A trichologist’s guide to healthier hair
Inspired by her father, scalp specialist to the stars Anabel Kingsley tells Victoria Lambert that she is still practising what he preached
When Anabel Kingsley and her older sister, Katherine, were growing up, their father was – unusually, perhaps – the children’s designated hair-washer. “He used to play blind man’s bluff with us,” she says, “encouraging us to cover our eyes with a flannel to protect them from the suds.
“As we got older and styled it ourselves, he’d gently mention if we were letting the condition go,” she says, laughing fondly. “But teenagers do what they want. I’d squeeze lemon juice directly on to my hair to bleach it in the sun, and this look of complete horror would come over his face.”
Not many fathers would be so engaged with their daughters’ haircare. But then not many could lay claim to being one of the world’s most influential trichologists – hair and scalp specialists – like Anabel’s father: Philip Kingsley.
Known as the “hair doctor”, Kingsley drew on science to help his clients with both medical and cosmetic problems, ranging from hair loss to scalp psoriasis, dandruff and poor condition and appearance.
Clients have included Cate Blanchett, Sir Mick Jagger, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ivana Trump and Jane Fonda, as well as several members of the Royal family. Sir Laurence Olivier was such a fan he once summoned Philip at short notice to his bedside when he was gravely ill.
Audrey Hepburn was arguably Kingsley’s most famous client and
‘Three months after Dad died, my hair began to fall out. I shed a huge amount’
the inspiration for a conditioning hair product – cooked up on a stove in the clinic’s basement – called Elasticizer, a bottle of which now sells every two minutes somewhere in the world.
Having created the product for Hepburn, who was concerned that constant styling on film sets was making her hair dry and brittle, Kingsley would make up batches personally, sending it to wherever the actress was working in the world from the Mayfair house which still serves as both clinic and family home for Philip’s wife Joan, 75.
“He was a little bit of a mad scientist,” says Anabel, 33, who has trained as a trichologist too and now works for the family firm.
She speaks of him fondly, but with sadness: Kingsley died last September from a stroke at the age of 86. “He was in good health,” says Anabel, “and was still working four days a week. It was an awful shock.”
There was a poignant personal reminder, too, of the toll grief takes on our bodies. Anabel found in the following weeks that, like many in her situation, her hair mirrored her internal and external health.
“I wasn’t eating or sleeping. I wasn’t looking after myself at all. About three months after my father died, my hair began to fall out. I shed a huge amount.”
Hair loss is common after times of psychological stress. Thanks to the fight-or-flight response, our bodies divert nutrition from non-essential tasks such as hair growth, so that energy can be released for more urgent tasks like sprinting from
danger. “Moreover,” says Anabel, “at times of stress, people tend not to eat well so you don’t take in the nutrition you need.”
As a result, the hair growth phase is interrupted, and it sheds usually six to 12 weeks after the time of trauma. With good nutrition, the body naturally resolves the issue, says Anabel, but it can take a long time to get the thickness back. “The hardest thing is that hair loss is so obvious. I became very self-conscious around other people, and kept asking my boyfriend if it was noticeable. Our hair is so significant to us. Many women can get depressed because of hair loss; it really knocks self-esteem,” she says. One in three women will experience some form of hair loss at some time in their lives, yet often, says Anabel, they think they are the only ones having problems.
Losing hair thanks to stress or trauma is different to other types of hair loss such as male-pattern baldness or during pregnancy, when fluctuating hormone levels can be to blame. Menopause is an issue, too, with some women noting reduced volume as a result. “Hair, like skin, ages,” says Anabel. “You have the thickest diameters in your teens, but that narrows as we get older and becomes finer, which makes it more weak and prone to breaking.”
Whatever the specific concern, Anabel suggests anyone worried about their hair needs to get blood tests done first. “These can show up underlying nutritional or thyroid imbalances and infections, and measure inflammatory markers which may affect overall health. Trichologists are not doctors, so if we see a reading of concern, we’ll refer clients to their GP or a consultant endocrinologist. It’s important, as well, to check the level of stored iron (ferritin), vitamin B12, zinc and thyroxine as these are all crucial to hair growth. One of the most common causes of hair loss is a deficiency of stored iron, which can be due to your body failing to absorb and store iron. It can be that people aren’t eating enough iron-rich foods on a daily basis, or it can happen if you are menstruating, too.”
Anabel had her own blood tests carried out and learnt her B12 and iron were low-normal, which can affect hair. She is now taking B12 supplements, as well as extra iron as a result. “You need to take a holistic approach,” says Anabel. “That means a healthy well-balanced diet, with protein and carbohydrate. I have two eggs with my breakfast every day, and red meat twice a week. And I’ve started walking to work every day, which takes 45 minutes each way, to reduce stress. It’s a good chance to process thoughts.”
She also changed her shampoo. “My scalp became irritated from stress (which has never happened before) and so I started using an antimicrobial soothing shampoo. If your scalp environment is not healthy, it often affects hair growth. In fact, research has proven that a flaky scalp can cause hair loss.”
In essence, she says, she followed her father’s advice. “Dad was passionate about teaching people to care for their own hair, and encouraging them to look at all aspects. He’d ask clients if they had made the lifestyle changes he recommended, warning them, quite sternly, that if they hadn’t, there would be no point in coming back to his clinic.” Except, perhaps, for Audrey Hepburn.