A WOMAN has revealed she wasted thousands of pounds using fancy shampoos to try and fix her shedding hair, until she discovered a £7 Boots product.
After being diagnosed with Androgenic Alopecia, Sofia’s hair started to shed drastically, and she was left with bald patches on her scalp.
Desperate to regain her long and flowing locks, the 24-year-old spent “thousands” on hair growth products, many of which she says did not help at all.
“I wasted so much money on fancy shampoos that did nothing”, she said in a TikTok video.
Sofia did eventually manage to grow back her lush and healthy locks, and revealed that if she were to lose them again, she would “spend a lot less money”.
Waste of money
Sharing one of the treatments she feels are a waste of money, she advised anyone struggling to regrow hair not to bother with scalp mesotherapy , a non-surgical cosmetic procedure that involves injecting vitamins and minerals in to the scalp.
She added that a lot of “fancy hair growth shampoos” are not scientifically backed, and just have good marketing strategies.
Budget Boots buy
Sharing one of the things that actually did help, Sofia praised Nizoral Anti-dandruff Shampoo which you can pick up from Boots for just £7.12.
She described the budget buy which promises to “restore your scalp back to its normal healthy state”, as one of the most “effective shampoos”.
The fragrance free shampoo promises to treat and and prevent the scalp from becoming dry, flaky, red or itchy.
It should be used every three to four days in the first few weeks, to clear dandruff, and then once a week after that, to prevent it from coming back.
Sharing other methods that also worked to get her hair looking healthy again, Sofia recommended dermarolling, minoxidil, DHT blockers and a “good supplement”.
Sofia, who is now training to be a trichologist so that she can share her wisdom with others advised: “It’s difficult to navigate the hair loss market by yourself.
“So use tools like ChatGPT and Google to really research the products that you’re spending money on.”
Sofia’s ( @sofiahairhealth ) video has likely left many people impressed, as it has racked up over 1.5 million views on the video sharing platform.
Everything you need to know about hair loss and thinning
Anabel Kingsley, Brand President and Lead Trichologist at Phillip Kingsley , spoke to Fabulous exclusively.
How many people experience it?
Hair thinning (aka female/male pattern hair loss) and hair shedding (aka telogen effluvium) are incredibly common. Telogen Effluvium probably impacts everyone at some point in their lifetime, while it’s estimated pattern hair loss affects 50% of men by age 50, and 40% of women by aged 50. However, everyone’s hair changes and loses some diameter with age.
Why does it happen?
Female and male pattern hair loss are largely genetic. It occurs when hair follicles on the scalp slowly miniaturize and start to progressively produce shorter and then finer hairs. In men, it is caused by a sensitivity of hair follicles to testosterone/ dihydrotesterone (DHT). This can also be the case with women but isn’t always.
TE occurs in response of some sort of underlying imbalance or metabolic shift. As hair is non-essential tissue, your hair follicles are very sensitive to general health as your body gives hair last priority. When something is imbalanced, or you are unwell, more hairs than usual exit the growth (anagen) phase of the hair growth cycle, rest for 3 months (called telogen) and then shed.
Common triggers are rapid weight loss, low calorie diets, thyroid disorders, iron and ferritin (a protein that stores iron) deficiency, lack of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D, certain medications, intense stress, stopping or starting an oral contraceptive pill and high fevers. Due to the length of telogen, telogen effluvium doesn’t occur right after the causative event – it happens anywhere from 2-4 months later.
How much hair can someone be expected to lose?
With TE, you can lose up to 3x your ‘normal’ amount each day. It’s normal to lose up to 150 hairs per day, and with TE you may see between 300-400. Up to 50% of hair can be lost with shedding, but the good news is that it’s temporary and hairs should grow back as before once the underlying cause is addressed. With pattern hair, it depends.
Men can go almost completely bald, whereas women usually experience a more spread-out loss of hair over the top of their scalp. As pattern hair loss is progressive, early treatment is so important as this allows you to maintain as much hair density as possible.
TikTok users raced to the video’s comments section to share their thoughts on her tips.
One person said: “I have started with all the things you recommend, hoping for more hair!”
A second person said: “That’s actually so helpful, I’m going to try Nizoral.”
A third person said: “You probably have just saved a few girls lives with this video.”
A fourth added: “Your hair is amazing!”
