The Mane Truth About Hair

Hair Health Starts at the Root

Healthy hair starts from the root. Literally, think of your hair like a plant; the strands are the leaves, but your follicles and scalp are where the real magic happens. If the soil isn’t healthy, the plant cannot thrive. The same goes for your hair.

In this blog, we will explore what really nourishes and supports your hair from the inside out, from the foods that strengthen strands to scalp care. You will learn how lifestyle and self-care connect to the vitality of your hair. We all too often just focus on what we can see: shiny texture, soft texture, or that elusive volume we all crave, but proper hair health begins much deeper. The condition of your scalp, the nutrients you feed yourself, your stress levels, age, hormones, genetics, and environmental exposure all play influential roles in how your hair grows, looks, and feels.

When We Start Caring About Hair

The problem with hair is that nobody gives a second thought to properly caring for it until it starts to fail, change, or let you down in some way. We completely take youth for granted, and the beautiful heads of hair we carry in our much younger years are just expected to stay and be as they are, for all the years to come ahead of us, and why, when we are so young, should we care or think its going to be any different?

We are not supposed to be bogged down with worries, stress, long-term results of poor diets and lifestyles, illnesses and over-exposed chemical treatments and heated tools in our teens, but unfortunately, and like with everything else (putting the obvious of ageing aside, which you are always up against), life, health, DNA, lifestyle, age, illness and poor food choices will all play a role over the years. It will all contribute to making your hair look and feel a certain way at different points in your life.

So take care of it, educate yourself on how to look after it, and preserve and strengthen it as much as possible, because then, when these bumps, sometimes big ones, come in the road, you’re giving your hair the best chance, and you have a lot more control than you think. The earlier you can start, the better.

Hair Follicles, DNA and Expectations

So the follicles on your head as an adult are the same ones you had as a baby, but they can change how they function over time; some may stop producing hair later in life due to ageing, hormones, or conditions like male/female pattern baldness. So it’s the same number of follicles, but at different times of life, they can produce a different quality of hair.

So, you “get what you get”, DNA determines your follicle structure, and you cannot change the number of hairs that you already have growing out of each follicle currently. How I wish I could wave a wand and tell you it wasn’t so, but it is. Shall we all take a moment of silence for the hair strands we now realise were never going to have? So, don’t be fooled into thinking that you can grow double your amount of hair by taking a specific supplement or shampooing your hair with a stimulant shampoo, because it’s simply not true.

We are shamelessly marketed to in this arena, only to be left so very disappointed and let down by the high hopes raised by so many products’ false promises. However, don’t for one second think that you are powerless. You are absolutely not.

What You Can Control

What you can do, starting right now, is care for your hair with a dietary lifestyle and care routine that respects and nourishes what you already have, so you can keep the abundance and quality of your hair as you age.

What if someone told you that you could still have the quality of your hair in 10 years as it is now? You’d take it right! Because it’s about looking and feeling good for your age, allowing your body to age and change, whilst constantly supporting it and meeting its nutritional needs. Your hair is no different to anything else; you have to make time for it and invest in it if you want it to thrive.

Thrive = flourishing; surviving = maintaining; struggling = well, that’s precisely what most people leave their hair to do. Struggling = declining.

What Even Is Hair?

At its core, hair is made of protein. Hair is mostly keratin, a tough, flexible structural protein. The living part of hair is under your skin, inside the follicle, and once out of there, are you ready for it…

It’s dead. Yes, dead. We are cutting, styling, and shaping this dead material that hangs from our heads. It’s been around for years, goes through all the seasons over 365 days, and takes everything you throw at it, well, up to a point.

So you see, the starting chance of that tiny strand of hair, beginning right there at the root, internally in your body, is so important. It could almost make sense to you now why reaching for a £2.99 hair mask years after neglecting your hair to solve all your hair problems just doesn’t work.

Nutrition and Hydration

So what really nourishes and supports your hair from the inside out is your food and water intake, and their quality. And although we can’t get everything we need from our food alone because crop quality has declined over the years, it’s a fantastic place to start. If you would like to clean up your water supply, please read my water blog.

Hydration is a crucial factor influencing hair health.

Dehydration can lead to dry, brittle hair, making it essential to drink enough water throughout the day. As a guide, drink 2–3 litres daily. Water plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to transport nutrients to hair follicles. You can also find hydration in cucumbers, watermelon, and oranges.

Diet and Hair Health

Diet plays a pivotal role in maintaining hair health as the nutrients we consume directly affect the strength, growth and appearance of our hair. You want to eat a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.

Essential nutrients such as iron, vitamins A, B7, C, D, and E, proteins, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for optimal hair health.

Iron is best obtained through your diet. Look for this in red meats, shellfish, and liver. You can also get plant-based iron from spinach, lentils, dark leafy greens, and tofu; however, iron absorption is much lower. To increase the absorption of plant iron, eat it alongside vitamin C. Seek specialist help if you plan to supplement with iron.

Vitamin A helps produce sebum, the natural oil that moisturises the scalp and keeps hair healthy. Look for this in carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and kale.

B7 (biotin) aids in the metabolism of proteins and fats, which are crucial for producing keratin, found in eggs, nuts, seeds and whole grains.

Vitamin C, a powerhouse for hair health, is found in citrus fruits, strawberries, bell peppers, and broccoli.

Vitamin D: look for it in fatty fish, dairy products, cod liver oil, and mushrooms.

Vitamin E: look for this in almonds, avocados, and sunflower seeds.

Zinc: look for this in pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, and lentils.

Protein is the building block of hair, and incorporating adequate amounts into your diet is essential. Foods like eggs, fish, lean meats, legumes and dairy products are excellent sources of protein.

As a guide, aim to eat 1.5–2 grams of protein per kilogram that you weigh. So, for example, if you weigh 70 kg, you would need to eat between 105–140 grams of protein per day, ideally eaten in split portions throughout the day.

Have a good look at what you're eating in your diet currently, add it up over a week, and I think you will be shocked. Make the connection with food, eat the rainbow, and start eating consciously for the health of your hair.

Lifestyle, Stress and Hair

Have a good haircare regime at home. This is really important. Just buy what you need rather than something different every time you go shopping; you will spend far less in the long run.

Your range should include a good shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner (for detangling and hydrating dry ends), a treatment, a smoothing cream or a volumising product for styling, and a heat protection spray.

A wide-tooth comb and a wet brush for use on your hair when it’s wet/damp to minimise any tension or pulling when the hair is at its most vulnerable. The hair will be even more compromised if longer and heavily coloured. Your hair is weakest when wet.

Get something that suits your hair and buy the best your budget can buy. Speak to your hairdresser or drop me a message if you would like me to recommend something from the site. The Natulique products are beautiful, and I have incredible results with them in the salon.

Scalp Care and Treatments

A weekly massage with organic, raw, unrefined coconut oil will do wonders, hydrating your scalp and increasing blood flow.

Apply a treatment once a week to your hair, limit heated tools like irons to only when necessary, and don’t forget to use your heat protection. EVERY TIME, this is a must when blow-drying and heat styling. Please consider Natuliques heat and UV protection spray. Doubles up as an excellent protector for your hair’s quality.

Common Hair Issues and Nutritional Deficiencies

Common hair issues often arise from a combination of environmental factors, genetics and nutritional deficiencies.

One prevalent issue is hair thinning, which can be linked to deficiencies in key nutrients such as iron, biotin and zinc. Iron is crucial for oxygen transport in the blood, and its deficiency can lead to hair loss.

Severe deficiencies can be identified by a trichologist and through blood tests; this is sometimes a path some people need to take to recognise and rectify the problem, then taking temporary high doses of particular vitamins for a specified amount of time.

Once corrected, a healthy, balanced diet with support can resume to provide the hair and body with what it needs.

Why I Formulated Imperial Crown

A healthy diet alongside a healthy hair care ritual supported by hair health supplementation can completely change the feel and appearance of your hair.

I want to help women look and feel their best. Working as a hairdresser my whole career, I have seen first-hand how losing the integrity and health of your hair can affect your overall confidence and mood. It’s a real thing and I feel so much of the time it really could have been avoided.

I can help, and that is why I have formulated Imperial Crown. A superior nutritional blend of ingredients to work synergistically to improve hair growth, strength and overall health, addressing factors like nourishment, hydration, circulation and follicle health.

Taking this supplement alongside healthier food and lifestyle choices will change the way your hair looks and feels.

Final Thoughts

So much of it is down to you. Your crown tells the story of how you care for yourself. Every strand reflects the choices that you make every day, and you do have a choice.

If you constantly ignore what your hair is asking for, it will ultimately show. The truth is, your hair won’t change until you do.

The breakage, the dryness, the dullness, they're not random; they're results of habits that you have accepted.

Stop covering the damage and start correcting it. Invest in quality, consistency, and care that actually mean something, and apply yourself to it. Because it happens by choice, and that choice begins right now.

I genuinely hope that you have gained some clarity from this blog.

Remember, it is the consistency of doing something that shows up for you in the end.

Thank you for being here.
Beck