The Food Medic - S9 Bonus EP - TikTok hair hacks that actually work

Episode Date: April 2, 2023

In this short bonus episode, Dr Hazel speaks to Taylor Rose (also known as the healthy hur), a certified trichologist who has amassed over 1.5million followers on social media.Topics covered include:*Popular titkok trends: rosemary oil, slick buns, pillowcases and apple cider vinegar*Essential hair care products*Hairloss and what to do about it*Advice for dry and damaged hair*Lifestyle factors affecting hair healthPs. If you want to find out more about how nutrition can support hair health, head over to our educational hub on www.thefoodmedic.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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still on my own journey to healthy hair, I'm really intrigued to hear what today's guest has to say. Our guest is Taylor Rose, also known as The Healthy Her, a certified trichologist who has amassed over 1.5 million followers on social media to come share her expertise with us. Just want to start by finding out more about you and what got you to where you are today as a certified trichologist and interested in hair. So I'm Taylor Rose, also known as the healthy her on all social media platforms. Like Hazel said, I am a certified trichologist, which is somebody who studies the hair and scalp. Specifically, what I focus on is helping women regrow hair. So my journey to become a certified trichologist was very random. So I was actually in finance. I have a major in finance and I was working in a corporate job. And I've

always been interested in hair. And it was kind of my mom and I had agreed, OK, go to college for business, which is what she wanted me to do. And then you can go back to cosmetology school, which is what I wanted to do. So I was always into hairdressing, that type of thing. And I started posting my own hair loss journey on TikTok. Back in 2020, when TikTok, you know, first blew up, everyone was bored at home with COVID. And I just saw this crazy need, especially for women to talk about hair loss, to figure out what was going on, obviously to regrow their hair. And at the time, I didn't have any knowledge other than my own research on my own hair type. And I had women, you know, with all different hair and scalp types asking me questions, and they just had nowhere else to turn

to for answers. So I just saw this need and I felt this compassion and I wanted to be able to give these women the answers they were looking for. So I ended up, you know, blowing up on TikTok for hair related things. And I quit my nine to five job and went to school for trichology. It's so interesting hearing you say that

because I definitely think that there is a huge need for that conversation. And I hear it a lot. I think, you know, a lot of women come to me and I don't know why there's a resistance to talk about it. Maybe it's, there's like shame or we're blaming ourselves for it happening. I don't know if you've any insight on that. Yeah, I think it is shame. And it's also on I don't know, it's weird, because so many women deal with it. But it's so uncommon to talk about. Absolutely. You know, and there is a discussion for men, even though I know it is still a shame thing with men, but there's no really way to hide it as a man. So it's a lot more, they're a lot more open about it. But women are so insecure

about it. And it becomes almost like a mental game. For sure. And I think, you know, some people might be like, it's just hair, it's so trivial, but really, it massively impacts your mental health. Yes, 100%. I would love to start by addressing some TikTok trends, because you're huge on on TikTok and I find you on social media. And at the moment, I feel like hair is constantly trending on TikTok. Maybe it's just because it's what I get shown. It's something I'm interested in. But there's a lot of people out there, you know, doing it from their own home, claiming to know the best tips and tricks for your hair. And I would love to know from your expertise what you actually think of these. And I think it's a fun way for us to kick off the podcast episode. So the first

thing is rosemary oil. And I think I already know what you're going to say. Yes. So I'm a huge proponent of rosemary oil. I personally have found very good success with it, as well as a ton of my followers have found success with it. But there is also science to back up rosemary oil as a really good possible natural solution for hair regrowth. There is only one study out right now, but I think with all the growing social proof, there will be more to come. And for people who are interested in using it, I know that you already covered this on your social, but what's the best way of introducing it into your hair care routine? So the best way would be to mix it with the carrier oil, which would be like a castor oil, jojoba oil, argan oil. You mix five drops of your

rosemary with one teaspoon of your carrier oil, rub it between your hands and massage it into your scalp for three to four minutes and let it sit on your scalp for a couple hours and then wash it off like normal. Okay, nice. It's something that I've recently integrated, but I was watching your tips to make sure I was doing it right because, correct me if I'm wrong, if you apply rosemary oil as the essential oil directly to your scalp, you can cause irritation. Yes, it's very potent, harsh oil if it's applied directly to your scalp, you can cause irritation. Yes, it's very potent, harsh oil if it's applied directly to your scalp. How about slicked back buns? This one. I get this one a lot. They're very cute and I do wear them every once in a while, but they can be harmful

if you over wear them due to traction alopecia, just from pulling the hair back so tightly and excess of product like gel on your hair. So how often would you recommend doing it or wearing it? I would say no more than once a week. Okay. How about silk pillowcases? Something I've not invested in yet, but interested to know what your thoughts are. Yeah, definitely. Silk or satin, it's great for preventing that friction caused from tossing and turning at night.

Air drying versus hair drying. So I also have just recently gotten an air wrap. And I don't know whether it's still damaging my hair because I've been trying to use less heat and use colder air, but I feel like I'm still, that's still happening. Is it all in my head or what do you think? So this one really depends on your hair type. The biggest thing here is that when hair is wet, it's more prone to damage. And that's because the bonds in the hair are not reformed until hair dries. So if you're somebody whose hair dries really quick, naturally, yes, it's better to air

dry and not use heat on your hair. But if you're somebody like me, whose hair takes forever dry and, you know, it's heavy and or maybe you're going to bed right after you shower, you don't want to be tossing and turning causing more damage when your bonds are not reformed. It is better to blow dry your hair and dry it with low to medium heat just to have it dry and not wet for such a long period of time. Good to know. And the other things, rinsing with apple cider vinegar. Yeah. So again, depends on the person, depends on the scalp type. It's a good natural solution to balance out the pH of the scalp. So if you're feeling, you know, maybe you have an oily scalp or an itchy scalp, it can be a really good solution to bring you back into a balanced state but that being said you can overdo it and dry yourself out so only use it you know if you're feeling an imbalance

in your scalp okay one of the things that you mentioned got you into your line of work and i know that it's something that i'm hearing across the board is hair loss and hair thinning and maybe it's because I'm biased and more interested in learning about it. But do you think it's happening more commonly? And what are the major drivers of hair loss, especially in women? Yes, it is definitely happening more frequently. There are more things contributing to hair loss right now than there ever have been in history before, especially for women. And I would say, you know, genetics play a huge factor in it, of course, but the things that are contributing more nowadays would be lifestyle. So diet, especially like extreme yo-yo dieting

can be really bad for hair loss. Stress levels are really bad. You know, there's just so many things coming at us right now. How much much is a normal acceptable amount of hair to lose when you're washing your hair when you're brushing your hair and how do you know when it's gone beyond an acceptable amount yeah so the average amount of hairs to lose in a day is 100 hairs about that being said if you're somebody who has always for your whole life lost 200 hairs a day that just means your baseline is higher than the average and that's fine as long as you don't notice thinning but if you're somebody who has always traditionally lost 100 hairs a day about and all of a sudden you're losing 500 hairs a day that's kind of when you know it's it's an issue and what are some things that we can do to stop that from

happening moving forward and kind of actually get our scalp and our hair to a healthy place yeah i i always suggest starting with the rosemary just because it does work for so many people it rebalances the scalp it improves blood circulation and gets that hair growth cycle moving back normal and just like every other hair growth solution, like minoxidil, Rogaine type of thing, there is a period of time when you start using rosemary where you may notice more hair fall, which I think a lot of people panic when they see that and they stop using it. But it's just because it's pushing that old hair out to restart the new hair cycle. Okay. I know you're a big advocate as well of head massage as well to stimulate growth.

Yeah. So head massage, there's tons of scientific proof out there that giving yourself a four-minute scalp massage every day, it doesn't boost new hair growth, let's say in areas that there isn't hair already growing, but it thickens the hairs that are already there, the density of the hairs. Okay. Good to know. That's something else I've been trying to integrate. And another common hair problem, I guess, which is probably more a result of what we're doing in terms of styling is dry and damaged hair. What advice would you give to people in terms of what should they be integrating into their daily hair care routine to recondition the hair and what shouldn't they be doing? I would say to integrate some sort of bond repair line, especially if you're dealing with very damaged hair. That's something like an Olaplex or a K18. There's actually a ton of different bond repair lines on the market right now.

Just make sure it's a good one. You know, reforming those disulfide bonds in the hair, make sure it mentions that. Never skip conditioner, obviously on your ends, not on your scalp, ends only conditioner. Weekly hydrating hair masks are another great way to bring back hydration to the strands as well as leave in conditioners. Avoiding sulfates and silicones for a few months as well as limiting your heat use to once a week and then like we talked about the silk or satin pillowcase yeah that um limiting heat to once a week i can imagine could be the hardest for some people and i see heatless curls are also growing popularity are they are they something you recommend sleeping with or could that also cause traction um like they're great if you can sleep with them I personally cannot because I'm a very

light sleeper yeah but if you can yeah they're great okay good to know there are lots of hair care products that are pushed to us or that we can buy online now what ones do you think should be part of our hair care routine and which ones do you think we should save our money on? The number one thing you want to look for is a good shampoo and conditioner that's good for your hair type and your scalp type. All the time I have people asking me, you know, is this shampoo good? Is this shampoo good? And unless it's a horrible shampoo, I can't really tell you if it's good because it's going to depend on your hair or scalp type. Another thing is, like I mentioned, that weekly hair mask is a great thing.

I think everybody should do a hair mask every single week, if not twice a week. You get just the best glowing hair from it. It's one of my things that I've been doing forever, and I swear by it. Rosemary oil, obviously have mentioned that a few times, but I think everybody should, unless you're allergic, everybody should incorporate that into their hair care routine and then a silicone scalp massager which I post a lot about those on my page but you use those in the shower and it really helps that shampoo cleanse the hair follicles and remove that build-up what would be your best advice in terms of where someone should go if they are experiencing significant hair loss a trichologist would be your best advice in terms of where someone should go if they are experiencing significant hair loss? A trichologist would be the first stop. They are less common in the United

States. So if you can't find a trichologist, a dermatologist would be the next route I would go to. Yeah, trichology isn't huge in the UK either. I think, you know, there's some clinics, but largely consulted dermatologists who would deal with this sort of thing. You know, many people want to find more about you and the work that you do. Where's the best place to direct them? TikTok or Instagram. And my username is at the healthy her and her is spelled H-U-R. Amazing.

Thank you for your time today, Taylor. It was lovely to meet you. It was lovely to meet you too. Hopefully that episode answered some of the questions for you. If you want to find out more about how nutrition can support your hair health, make sure to head over to our educational hub, www.thefoodmedic.co.uk. That's all from me. See you again next time.