Hair responds to what you eat in just the same way as your skin and all of your body. And many of us just aren’t getting enough of what we need to keep our hair looking its absolute best.

Did you know that non genetic hair loss is much worse in women who are deficient in iron and those who have low levels of the B group of vitamins? Not surprising then that the B group vitamins figure so much in over the counter hair restoration products.

And – even worse than low vitamin B levels – nine out of ten women aged 16-50 and a one in three of us over 50 are deficient in iron.

Surprisingly these figures are much worse nowadays than for our mothers. The reason? So many of us now prefer not to eat red meat and we haven’t replaced meat with other iron rich foods like fresh green leafy vegetables.

We can hardly complain about dull, thinning hair if we’re just not giving it the food it needs to be healthy, glossy and thick. So – here’s a quick checklist to guide you round the supermarket:

Eat lots of:

Fresh vegetables – high colored and green leafy

non-citrus fruits;

live natural yoghurt

cold pressed oils like olive oil, flax seed or sesame

soy protein in the form of tofu, soya milk or soya yoghurts

legumes (peas, beans and lentils)

whole grains especially brown rice, oats and buckwheat)

seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and linseeds)

almonds, figs and dates

fresh oily fish like salmon, tuna, herring, pilchards and sardines

Drink:

lots of: pure still water to aid your digestive system and eliminate toxins – a sluggish digestion leads to limp, dull or oily hair

Cut down on:

dairy (cow’s milk) products

caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate, soda drinks)

sugar and salt

The good news is if you change your eating habits and include more healthy hair food – you’ll boost your body’s whole immune system and give yourself loads more energy in the process.

Energy, vitality and great looking hair – what could be more youthful?

If you’ve noticed you’re losing more hair than normal or you can see through your hair to the scalp in a way you couldn’t before you may have been looking around for something to help.

Well you aren’t alone – something like one in four women suffer the same problem. And if you are one of them you may be getting increasingly desperate for some help.

Surprisingly there hasn’t been a great deal on the market in terms of main stream hair care products targeted at thinning hair. But things may well be looking up with products like the Advanced Hair Care More line from Frederic Fekkai.

As well as being an incredibly attractive Frenchman – Frederic Fekkai is a well known stylist to the stars with upmarket salons in NYC and Beverly Hills among others. He has a range of superb hair care products much sought after by those in the know and now he’s produced a great new line specifically for women with thinning hair.

The Advanced Hair Care More line targets both the cause of hair loss and the symptoms. It aims to stimulate your scalp and promote hair growth as well as help your hair look thicker and healthier as it grows. Developed with impressive clinical research, the key ingredient is niacin (vitamin B) in a slow release formula and the line includes four products:

MORE All Day Density Styling Whip – for use ever time you wash and style your hair. Creates a denser fuller look instantly by lifting, thickening, and plumping each strand of hair.

MORE Nighttime Follicle Boosting Treatment – apply overnight between washes to improve health of the hair follicle and increase hair density.

MORE Root Nourishing Conditioner – after shampoo rinse out conditioner using essential nutrients to improve resilience of the hair shaft

MORE Scalp Purifying Shampoo – cleansing and clarifying shampoo to prepare the hair for conditioning and boosting treatments.

You can buy the products separately or – as they are intended to be used – as a complete hair care kit which gives you all four products for $100 (Amazon price). Online is certainly the best option unless you’re a regular at one of the Frederic Fekkai salons.

Results will take time to achieve – the conditioner and styling whip will produce visibly thicker and fuller hair instantly but an increase in hair density will take at least a couple of months to achieve.

I currently use a volumizing shampoo and conditioner from the L’Oreal range – my hair is naturally fine although not thinning but has definitely got less dense with age. I’m going to try the kit out as I have used Frederic Fekkai hair masks before and find them to be really excellent.

So – my view – whilst the Advanced Hair Care More kit certainly isn’t a budget buy it compares well with similar high-end hair care products and it’s definitely worth a try if you have thinning hair.

Natural re-growth and exposure to light and sun soon takes its toll on your beautiful head-turning color. The problem is – how do you keep it looking salon fresh?

Here’s six practical tips to keep your hair color looking good between treatments.

Use a color enhancing conditioner to revive the original color. Go for a shade as near as possible to your colored hair – don’t go darker as this may ‘muddy’ your highlights and flatten the overall look.

Touch up your roots. Don’t apply color to your whole head as this will overload the ends and leave them brittle, dry and over-treated. You should apply the color at the roots only and work through to the ends of the hair for a few minutes only just before rinsing.

Buy a touch-up wand for the times when you need a quick root cover up but haven’t had time to do it properly. Some of these products come in the form of mascara-like wands so you can easily color the emerging gray at your temples or wherever it is most noticeable.

Bobbi Brown has a product called Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper which – despite its name – is also specifically designed for root retouches. In fact Bobbi Brown created the product for herself as she was so fed up with the constant problems of gray regrowth. And yes – you can use it to style your brows too!

Use a deep cleansing or ‘clarifying shampoo’ every few washes – especially if you live in an area where the water is hard. Hair color will be broken down more quickly by minerals in hard water.

Use color protecting hair care products to prevent UV light destroying your hair color. Try L’Oreal Kiwi Coloreflector Shampoo which locks in your precious color and team it with the conditioner and styling products from the same range. Take care to keep your hair out of the sun and cover up with a scarf or hat.

Don’t go any where near a swimming pool – hair color and pool chemicals just don’t mix. Swimming in the sea can be a problem too since salt dehydrates and washes out your color. So – if you do swim make sure you cover your hair in protective spray first. Try Korres Red Vine Year-Round Hair Sun Protection which protects your hair from UV light AND chlorine/salt damage.

If you have long hair, sweep it up on top of your head or swim with your head out of the water. The other option is to go retro and get yourself a rubber bathing hat covered in flowers – very 1970’s!

That’s it – follow these tips and with any luck you should be able to keep your hair color as vibrant and glossy as the day it was done