Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - How To Fix Pandemic Hair: Expert Q&A on Thinning Locks, Greasy Roots + Dry Ends

Episode Date: March 30, 2021

The past year has wreaked havoc on our lives in ways we didn’t expect - and those sudden changes to routines and habits, as well as a mountain of unexpected extra pressures, have had a knock-on effect on our bodies. Not least our hair. As you’ll hear in today’s show, pandemic stress has been the root of many concerns when it comes to our locks. Things like hair loss and thinning, as well as greasy roots, itchy scalps and brittle ends. And while some may say fretting about hair is frivolous - that it should be the least of your concerns right now - when something becomes tied up in your confidence and self-esteem, we believe that it’s so important to seek the right help and support. Which is why in this episode we’ve called on two leading, knowledgeable voices in the hair industry to help smooth over your worries. They are consultant trichologist Anabel Kingsley, brand president of the revered Philip Kingsley clinics and product ranges, and celebrity hairdresser and salon owner Adam Reed, who is a global ambassador for GHD. In this super-informative conversation, you’ll find out everything you need to know about how to nourish your hair back to health - from how often you should really give it a wash, to treating dryness, which products are worth your money and the best steps for tackling postpartum shedding.  Join Anabel Kingsley on Instagram: @anabel_kingsley Join Adam Reed on Instagram: @adamreedhair Join Perdie Nouril on Instagram: @perditanouril Join Women's Health UK on Instagram: @womenshealthuk Like what you’re hearing? We'd love if you could rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, as it really helps other people find the show. Also, remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you’ll never miss an episode. Got a goal in mind? Shoot us a message on Instagram putting ‘Going for Goal’ at the start of your message and our experts could be helping you achieve your health goal in an upcoming episode. Alternatively, you can email us: [e-mail] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Yep, it's the most powerful iPhone ever, plus more peace of mind with your bill over five years. This is big. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro at tellus.com slash iPhone 17 Pro on select plans. Conditions and exclusions apply. It goes without saying that this past year has wreaked havoc on our lives in ways we didn't really expect. And those sudden changes to routines and habits plus a mountain of unexpected extra pressures have had a knock-on effect on our bodies. Not least our hair, which comes way down our system's priority list,

and has truly been feeling the effects of pandemic stress. You've been in touch in your droves looking for help with things like hair loss, thinning, greasy roots, itchy scalps and brittle ends. So in this episode, we've brought together two of the best experts in the business to help remedy your hair concerns and get you back. out there, not long now, feeling pretty damn good about your locks. Hello, I'm Rochene DeVichot-Kane and this is Going for Goal, the weekly Women's Health podcast. On this show, we chat to our favourite celebrities and wellness heavyweights about what

they do to feel and function at their best. And we call on top experts to share the tools you need to make good on the health goals that really matter to you. In today's super informative conversation, Women's Health's Beauty Editor Perdinaural chats to consultant tricologist Annabel Kingsley, brand president of the revered Philip Kingsley clinics and product lines, along with hairdresser and founder of his eponymous salon, Adam Reed, who's also a global ambassador for the likes of L'Oreal and GHG. In this episode, you'll find out everything you need to know about how to nourish your hair back to health. From how often you should really give it a wash to how to treat dryness,

as well as which products are worth your money. Plus, you'll find out the important reason Annabel doesn't think you should bother with a hair-lost shampoo, as well as Adam's amazing and very affordable tip for nixing greasy roots. Hope you enjoy this bumper hair special. It's a good one. Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. I'm Purdy, the beauty of a show of women's health. And on this week's episode, we're going to be talking about all things hair. So I'm joined by two heavyweights in the hair industry who are going to be answering all of the burning questions that you guys are set in. First up, we have the incredible hairstylist Adam Reed, who is one of the UK's most in-demand hairdressers.

So he's launched three salons, a product line, created hundreds of hair looks backstage for Fashion Week and is also an ambassador for GHD. Adam, hello. Hi. And our other guest is the brilliant Annabelle Kingsley, who is a consultant, chichologist, as well as brand president of the Philip Kingsley clinics and the Philip Kingsley product ranges. So there is nothing this lady doesn't know about scalp and hair health, and she is regularly called upon by beauty editors such as myself to impart her wisdom. Annabel, thanks for joining us. My pleasure, I'm going to be here. Okay, so hair health has definitely made the headlines this year.

So there's been conversations about COVID-related hair loss and then, you know, all the DIY cutting and coloring that's been going on and obviously met with varying degrees of success. And I think obviously being estranged from our hairdressers has certainly made us realize just how special you guys are. So I think it's definitely safe to say that, you know, this past year has forced us to kind of re-evaluate our relationship with hair. And I think a lot of the questions that have been sent in reflect that. Annabelle, I'm going to kick off with you. And our first question is from Amanda. And she is said, why am I experiencing hair loss? And is there a link to stress, weight loss or possibly COVID?

That is so hi, Amanda. And I'm really sorry to hear that you're experiencing hair loss. It can be so, so distressing. All of the things that you mentioned, so stress, COVID, weight loss, all of those can definitely contribute to excessive daily hair shedding. That's in trichological terms called telogen effluvium. And it basically means that more hairs than usual have moved out of their growth phase into their resting and shedding phase. So you can be losing up to around 300 hairs a day

sometimes in that instance. But so first I'll start with COVID. So your hair basically, while it means a huge deal to us psychologically, physically isn't an essential tissue, which means that our body gives it last priority. So whenever we're unwell, energy and attention is diverted away from hair cell production and towards kind of keeping you healthy. And this can cause really severe shedding.

And with COVID, we've actually seen it. It usually occurs about six to 12 weeks after an illness. So it doesn't occur right away. But with COVID, we're seeing it actually occurs slightly sooner. eight weeks. So even if you had COVID and weren't symptomatic, you can actually experience that type of shedding. And it is completely temporary. So don't worry. And it will stop just as suddenly as it started. COVID can also cause, it has in some people cause weight loss or whether you lost weight due to another reason. That can also cause hair shedding again because your hair isn't

essential tissue. So when you're not feeding yourself, your body then neglects to feed your hair. And stress as well can cause hair shedding because, I mean, it's terrible for our general health. And anything that is terrible for our general health can also impact our hair health. So I hope that answers your question. But all of those reasons for hair shedding, they're all completely temporary. So please don't worry that it's going to continue forever because it definitely will stop. And is it true to say that, because I know, you know, myself included here, I was definitely not as washing my hair as often. And then I noticed a lot more of hair falling out. Was that purely because I was washing it less frequently? It might have been, yes, because when you shampoo, you're not

causing hair loss when you shampoo, but what you're doing is you're dislodging any hairs that are kind of sitting loosely in the hair follicles. So when you go for a few days without shampooing, you have this accumulation, so you're just basically seeing more days' worth of hair when you shampoo. But no, it's not actually true hair loss. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, perfect. And then Adam, we've got a question from Paula, who wants to know, why are the roots of my hair so greasy even though I wash it frequently? Okay, so that tends to be, so your sebaceous glands,

and again, this is more cosmetic than Annabel, but your sebaceous glands, and what nourished their hair. So that's what causes the sebum to come out into the hair. And what you may be finding when you're not washing your hair as much through lockdown, which I know a lot of my clients weren't doing, they were seeing that slight buildup of natural oil on the scalp. And what I tend to do there is just, I always recommend that you do a dry shampoo first,

which is actually a normal shampoo. This isn't a spray dry shampoo. We recommend that you dry so that your stuff, the emulsification process, you then put the water on once the oil is broke down on the scalp. So you literally just gently massage your shampoo through the hair. And what that would do, that will help to start to emulsify the natural oil. And then you'll find that when you go in with your next shampoo, that will help to cleanse the hair and reduce that. And it normally just is, as your sebaceous glands are regulating themselves, and if they're slightly out of kilter,

you may find that you have that combination hair, so it's slightly oily at the root and feeling a little bit heavy, but also, you know, a good dry shampoo. I always recommend you spray your dry shampoo. So this is a proper dry shampoo. Spread onto the brush. Brush that through the hair on the days that you're not shampooing. And that will just help to disperse that excess buildup of natural oil on the hair.

Lovely. Thank you. And Annabelle is something you'd like to add to that. I would say that potentially this is someone with fine hair who is asking the question. question because when you have fine hair, you have more hair follicles on your scalp and you therefore have more oil glands on your scalp because every hair follicles attack through an oil gland. So if this lady has fine hair, it's actually not uncommon to notice oiliness at the end of the day if you're not shampooing daily. And just in terms of what you can do, I mean, Adam's tips, amazing. I'm going to try that myself.

Me too, definitely. I've definitely got fine hair and stuff. with grease you eats a lot. So yes, noted. Just make sure when you shampoo that you're giving a really thorough shampoo. A lot of people kind of just fluff their kind of their hands around their head and move them around. But, you know, when you're shampooing, you're actually, it's not really hair washing. It's scalp cleansing. So you really want to like get in there on the scalp and give a really thorough 60 second gentle, a bit firm massage to to get rid of those oils, dead skin cells because your scalp is simply skin and you should give it similar care to the skin on your face. And Annabelle, this is another one for you. So Mel has asked, why is my hair thinning at the front

in particular? Okay. So generally when I have a female client who has thinning at the front, it's usually due to a really common condition called androgenic alopecia, which is also called female pattern hair loss or reduced hair volume. It's really, really common in women and that's something I love to raise awareness of because I think a lot of women feel kind of alone and embarrassed by this but it's absolutely not something to be ashamed of and it occurs when hair follicles on your scalp in genetically predisposed areas are sensitive to normal levels of androgen so those are male hormones and when your hair follicles have this sensitivity they gradually miniaturize and produce hairs

that are slightly finer and shorter with each passing hair growth cycle. I can't 100% say that's what she has without looking at her scalp, but that is generally the most common cause. It can also be due to breakage. This front area is where we kind of fuss with the most, because we use straightener's hair dryers on it the most often. So it could potentially be down to a bit of breakage. Also, and I'm using my hands again here,

kind of this area here and on the temples, when you experience thinning there, it's really commonly due to something called ferretin, which is a stored iron deficiency. So you might want to get your iron and your stored iron levels checked, because especially in women, that's a really common cause. In terms of things that you can do to treat those things, so with androgenic alopecia, so female pattern hair loss, using daily stimulating scalp drops, are really good we make ones called trico-7. We also have prescription-only drops in our clinic, which contain monoxidil and also anti-androgens,

which help to protect the hair follicle from the effects of male hormones. Holistically, so keeping your stress levels low, because I know that's quite difficult at the moment, but that can worsen hair thinning. in terms of breakage, just using products to hydrate those areas, being really gentle, in particular to the front area when you style, and in terms of kind of any nutritional deficiencies to get those checked out and then tweak your diet accordingly and perhaps take some supplements. Lovely, thank you. That's really helpful tick list there. Okay, Adam, another one for you. So Izzy wants to know, how can I deal with thin, brittle, limb, pens, what kind of treatments? would you recommend? Okay, there are all sorts of treatments.

Now, I always say if you've got a brittle end, the only way to get rid of it is to cut it. A haircut. That really is key. That always helps and it gets rid of any split ends. GHD, we have a great product called rehab, which is a split end therapy. And again, you can work that into the hair.

And what that helps to do is temporarily seal the hair. What that can help to do is help to prevent the hair splitting anymore. So if you think about a split end, it is literally like the end comes away and it's like you can tear it away. So the more hair that goes, the weaker that the hair becomes. Using an oil is great. I'm a massive fan of oil. I think it's a great lubricant for the hair.

And again, these are temporary, but they're great ways of having a temporary fix. Also, if you are styling your hair, it's very easy for us to say, don't use heated appliances. But a lot of people do. We have to take that into consideration. And again, we've just launched a great dryer, hair dryer at GHD called Helios, which is just a really beautifully controlled dryer. Keep it at a middle setting. And don't overheat the hair. Because again, if your hair is damaged, any more heat will actually cause that to become more and more damaged. But an oil, the split end therapy. And then if you are going to use a heated appliance, just don't use it too hot. At GHD, everything is set at 185. which is a good temperature. If you're going hotter, think about it as a, think about your hair like a really expensive item of clothing. You wouldn't whack a really hot iron onto it. Think about your hair exactly the same and just respect it. But the best thing to do is just nip those ends off. You don't have to take loads off. But that's the best way to prevent the hair from splitting any

further. If it's fine, again, a really good product in the hair, you know, a volumising product, a body boosting product is really good. But again, that's only temporary. Having a really good haircut is the best way to thicken up that shape. We have a question from Sam and she wants to know what are the best ways to promote hair regrowth. Okay. So whenever you want to, whenever you think about optimizing your hair health, you want to take a really holistic approach. So while the products you use are really, really important, if you're not looking after yourself, so if you're not optimizing your diet, you know, looking at your stress levels and taking care of your general health, then your hair simply won't be the best that it could be. So I would say the first thing

I'm going to talk about is diet because that is probably the most important thing that you can be to grow a healthy head of hair. So don't skip meals. Make sure you're eating a good amount of protein at breakfast and lunch because your hair is made of protein. Proteins are your hair is building blocks. Eat complex carbohydrates at breakfast and lunch. I know a lot of people can shy away from them, but they're actually so important because they give your body slow and sustained release of energy. Your hair cells are the second fastest dividing cells that your body makes, which means that they're super hungry. But because they're not essential, it's just kind of catch 22. So they're hungry, but they're the last to be fed.

It's a nice. Cruel twist that, isn't it really? I know it is. Yes. Please feed my hair first. So, yeah, so have a protein to something like eggs or fish, quinoa, alongside a complex carbohydrates, like brown rice, whole grains, pasta, breakfast and lunch, that's really, good. Make sure that you're eating enough iron, especially if you are getting your periods or you have heavy periods because that can deplete your iron levels and that can really impact your hair. Snack between meals because energy to your hair drops four hours after eating. So have a healthy snack. And then just in terms of stress, again, it is difficult at the moment to keep stress levels down. But, you know, there are a lot of online classes at the moment. You know, people are doing Pilates and

yoga classes, so it might be worth looking at that as well. And you can always also, in terms of back to diet, you can, if you find it difficult to eat well all the time, you can take supplements to help. So you could take a protein supplement. We make a really good one called PK4 soy protein. And this contains all essential amino acids needed for hair growth. And you could take it also an good all-around multivitamin supplement containing things like iron and vitamin B12. vitamin D. And again, topical treatments that you use holistically alongside, you know, just kind of diet and stress control. Yes. So looking after your scalp is really important. Your scalp is your hair support system. Yeah. I love the, sorry, Tendrop, I should say,

I love the, I always relate to it so well. It's the analogy, isn't it? If it's your scalp is the soil and therefore, you know, if you nourish the soil, the flowers grow. Exactly. Exactly. I always remember that one. And you don't even need, you know, just get a good quality shampoo for your hair texture. So you only need to really turn to, you know, anti-dandruff shampoes if you have an issue with your scalp. I wouldn't recommend going out and buying a hair loss shampoo because I simply don't think that they work.

They're not left on your scalp for long enough for the ingredients to have an effect. And also because you're applying them to a wet scalp slash hair, the ingredients are really dilute anyway. So just choose a good shampoo, which will keep your scalp clean and healthy. You can use a toner every day. So we make one call. It's called scalp toner.

And it contains camphor, which is really cooling and soothing and witch hazel, which helps to regulate oil production. Whenever you think about scalp care ingredients, just go right back to skincare. So, you know, the oldies, but goodies in skincare

are also really good for your scalp and keeping your scalp healthy. Lovely. Thank you. And we've got a question from Kelly, if he wants to know how should I deal with postpartum hair loss? Oh, Kelly, so I am experiencing this myself at the moment and it is horrific. So, first, what causes postpartum hair loss? So the most common cause or the initial cause is simply that your hormone levels are returning

to normal. So when you're pregnant, your estrogen levels, which is a female hormone, these rise. And estrogen is a really hair-friendly hormone. and it helps to keep hairs in their growth phase. So when, after you've given birth and those levels drop, all those extra hairs that were maintained or remained during pregnancy can then shed all at once and in quite a short period of time. So that usually happens around six to 12 weeks after giving birth,

sometimes later, sometimes it can occur even sit up to six months later. And that's completely, that will go away on its own. but there's often there are lots of other things that feed into a postpartum hareshed and this is because our bodies go through a huge amount during pregnancy and also things can happen during childbirth and the stresses of being a new mom can also contribute so you might have lost well everyone loses blood when they give birth whether or not you had a vaginal birth or a cesarean section and those can really deplete your iron stores as can the third trimester of pregnancy because your baby uses up your stores.

Vitamin D is another one. So in the third trimester, your baby uses up a lot of your vitamin D. So the first thing I would do is to really make sure that those levels are maintained and are healthy. So you could get a blood test done. I would actually just go ahead and start taking a vitamin D supplement anyway. The NHS recommends that everyone does. Try to eat healthy, balanced meals. It's really difficult with the newborn and that's something that can feed into postpartum hair shedding is that you know you're skipping meals, you're not eating nutritiously because you're looking at your focusing. Your main priority is looking after your baby. But really, really trying to do that, you know, keep snacks around. I keep bowls of nuts, you know, like

crisps around so I can just grab them when I'm looking after my son. That can really help. And also just make sure that your hair is in really good condition. because if your hair is breaking, that can also further thin out the appearance of your mid-lengths and ends. So using things like a weekly pre-shamplea conditioning treatment. And this I love. So we make one called elastasizer. Oh, I'm obsessed with elastasizer. So, yeah, I use it religiously anyway, but particularly after I have my baby.

Yeah. And I started to then get all the funny regrowth. It was just like for ensuring that it stayed there. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Or my father says, thank you. But that's a really good one when you have a baby, because you can put it on in the morning and then put your hair up

and that keeps it out of your baby's little hands because they like to pull it hair. And you leave it on all day. And then when you have time later for a shower, once they've gone to bed, then you can just wash it off. So it's a really good product to multitask with as a new mum. But I would say if you're just at the beginning of a postpartum hair shed, it's horrible, but it does stop. But if it doesn't stop after three months and think about the other things that I mentioned

and potentially go to your doctor, see a tricologist, and get some blood tests done and also for some extra advice as well. Brilliant, thank you. And then we've got another question from Susie, and she says, why is my scalp getting dry, itchy and flaky? Sorry to hear that, Susie. It's really so irritating when your scalp is bothering you. So generally, when you have flaking, it isn't due to a dry scalp. So that's a really common misconception with dandruff is that it's dry, but it's actually

almost always oily. So the other term for dandruff is ciberate dermatitis, and seborate basically means oily. Your scalp is the oilest, oiliest environment on your body. You have tens of thousands of oil glands on your scalp. And so it's really important when you have. have dandruff or flakes not to apply oils to remove it because you'll simply make the flakes stickier and greasier. People would like any skin condition, some people are simply predisposed to getting flaking

and itching. And then if that's the case with you, there are definitely products that you can use to help manage it. So just like with skincare, if you had a problem with the skin on your face, you would use daily targeted topicals to clear it. And that's the same for your scalp. So you would want to use a targeted shampoo. So I recommend our flaky itchy scalp shampoo.

You'd want to use a targeted toner every day. So we have one called Flaky Itchy Itchy Scalp Toner. And you'd also want to use a mask once a week. And we have one called Flaky Itchy Scout Mask. You can more than welcome to look into other brands, but just choose those three steps. So shampoo, toner, and a mask to use. Also look at your stress levels.

stress can definitely worsen flaking and itching. And you might want to think about what you might be eating that might be triggering your scalp to flare up because certain foods really commonly do this. Things like full fat dairy products like cheese, white wine and champagne can do it. And also really spicy and sugary foods. So don't go and cut stuff out of your diet, but potentially just keep a food diary and see if any food in particular correlates with when your scalp flares up. Also, shampoo regularly. So the reason why dandruff occurs is that the yeast on your scalp become imbalance.

So the microbiome of your scalp becomes imbalanced. And yeast on your scalp, they are lipophilic. So that means they love oils. So they gobble up oils. So when your scalp's oily, these yeast overgrow. They have a lot of food. And that's what causes the flaking and itching. So make sure you're cleansing your scalp regularly to remove the oil.

So you're basically starving the yeast of their main food source. That's annoying. What? You're a muffler. You don't hear it? Oh, I don't even notice it. I usually drown it out with the radio. How's this?

Oh, yeah, way better. Save on insurance by switching to Bell Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bell Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. And Adam, I've got another one for you here. So Jesse wants to know what are the best treatments for dry hair. So there are so many. There are so many products. And again, my real belief is, they really are. And I'm a product junkie. Anyone that knows me, they normally see my bags of product. But, you know, I tell people to try different things out and find the best one to suit their hair. And that may be from the high street. That may be from a salon, take recommendations from friends. But there are incredible masks on the market that are absolutely.

brilliant. Oil is a brilliant and I think of an oil as a lubricator. So again, it gives the hair the slip which allows when you're combing or brushing that you're not tearing through the hair. So you're maintaining a good condition hair. And again, supplements are absolutely brilliant for encouraging healthy hair. And, you know, starting within, as Annabelle said, treat your scalp like your skin. And again, if you've got a healthy scalp, you are way more likely to have healthier hair growth because again it's synchronicity it's working together. Carastars do great masks, Orbe do great masks. Larry King's conditioner is absolutely brilliant. Oh, I'm obsessed in that one. It's so good. And George Northwood has just launched some really great conditioning products.

I was testing some of them the other day. He knew I was testing them. I wasn't testing them for anything else. He's done some great conditioners and they're in boots and in his salon. So, you know, the more that you pay, you'll find that the ingredients will be of a higher level ingredient. But if you're treating your hair all of the time, you may want to balance out with a really good intensive, expensive mask and something like an oil that will lubricate your hair on a daily basis. And with lubrication, that gives you the slip that allows when you're combing or brushing that it's not causing any more or sort of making hair more damage. So it's all about prevention when it comes to that. Lovely. Thank you. Mikaela wants to know what is the best cut or

length for fine hair, very fine hair, and I'm guessing to, you know, make it look lovely and luscious and thick. So, Michaela, this is the burning question really, and I'm asked this continuously. Firstly, you have to find something that you can look after and that you can make look great. That's essential. You could have an absolutely beautiful haircut. And if you can't look after it, it's never going to look that great. So consulting with a professional is absolutely key. Looking at how your hair grows and what you're going to do to it is, you know, that's key as well. But normally on fine hair, I always say something with a stronger, heavier outline is great. And what you can do, you could even have a razor cut just to go into the ends because that can give you a

shattered edge that a lot of people think a razor cut is to thin hair out. It's not at all. It just gives you that really beautiful sharp edge. But if you soften out the line, it helps to give volume. And then invisible layers shaping in the interior is key. Some people say a bob is great for somebody with finer hair. But if you can't style a bob, it's not great for you. So it's making sure that what you have is a haircut that you can look after, that has longevity, and that you can get the best out of at home. So that could be that you have a razor cut or a cut with a texturising shear that shatters out the edge, but you still keep a strong, heavy line, and then you soften down the interior, maybe with an invisible layer or a little bit of a

twist cut that gives your hair volume and movement without over layering it so the ends that don't then become fine. So chat to your hairdresser and find out, tell your hairdresser how you start, your hair, find out what is best for you and the way that you look after your hair and then work with your hairdresser to get the best cut for you. Lovely, thank you. A question here from Ramsey who said, I've got thick, frizzy Asian hair, which products are best for smoothing it? Okay, so the GHD rise is an incredible, not the GHD rise, sorry, it's the GHD glide, the rise is from volume, the glide is to smooth. Again, an oil is absolutely brilliant. Um, because what it helps to do is smooth down the hair, moisturise.

And again, it's sort of more of a cosmetic moisturising. So it just helps to seal down the cuticle, give you a nice shine, but give you that lubrication. So you've got a good slip. A blow-drying cream, a blow-drying spray is absolutely brilliant. I love L'Orielle Plee. I love the GHD volumising spray because what that does is give you that really beautiful, smooth finish. Then blow-drying the hair with a medium heat. So don't rough dry your hair because again what you'll be doing there is you'll be if your hair is frizzy

It's dehydrated. It has a tendency to get fluffy if you rough dry you're sort of making it fluffier and then when you go in later You've got to smooth that out so start drying your hair with a brush dry that through and then smooth with smooth with your glide So glide is literally like a dressing brush that's heated and you pull through the hair and it smooths down the hair It won't reduce volume. It won't flatten the hair, but it'll help to give you that glossy, expensive, smooth finish. And then what I recommend is you spray a little bit of hair spray through the hair, and then you run through one more time so that you've got that really nice sort of looseness to the hair, which always, to me, looks healthier, looks glossier, and looks more in condition. And what about treatments for kind of very textured afro hair that experience dryness?

So do you know, I love a good co-cleans, so a cleansing conditioner. There are a lot out there, and I'm trying to think of one that I absolutely love. Davines do a great one. I go into packs, and I love there's a lot of body one that I really enjoy using. And a co-cleanser is brilliant because on Afro hair, it just moisturises and smooths and seals. And I absolutely love a good co-cleanser. And then again, the rehab is absolutely brilliant on Afro hair, especially afro hair that's finer. So that's a GHD split end therapy because that helps to moisturise as you're working your product through.

And again, you know, a really good finishing product. So you're sealing that hair into place. The final finish for GHD, the shine spray is great and then run your glide through after and you'll get a perfect finish. Good co-cleanser is perfect. And we've got another question from Tara who wants to know. How should I deal with psoriasis? So psoriasis is an autoimmune condition. And it can't be cured, but it can definitely be managed.

So usually in healthy skin, skin cells take around four weeks to replenish themselves. With psoriasis, it takes three to seven days. So that's why you get this kind of, you can get this. up on your scalp. Topicals are really important, so using daily and also weekly topical treatments. With psoriasis, you will have to get in touch with your doctor or tricologist for prescription, only creams and shampoes because over-the-counter ones aren't going to be enough. So I'm not going to recommend anything from our range. We don't make products for psoriasis, but psoriasis, but you can even maybe potentially go into your local pharmacy and ask them if

they have anything that they recommend as well. And talk to your doctor because there are other treatments. There's UV treatment that you can have. There's certain prescription creams that you can use. This is from Phoebe and she said, I want to help the environment by using shampoo bars, but they seem to be making my hair dry. Am I using them wrong or am I buying the wrong ones? And I think From a personal point of view that I'm inundated with these, like they're dropping on my desk every week. So they seem to be great because they're water-free. But what do you make of the formulas? Do you know what?

I absolutely love them. Now, I cannot, I've seen the Bleach London one, which I've really liked. That's got a bit of a colour in, but it's brilliant. The faith in nature ones that I've seen are also amazing. I would say you're probably picking the wrong formula. And again, it's like a shampoo. And especially because it's quite a new thing on the general market. Sure.

That it's worth getting a couple and again, finding forums and talking about it is absolutely brilliant. Because it will be finding the perfect one for you. But I love a shampoo bar. What I do recommend is alternate between the shampoo and conditioner that you like in a shampoo bar so that you're still getting that richness from the liquid shampo. the liquid shampoo and the conditioner. And if you alternate between, you often find that your hair

really nicely regulates between the two products. And I know a lot of people do use different shampoos and things. I'm not the biggest believer that you need to change your shampoos. That's just a very personal thing for me. But I like the idea of a shampoo bar maybe when you're at the gym or you need something quicker and then use a normal shampoo and alternate in between. Yeah, they're incredibly travel friendly, aren't they?

So good, so good. And actually, Phoebe Garnier have just released a range, and they've got some really good ones for dry hair, so maybe check out. That's brilliant. I tried the Garnier the other day again. I'm a product junkie. I really liked them products. I thought they were absolutely brilliant, the Garnier shampoo bars.

For me, it was a smell. It just smelled incredible. But yeah, they were really good. So good. Again, this is another one that I feel like I'm always asked as a beauty editor. how often should I be washing my hair? Also, should I do it every time I exercise and get sweaty? So that I am asked that all the time as well.

I think it's because deep down we want someone to go, no, it's okay, but really we know we have to do it. Yeah, I would love it if someone said, don't you never have to wash your hair again? But sadly, that is not the case. So I'll separate this into two things. So for the health of your scalp, daily shampooing is the best thing to do because your scalp is skin. However, from your hair's perspective, that might not always be realistic.

So it does depend on your hair texture. If you're someone with fine hair, shampoo daily because you have more oil glands on your scalp. Your hair gets weighed down very easily. And daily shampooing is going to remove those oils. it's going to add nice body and bounce. If you are someone with coarser hair or coiled curls, I wouldn't never recommend shampooing daily really because it's just not realistic

and also what you have to do to your hair afterwards can then outweigh the good of shampooing in itself. So I would say try not to leave more than three to four days between shampooing purely from the perspective of your scalp because after that amount of time, you're going to get itching and irritation and this in turn can then affect hair growth because research has proven that a flaky scout can cause hair loss. It can also affect the quality of hairs that are growing. If you're listening to this and every three to four days also is

not something that you're able to do, there are certain things that you can do to kind of help keep your scalp healthy between shampoos. So you can use a scalp. toner. So we have our toning tonic. We just launched a flaky itchy dry shampoo. So it's the only dry shampoo that's clinically proven to help relieve flaking and itching. And when you do, on the days you do shampoo, make sure you do a really good thorough double cleanse. So that's, there isn't a kind of a clear cut answer because everyone's different. But if you like shampooing your hair daily and you like how your hair looks when you do that, keep doing it. And then if you don't, then don't, but try not to leave more than three to four days between doing so.

Thank you. Where do you think this myth came from that you shouldn't wash your hair every day? Because I feel like that's something that I kind of grew up with. You know, it's bad to wash your hair every day. But obviously that's not the case, particularly if you've got fine hair. Yeah. Well, I mean, firstly, it's not your hair, you're washing. It's your scalp.

Yeah. But probably because it's stemmed. from when, you know, shampoos weren't, hadn't even really been formulated yet, or they were really, they were soap bar shampoes and I don't mean the new kind of nice soap bar shampoo, I mean actual

soap that would leave like a scum residue on your hair. Yeah. Really damaging to your hair. They left it tangled. And also at a time when we didn't have kind of hot, running hot water. So back then, yes, daily shampooing or

frequent shampooing was, you know, a complete pain and also did leave your hair in a state. So a myth's usually stem from like decades or decades and decades ago. Yeah, they're old. Yeah. Adam and Annabelle, thank you so much. I was nodding furiously. As you could see over the chat. That was so insightful and so helpful. So thank you. That was really brilliant. My pleasure. My pleasure. Right. I hope you had a pen and paper or at least your notes app and your phone. phone ready for that one. You've been listening to tricologist Annabel Kingsley and hairdresser Adam Reed

interviewed by Women's Health's Beauty Editor Purdy Norrell on the weekly Women's Health podcast Going for Goal. Remember, if you've got a different goal in mind and want to know how to achieve it, let us know and we could be helping you get there in an upcoming episode. And as ever, if you want to comment on anything that we've raised in this show, get in touch. All the details of how are in the show notes. That's all from Going for Goal this week. We'll be back next Tuesday. Bye.