When Is Hair Beautiful?

Hair is beautiful when it shines, is thick, and gracefully frames the face – and when the scalp is healthy, too.

Hairs are dead keratin filaments that store pigments and are kept supple by a light film of oil from the scalp. In evolutionary terms, they are remnants of our fur – which is why some people experience a noticeable “coat change” in autumn, i.e., hair shedding. Hair protects against solar radiation, heat loss, and insects, and helps distribute subtle scent signals.

Scalp sebum spreads along the hair shaft. It provides beautiful shine, keeps the hair supple, and counteracts dryness and split ends.

The strong hairs of the scalp grow in a fixed cycle: the growth phase (anagen phase) lasts 3–6 years; in a healthy state, 85–90% of scalp hairs are in this stage. It is followed by the roughly three-week regression of the hair root (catagen phase) and finally the resting phase (telogen phase), which lasts 2–4 months and during which 9–14% of scalp hairs prepare to fall out. If more hairs enter the telogen phase, this is perceived as hair loss – at the latest then, a visit to the doctor is essential.

Healthy hair points to a healthy body: if thyroid and sex hormones are in balance and the body’s stores of trace elements are filled, hair can sprout well and healthily.
Once a hair has emerged, it can no longer regenerate. A damaged hair shaft can hardly be repaired and must be cut off.
Healthy hair needs a healthy scalp – anyone who exposes it to aggressive substances or heat also damages the hair shaft.
A blond person has on average 150,000 hairs on their head, brown-haired people 110,000, redheads 90,000. An adult loses up to 100 hairs every day – as long as the hair roots are healthy, roughly the same number grow back.

Static Electricity

On cold winter days with very dry air, hair becomes electrically charged particularly easily. Hairs act like insulators: when combing, taking off a hat, or pulling off a sweater, they give up electrons, become negatively charged, and repel one another – standing out wildly from the head.

Plastic combs amplify the effect; metals such as copper, aluminum, iron, and especially gold act antistatically. Oily or damp hair does not charge up. In winter especially, it makes sense to counteract dryness with moisturizing, oil-replenishing shampoos. Many drugstore products contain silicone oils, which act antistatically and make combing easier – homemade organic cosmetics offer a natural alternative.

Homemade Hair Cosmetics?

Self-mixed hair cosmetics are inexpensive and free of preservatives, fragrances, dyes, and emulsifiers – the allergy risk is extremely low.

Classic and effective is the apple cider vinegar rinse: add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to a liter of warm water, rinse freshly washed hair thoroughly with it, massage the scalp as well, and rinse with clear water. The acid smooths down protruding keratin scales, sleeking the hair shaft for seductive shine; at the same time, it slightly acidifies the scalp – warding off bacteria, fungi, and scalp odor.

For a beer rinse, massage a bottle of wheat beer (blond hair) or dark beer (dark hair) directly into washed hair. Don’t worry, the beer smell dissipates quickly. The starch it contains strengthens the hair and adds shine.

For dry hair ends, oil helps – for example from macadamia, jojoba, almonds, olives, or coconut – or shea butter, to visually mend incipient split ends. The oil wraps itself like a film around the dry ends and makes them easier to comb. Once split ends have appeared, however, they can only be fixed by cutting. Use a soft brush with flexible bristles and rounded tips for combing.

A homemade hair mask for dry hair also works wonders: purée a ripe avocado and add an egg yolk and a few squeezes of lemon. This supplies the hair with vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and B. A shower cap enhances the effect, because scalp warmth improves the penetration of the lipids. Leave in for 20 minutes.

More valuable tips:

Sleep on a silk pillow or wrap a silk scarf around your hair – especially helpful for frizzy, naturally dry hair; the smooth silk prevents roughening overnight.
Avoid frequent hot blow-drying, coloring, and flat irons – these stresses weaken the healthy hair shaft.
Severely stressed hair often breaks off directly above the scalp. That is hair breakage, not hair loss.

Hair Loss

We treat hair loss. Depending on the cause, several approaches are available: a comprehensive micronutrient analysis, hormone and inflammation diagnostics in the blood, and an examination of the gut microbiome for shifts in gut flora that influence hair loss. We treat with state-of-the-art topical products, injections, and laser procedures.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (Autologous Blood Therapy)

The most common cause of hair loss in both men and women is genetically determined androgenetic alopecia. An effective treatment with very few side effects is injections of autologous platelet-rich plasma (A-PRP): plasma is obtained from small amounts of your own blood by centrifugation and injected into the desired scalp region with fine needles. Blood plasma is rich in growth factors, proteins, nutrients, vitamins, hormones, and electrolytes. These promote the regeneration of hair follicles, which in many cases stops hair loss and stimulates hair growth. This natural treatment is also effective for circular hair loss (alopecia areata), which is triggered by autoimmune processes.

A session takes about 30 minutes; for a satisfying result, three treatments at four-week intervals are recommended. The resulting skin redness disappears after a few hours, and there is no downtime. Ideally, avoid blood-thinning medication for a week beforehand; infectious diseases are an exclusion criterion. We work with the products of the world’s leading provider, regenlab.

What to Do About Fine Hair?

Fine hair is about 0.05 mm thick, normal hair about 0.15 mm. Studies have shown that after taking liquid silica gel for several months, a clearly measurable thickening of the hair shaft occurs. Responsible for this is the silicon it contains, which is absorbed particularly well from the liquid product. Other strengthening substances that also work against hair loss are the protein building blocks keratin and cystine, the B vitamins, zinc, iron, and biotin (vitamin B7).

Volumizing shampoos with a plumping effect make fine hair fuller and easier to grip. Avoid weighing the hair down – too much silicone gel in conditioners makes hair look thinner. Hair lengths between the earlobe and chin are favorable; lighter highlights create an optical 3-D effect with more fullness. Blow-dry upside down against the direction of growth; mousse adds extra volume.

Trimming the ends does not thicken the hair – it only caps the hair shafts and removes split ends. Good to know: hair that rests on the shoulders tends to develop split ends, because the tips are mechanically frayed.

Dandruff

A flaky scalp can have various causes.

Oily hair: The yeast Malassezia furfur, also called Pityrosporum ovale, lives in the pores of the scalp. With increased sebum production it has plenty of food; it metabolizes the fats and excretes free fatty acids – an eczema with flaking develops. Mild flaking is called pityriasis simplex; if it is more pronounced, it is referred to as seborrheic scalp eczema. Antifungal shampoos with ciclopirox olamine or ketoconazole are suitable for therapy; for severe symptoms, a cortisone solution or foam can be applied for a few days.

Dry scalp also leads to flaking: it lacks sebum and protective skin lipids, the skin barrier is disturbed, and moisture is lost. Causes are excessive degreasing by aggressive shampoos or predisposition, such as atopic dermatitis or a tendency to allergies, eczema, and dry skin (atopy). Those affected should choose a mild, low-foaming shampoo without fragrances, enriched with lipids or containing urea – a natural moisturizing factor. Do not wash your hair daily or too hot.

Other causes of dandruff are contact allergies, for example to shampoos or hair dyes, which lead to itching eczema (contact eczema). With a patch test on the skin of the back, the dermatologist determines what the scalp is reacting to allergically. Skin fungi can also cause dandruff. It becomes dangerous when they burrow deep into the pores along the hair shaft: scarring hair loss with patchy balding threatens.

Caffeine for the Hair Roots

Note: tinctures frequently dry out the scalp. Especially among men, caffeine tincture is nonetheless popular – and rightly so: caffeine is an effective antioxidant that scavenges the free radicals that impair the hair root. The hair roots are thus better protected from stress, and microcirculation is improved. Caffeine also inhibits the enzyme 5α-reductase, which converts testosterone into the more aggressive dihydrotestosterone that triggers hair loss.