A Dicey Hair Situation

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The casual-ification of fashion, up to the highest levels, has arisen in concert with a newfound obsession with beauty and “wellness.” Fashion writers are increasingly making the jump to beauty content, trying new and often comped procedures and writing about them in paywalled newsletters. It’s the new luxury: They might be wearing a Hanes T-shirt, but their beauty and fitness routines cost thousands.

Fashion and shopping journalist Laura Reilly has launched her own aesthetics newsletter; an early edition shares details about her lower blepharoplasty. (The before photo is a trip; those eye bags are near non-existent!) Former InStyle fashion editor Laurel Pantin regularly shares updates about her beauty practices, including a recent essay about her neck. Former Lucky West Coast editor Marlien Rentmeester breezily ran down the current discourse (injectibles, hair-growth meds, etc) overheard at a recent industry dinner. And Garance Doré, the influencer and illustrator who got her start in fashion, has a skincare line and is penning missives about ditching Botox and dealing with hair thinning.

Fashion’s newness relies on a constant rehashing of the past. Beauty, meanwhile, is the stuff of the future. There are new ways to de-wrinkle your face, to de-crepify the skin of your hands, and to regrow and thicken your hair — with more to come. Particularly when it comes to hair.

“For the first time in nearly three decades,” reports the Wall Street Journal, there will be new treatments for hair loss. This includes a new formulation of the popular generic medication minoxidil that’s in development from Veradermics as well as a gel to stimulate hair follicles that have gone dormant. Meanwhile, specialists, like Los Angeles’s Dr. Hair 90210, are performing in-office treatments like platelet-rich plasma injections (what Garance is trying) and a gruesome sounding exosome treatment delivered through mini-tears in the skin created by stamping the scalp with a microneedling device — at $1,500 per session.

If that doesn’t appeal, read on for another approach to hair thinning. Plus a few recommendations for your weekend.

Bye,
Your friends at Gloria

Heavens to mergatroid. My hair sucks. The cut and color are good, but the texture is not.

Is it the GLP-1? Or menopause? Whatever the cause, I am inching ever closer to the sprayed helmet I swore I’d never have.

I used to look at older women with that very particular kind of hair — short, set, slightly immovable — and wonder how and when they settled on that look. Not in a judgmental way. I was actually curious. 

I always assumed I wouldn’t.

I thought I'd always have my hair. My hair was what I called strurly — not straight, not curly, sort of wavy, always undone; an absolute mop. It was thick and full and kept its shape. Frizz was absolutely an issue, but nothing a few keratin treatments in the spring and summer couldn’t solve. But times, and my hair, have changed.

Now it's flat in the morning. Not flat, limp. My ponytail is noticeably thinner, and when I wear one I can see more scalp than I want to. I am shedding more. Not in clumps, just in a constant low-level hair on everything situation. I find them on the bathroom counter, my pillow, and the back of every black sweater I own. This hair will not hold a curl, though to be fair, I have never been particularly good at doing my hair, and I would like that on the record. I am, as I once put it, a tool fool. My texture, once coarse and full, is fine and a little wispy. And even if no one else can notice, I can tell.

Age-related hair thinning or loss, called androgenetic alopecia, is often genetic – though it can also be caused by rapid weight loss, stress, thyroid issues, or nutrient deficiencies. Individual hair follicles become smaller, meaning that the hair that grows from them is thinner, a process known as follicular miniaturization. No one prepared me for this. People talk about skin issues and hormonal fluctuations, the way your weight shifts. I knew aging would affect my body, but for some reason I never thought it’d affect my hair.

I am figuring out what works. I bought a Vayose brush, which I love, but also hurts because the bristles are extremely sharp, and using it feels less like brushing and more like a scalp punishment. I have decided to call this a head massage and move on. I went a little darker, more brunette than red, because it gives the illusion of more hair. I have been coloring my hair for years, so this was a relatively easy lever to pull. I started using MDhair serum and shampoo, and they have actually helped, which I say with the cautious optimism of a woman who has tried many things.

My longtime hairdresser Siobhan, who has been cutting my hair for what feels like a thousand years, suggested I try a volumizing spray, which is how the Christophe Robin happened. She is too kind to say my hair is changing and just quietly slips me products. I like the Christophe Robin, partly because it works and partly because it smells like roses and makes me feel briefly French. 

I’m adjusting to my new reality. I’m not ready for the helmet. I still want movement and to feel like myself when I catch my reflection. And as far as going gray, not for me. Yet.

But I get it. Far from being defeated, those women I saw were simply farther along in life. They accepted what their hair was capable of and met it where it was. Apparently, I’m catching up.

We’re looking forward to watching Stagebound: Luke Evans — The Rocky Horror Show on Great Performances on PBS as part of The WNET Group’s Broadway and Beyond collection. This special follows Luke Evans as he returns to his theater roots, prepares for his Broadway debut, and takes on the reality of performing night after night.

We’ve always liked Luke Evans on screen, but this is a more personal look at the work and pressure of live performance, especially tied to Rocky Horror. Who doesn’t love backstage access without leaving the couch? Streaming free now. #partner

TO WATCH Two strangers, played by Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells, are forced to process a lot of serious emotions together in the new HBO movie Miss You, Love You. Janney plays a widow who is estranged from her son and Rannells is his assistant.

TO SHOP Coldwater Creek makes easy basics you can throw on all season. For quality summer staples, we like this lightweight cotton sweater, this pretty lace-trimmed tank, and this 100% cotton pocket tee. (It's also worth looking at their sale dresses right now.) Shop it all here. #partner

TO LISTEN Reporter and podcast success story Leon Neyfakh has a new audio series out about OnlyFans. OnlyFantasy exploes how the digital platform has become a marketplace for all sorts of intimacy (a lot of the people paying are “just lonely or sad”).

TO COOK It is strawberry season right now, and we are going to try this straightforward Martha Stewart cake recipe. It looks relatively beginner-friendly; no complicated ingredient lists or techniques.

Mysterious shoulder pain? This might be the cause. • A sample of the ridiculous products marketed to middle-aged ladies. • A common cause of vertigo, and a few at-home moves to treat it. • “For far-right extremists, the rise of a new enemy: women.” • So upsetting and infuriating.

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