Hair Health At Philip Kingsley

Reena Patel Meets Leading London Trichologist Glenn Lyons for Distressed Tress Diagnosis

My mid-length locks have recently become terribly dry, straw-like and desperately unmanageable, so I decided to make some drastic attempts to inject a new lease of life into it.

First off, I tried renewing the overall state of my hair by getting a good cut to snip off scraggly and split-ends and a style re-shape. My mission was accomplished but sadly, it was still looking and feeling lack-lustre and coarse. I then moved on to testing out various deep-conditioning treatments and oils at home, only for it to leave my hair feeling heavy, flat to the scalp and still very tired-looking.

I also decided not to colour my hair again, in case this dried it out even further. I also gave up on heat styling for a while (namely blow drying) but my frizzy, wavy and unruly mane was becoming far too difficult to bear the sight of and I reverted back to smoothing it out with heat.

I was deeply worried. What could be wrong with my hair? Why was it not bouncing into great health the way I had hoped with the usual failsafe grooming tricks?

Then, a magic word sprung up in conversation with a friend: ‘trichologist’. For those of you that don’t know, trichologists are specialists in scalp and hair health and hair loss and so, I set up an appointment with the leading London experts at Philip Kingsley’s Trichological Clinic.

I walked straight into the inviting Mayfair building and was seen to by expert consultant trichologist, Glenn Lyons.

With over two decades of trichological experience, it didn’t take professional Glenn more than five minutes to notice that my terrible tress state was down to external damage, most probably a number of multiple factors ranging from chemicals when colouring, the sun, daily grime and pollution that can leave a residue on your hair making it look dull and over-heat styling. The length of my hair (falling to my shoulder blades) even told Glenn that my ends are roughly seven years old and so it’s no wonder it has become drier over time.

He also gave me advice on the brushes to use when blow-drying (ditch those wiry, rough barrel brushes and to stick to soft, smooth tipped paddle brushes). As much as my woes and solutions given were external, Glenn explained that blood tests would be advisable for those who may be suffering from hair loss, or feel their lifestyle or diet, is affecting their scalp and hair health. After just 45 minutes and many hair myths dispelled (for example, genetic hair loss cannot be reversed, only stopped in its tracks and split ends can never be repaired) you could tell that Glenn seriously knows his stuff.

I was then shown upstairs to the somewhat clinical hair salon area, where a nurse-like lady tended to my hair grooming regime for the day: scalp tonic, stimulating scalp mask with zinc to rejuvenate and gently lift away flaky bits and the holy grail of fabulous hair health from the outside: Elasticizer. This pre-shampoo treatment worked wonders to intensively moisturise, add suppleness and elasticity to my hair, without leaving it flat. The Philip Kingsley team recommend using it one-twice a week and you can even sleep with it on overnight for greater results.

Finally, a good shampoo (which they recommend you should actually do daily to keep your hair looking and feeling its best) and a condition later (using quite warm water because apparently it does not affect your hair compared to using cold) and I was shown how to delicately dry my hair with the aim to pay less damage to it.

After just one go with the miraculous Elasticizer, my hair was softer to the touch, smoother on appearance and much more healthy looking and bouncier that it has ever been lately. A definite hair grooming essential and well worth the trichological visit.