead skin cells, sweat and environmental pollution. I see people avoiding shampooing as they think it’s harmful to their strands, when in fact the contrary is accurate – particularly with flaky scalp, which is worsened by the presence of excess oils. If oils are left on your scalp, they deteriorate and lead to inflammation.

Unfortunately, what your scalp needs and what your hair likes don’t always align, so it’s a delicate equilibrium. However, if you cleanse softly and treat damp strands kindly, it is unlikely to cause damage.

Which options help with shedding?

For genetic thinning in women, start with minoxidil. It has the most robust evidence behind it and tends to work best when compounded with other hair-supportive actives. Should you wish to enhance minoxidil's benefits, or you prefer not to use it or are unable, you could try collagen induction therapy (with a specialist), and perhaps platelet-rich plasma or light treatments.

In shedding cases, root cause analysis is crucial. Noticeable thinning usually relates to a health trigger. In some instances, the trigger is short-term – such as flu, Covid or a period of intense stress – and it will resolve on its own. In other cases, thyroid imbalances or vitamin/mineral deficiencies are the driving factor – the frequent culprits include iron stores, B12 and D insufficiency – and to {treat the hair loss you need to treat the cause|address shedding, target the underlying issue|combat thinning, focus