My beautiful angels! I am here to talk about hair. If you know me IRL, you may know that my hair is not my best feature. That is .. I don’t know, but not my hair. I used to think of my hair as thick, but I’ve realized that it has thinned, and if I fool people into thinking I have thick hair it’s because it’s a bit coarse and a bit frizzy if I’m not coating it with toxic chemicals every few months.
(tragically not my hair)
A brief background: as a Jewish girl growing up in humid Atlanta, Georgia I started getting chemical hair straightening treatments in my teens. It was the era of Japanese Thermal Reconditioning, and I remember going and having no idea it was going to take five hours and being RAVENOUSLY hungry and cranky, which was extremely on brand. I then couldn’t wash my hair for a few days and my hair smelled awful, like noxious chemicals, however at least it was silky smooth! All the Jewish girls at school were doing it. I progressed to keratin treatments, and then something my hair stylist in NY calls a defrizz treatment that’s supposed to be slightly less toxic and therefore doesn’t last as long.
Black women have been getting chemical relaxers because of BS stigmas about their natural hair for a very long time. Studies have recently come out showing a correlation between higher rates of uterine cancer in black women and the chemicals associated with hair relaxing. This is AWFUL. I am not trying to equate our experiences, because my frizz free desires were very much optional, and often times for black women they are not! However, these studies are one of the many reasons I’m trying to move away from chemical straighteners/ de-frizzers.
I have been having a bit of a hair exploration, if you will. I have an itchy scalp, and my acupuncturist recommended two things that I’ve been impressed by. The first is using a wooden comb for combing therapy, a practice in TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine). It’s incredibly simple, and is basically combing your scalp, however it has to be with a wood or bone comb, not with plastic. This can help release tension and increase blood flow, in theory helping with stress, dandruff, and give you stronger, healthier hair. A short explainer here. If you enjoy getting your hair massaged at a salon, you’ll love this. I use this $15 one from Sephora, although this also looks good.
Since doing it I’ve noticed dramatically less shedding in the shower and thicker hair, which has really surprised me. However, I can’t credit everything to using a wooden comb! I also started using New Wash by Hairstory which was created by the founder of Bumble & Bumble, and can be a subscription on their website or purchased from Amazon. I use their brush in the shower to wash my hair, which is a similar vibe to the wooden comb.
The gist of New Wash is that it is a gentle cleanser without detergents, similar to a cleansing conditioner. It takes a bit of getting used to, however I did not have the transition period I expected. My acupuncturist suggested it because I was getting an itchy scalp that didn’t seem to be dandruff exactly, but I couldn’t figure out what the issue was. She thought I might do better with more natural ingredients, and I do find that my hair has a bit less frizz and my scalp feels better using this.
I think that increasing circulation to your scalp is a win if you are interested in thicker hair or worried about hair loss, and the brush with New Wash is nice. However I know combs/ that brush are not a great option if you wear extensions.
Last thing! I started taking Colostrum for gut issues. Colostrum is a slightly odd supplement— it is in the first breastmilk of humans/ animals and is supposed to be an immune powerhouse. I use Armra’s, which is bovine colostrum. I started taking it for bloating and gut healing, and I believe that it helps. It is also supposed to be good for your skin and hair, which is a bit harder to quantify. Most interestingly, it is supposed to help with immune resiliency and in tests was actually considered a better flu preventative than the flu shot (?!). Listen, I’m not a doctor, although a doctor did create it— and I’m not an antivaxxer! Armra says that it’s 3x as effective as the flu shot, IDK if that’s true but this study is interesting. If you try Armra, flavored Armra costs more and I don’t think the flavor is great- go unflavored! You’re welcome to hear me talk about colostrum on my friend Daliya’s podcast, Not Your Therapist : ).
Hair thinning and hair loss have become a bit of an epidemic for people I know, it’s happening earlier than it should be! I’m not sure if this is because of hormones or our environment, but I have a a couple of other suggestions depending on where your hair is at:
Nutrafol: I haven’t started taking it because I take literally (fine, figuratively) a million supplements and know it can take a few months to kick in, but it seems like a great supplement to help with hormonal hair thinning.
Minoxidil, the active ingredient in Rogaine, still seems like the gold standard for topical hair loss prevention. The beauty editor Michelle Lee does a great explainer on hair loss here and describes the benefits of going to a dermatologist for a custom treatment with a higher % of Minoxidil.
Okay, this is just the tip of the iceberg on hair, I will report back with new findings! Maybe by then I’ll have learned how to blowdry my hair!
xo, alex