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Jack Martin

Colourist located in the Golden State who focuses on grey hair. His clients include Hollywood stars and Andie MacDowell.

What affordable item can't you live without?

I highly recommend a soft fabric towel, or even a soft cotton T-shirt to remove moisture from your strands. Most people don’t realise how much stress a typical terrycloth towel can do, especially to lightened or dyed strands. This minor adjustment can really reduce frizz and breakage. A second budget-friendly essential is a broad-toothed comb, to use during washing. It safeguards your strands while smoothing out tangles and helps preserve the strength of the strands, particularly post-bleaching.

Which investment truly pays off?

A top-tier thermal appliance – ceramic or tourmaline, with smart temperature control. Grey and blonde hair can develop brassy tones or get damaged without the proper tool.

Which hair trend or treatment would you never recommend?

DIY bleaching. Online tutorials can be misleading, but the actual fact is it’s one of the biggest gambles you can do to your hair. I’ve seen people severely damage their locks, experience breakage or end up with striped effects that are nearly impossible to correct. I also don’t recommend chemical straightening processes on color-treated or grey hair. These formulations are often excessively strong for weakened hair and can cause lasting harm or undesired tones.

What frequent error do you observe?

Clients selecting inappropriate items for their hair type or colour. A number of people misuse violet-based cleansers until their lightened locks looks lifeless and muted. Some depend excessively on protein-rich treatments and end up with unmanageable, weak locks. Another significant problem is heat styling without protection. When applying flat irons, curling irons or blow dryers without a protective product, – notably with color-treated strands – you’re going to see brassiness, lack of moisture and splitting.

Which solutions help with shedding?

Thinning requires a comprehensive strategy. For direct application, minoxidil is highly proven. I also recommend scalp formulas with active ingredients to boost blood flow and aid in hair growth. Using a scalp detox shampoo weekly helps clear out buildup and allows products to perform better. Oral aids like specialized formulas have also shown notable improvements. They enhance overall health for hair benefits by correcting endocrine issues, stress and nutritional deficiencies.

In cases requiring advanced options, platelet-rich plasma treatments – where a personalized serum is applied – can be beneficial. However, I consistently recommend consulting a skin or hair specialist initially. Hair loss is often tied to underlying health issues, and it’s important to determine the origin rather than chasing surface-level fixes.

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A Hair and Scalp Specialist

Scalp and Hair Scientist and brand president of Philip Kingsley clinics and product ranges for hair loss.

How often do you get your hair cut and coloured?

I schedule cuts every ten to twelve weeks, but will remove split ends personally fortnightly to keep my ends healthy, and have highlights done every eight weeks.

Which low-cost item is a game-changer?

Toppik hair fibres are truly impressive if you have areas of scalp visibility. The fibres cling electrostatically to your own hair, and it comes in a assortment of tones, making it virtually undetectable. It was my go-to post-pregnancy when I had significant shedding – and also currently as I’m going through some marked thinning after having awful flu a few months ago. As hair isn’t an essential tissue, it’s the earliest indicator of health issues when your diet is lacking, so I would also recommend a balanced, nutritious diet.

What justifies a higher investment?

In cases of hereditary hair loss in females, I’d say medicated treatments. When dealing with temporary hair loss, known as TE, buying an retail solution is fine, but for FPHL you really do need clinical interventions to see the most effective improvements. From my perspective, minoxidil combined with additional ingredients – such as balancing elements, inhibitors and/or calming components – works best.

Which popular remedy is ineffective?

Using rosemary essential oil for thinning. It doesn’t work. This belief comes from a minor study from 2015 that compared the effects of 2% minoxidil to rosemary oil. A 2% strength minoxidil isn’t enough to do much for hereditary thinning in males, so the study is basically saying they provide similarly low results.

Also, high-dose biotin. Rarely do people lack biotin, so using it may not benefit your strands, and it can alter thyroid level measurements.

What’s the most common mistake you see?

I think the term “hair washing” should be changed to “scalp cleansing” – because the real aim of shampooing your hair is to rid your scalp of old oils, dead skin cells, sweat and environmental pollution. Many individuals refrain from cleansing as they think it’s harmful to their strands, when in fact the opposite is true – notably in cases of dandruff, which is worsened by the presence of excess oils. If natural oils stay on the head, they deteriorate and lead to inflammation.

Unfortunately, what your scalp needs and what your hair likes don’t always align, so it’s a delicate equilibrium. But as long as you are gentle when you shampoo and handle wet hair with care, it won’t be damaging to your strands.

What solutions do you suggest for thinning?

For FPHL, your core treatment should be minoxidil. It has the most robust evidence behind it and tends to be most effective combined with additional ingredients. Should you wish to enhance minoxidil's benefits, or you choose to avoid it or cannot tolerate it, you could try micro-needling (under professional care), and perhaps injections or laser devices.

In shedding cases, root cause analysis is crucial. Excessive daily shedding occurs in response to an internal factor. Sometimes, the cause is transient – such as flu, Covid or a period of intense stress – and it will resolve on its own. Sometimes, hormonal problems or dietary gaps are responsible – the typical deficiencies involve iron, B12 and vitamin D – and to {treat the hair loss you need to treat the cause|address shedding, target the underlying issue|combat thinning, focus