Barber Tips: Don't Be Afraid Of Losing Your Hair!

We've all thought of it... and we've (probably) dreamed about it in some way shape or form... and nearly all of us will have to deal with it some day. However - losing your hair doesn't need to be so scary as all that! Fortunately, the managing barber of our Covent Garden barbershop, Lilly Dillon is a fully qualified trichologist and an Associate of the Institute of Trichologists. She has some wise words for those of you with concerns:

"Firstly, you need to determine whether your hair loss is male pattern baldness or something different ("telogen effluvium"). To find this out, speak to a professional trichologist, who is a specialist in hair and scalp diseases and disorders. Once the type of hair loss has been established, you can start to think about certain products to use or treatments to adopt."

"Male pattern baldness will affect about 70% of men in their lifetime and occurs when the hair follicles close up, meaning that the hair is unable to push through the skin. If you use a clarifying or stimulating shampoo, this will help bring blood to the surface of the skin, open up the pores, and allow hairs to grow through thicker as the follicle will be fed with nutrients and oxygen."

Our Anti-Dandruff Shampoo & Conditioner contains menthol, a natural ingredient which promotes circulation and soothes the scalp, while its piroctone olamine is an anti-bacterial ingredient used to reduce inflammation.

"However, if you seem to be losing clumps (or strands) of hair at a time, this is far less likely to be male pattern baldness and is probably due to something else - perhaps stress, medication, too much or too little of certain foodgroups... each situation will be different, so best is to consult a professional so they can recommend the appropriate treatment."

"If you aren't too keen on using specialist products but you want to hold on to your lovely locks, make sure you get a lot of sun! Vitamin D and heat will stimulate the bloodflow just beneath the surface of your scalp, opening up the follicles and encouraging the hair to grow through. However, this is not going to completely restore your head of hair; rather it will delay the balding process slightly."

For any more information and if you have any other concerns, please email coventgarden@ruffians.co.uk with the subject FAO Lilly Dillon and she will get back to you as soon as possible.