5 Steps to Your Best Hair Yet, According to Amal Clooney's Go-To Trichologist

Photo: Gilbert Flores/Getty Images

Whatever your hairstyle preference, every cut is best executed on a strong foundation of healthy hair. From thickness to strength, the quality of our hair is integral to how our hair sits, but more importantly, it impacts how we feel. How to achieve beautifully voluminous and robust hair now? “It’s all about a healthy scalp,” says Helen Reavey, a trichologist and founder of Act + Acre, who has worked with both Amal Clooney and Harry Styles. “It’s really important to treat your scalp well.”

Here, she shares some of her tips on how to grow your healthiest hair yet.

Understand the water

Dry scalps can occur for many different reasons, from environmental factors to our diets. “When it’s cold, the scalp can get really dry,” she says. “But one of the biggest things to be aware of – especially if you live in London – is how hard the water is.” Those living in hard water areas should aim to hydrate their scalp using a formula that contains emollient ingredients to soothe and rectify any dryness. Additionally, Hello Klean’s Purifying Shower Filter reduces metals, chlorine and other impurities in hard water. Genius.

Hello Klean Shower Filter

Act+Acre Cold Processed Stem Cell Serum

Nécessaire The Scalp Serum

The Ordinary Hair Care Natural Moisturizing Factors and HA

Massage your scalp

“I think people underestimate the importance of scalp massage and how important it is to encourage blood flow,” says Reavey, “especially if you’re not washing your hair every day.” Increased blood flow means more nutrients are delivered to the hair follicle and, in the same vein as taking your gua sha tool out to sculpt and boost blood flow to the face, even just a gentle scalp massage each day can help. Plus, if you can get someone else to do it for you, it’s a real treat too.

Do to your scalp what you do to your face

Your scalp is just an extension of the skin on your face, but it ages six times faster. What that means is you should prioritize taking care of it for good hair health as you get older. “I do not recommend using a scalp scrub – avoid them,” Reavey says. “They can create micro-tears and further issues with the scalp. If you wouldn’t use it on your face, don’t use it on your scalp.” Seek out chemical exfoliants, such as salicylic acid, to balance oil, remove dead skin and keep a calm, balanced scalp. Gently does it.

How often you should wash your hair

It’s the age-old question: how much should we actually be washing our hair? Reavey says that there isn’t one universal answer; rather, it depends on your lifestyle. “I’m more of an advocate for washing regularly,” she says. “If you have dandruff then you need to wash every day – the reason for this is because the fungus in dandruff is called malassezia and it feeds off lipids.” You naturally excrete lipids through your sebum and hair follicle, and if you sweat (which most of us are likely to do at some point in the day), it creates a fertile breeding ground for it to grow, making dandruff worse if you don’t wash your hair.

While many reach for anti-dandruff shampoos, Reavey warns that many contain ingredients (like zinc pyrithione) which strip good bacteria away along with the bad, so are best avoided. “The ultimate goal is to keep homeostasis, and ensure the barrier is protected,” she says. Try the Act + Acre Cold Processed Cleanse Shampoo – it is brilliant.