How to prevent hair loss with these 8 simple steps in and out of the shower

If you’re seeing more than a couple of strands fall out every time you run your fingers through your hair in the shower or notice a widening of your parting whenever you look at yourself in the mirror, chances are you’ve escalated into freak-out mode at least once.

Even though hair loss and hair thinning are often associated with age, the truth is that they can happen to anyone and at any stage in life. However, for those who struggle with mild hair loss and thinning, the great news is that a proper haircare routine will likely help to rebalance your scalp, restore strength to your hair, and reduce falling strands.

To help you fall into a healthy haircare routine, we’re sharing eight simple steps you can take to prevent hair loss in and out of the shower!

1. Prime your scalp pre-shampoo

When we say prime, we really mean exfoliate.

While many of us focus on the lengths of our hair, using thickening shampoos to strengthen our strands, the truth is that healthy hair begins with a healthy, clean scalp! That’s just what exfoliation is for.

Exfoliation gets rid of product build-up, dirt, and dead skin cells that may be clogging your hair follicles and affecting your hair’s growth; it’s why it’s so important to add this step to an anti-hair-loss routine about once a week.

Best done as the first step of your haircare ritual, exfoliation lifts dead skin cells and unclogs hair follicles, so you’ll be able to wash these impurities off your scalp when you shampoo afterwards.

What exfoliants to use on the scalp?

The PHS Hairscience ADV Elixir is a primer and non-abrasive serum that’s effective on all scalp types.

Meant to be used in the first step of your haircare routine, the ADV Elixir should be massaged into the scalp and left on for 10 minutes. Only in the next step should you wash it off with shampoo. Since it doesn’t scrub the skin, it’s gentle enough even for sensitive scalps.

This formula works both to thoroughly cleanse and rebalance the scalp, best prepping the scalp to absorb nutrients from haircare products that come later. Gentle, effective, and good for hair growth, it’s a product perfect to kickstart your haircare ritual for reduced hair loss!

PHS Hairscience ADV Elixir retails for S$238 online. 

2. Use a specially formulated shampoo for hair loss

If you’re seeing lots of hair collecting on your bathroom floor, then maybe it’s time you ditch your regular shampoo for one that’s specially formulated to combat hair loss.

Over-the-counter shampoos for hair loss are typically infused with ingredients like antioxidants that help reduce inflammation at the scalp or strand-strengthening nutrients like amino acids. The ingredients in these shampoos work to stimulate hair growth and thicken your strands, both of which help you flaunt a fuller mane over time.

What shampoos to use for hair loss?

The PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Shampoo is formulated for women who experience mild hair loss or thinning hair. It’s packed with ingredients that boost blood circulation at the scalp, are anti-inflammatory, and nourish hair roots.

Some of these ingredients are rice stem cells, walnut extract, and a Botanical 14 Complex, which contains 14 types of active botanicals, including familiar names like Centella Asiatica extract as well as Camellia Sinensis leaf extract.

You’ll be fighting hair loss at your hair’s roots and along each strand too.

PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Shampoo retails for S$48 online.

3. Condition mid-length to ends of your strands

TikTok’s a treasure trove not just for makeup and skincare hacks, but also for haircare tips whilst you’re in the shower. One of the haircare tips that we totally stand behind is this: condition your strands not from root to end, but from mid-length to end of your strands.

It’s a simple tip, but it’s one that’ll really boost your scalp’s health whilst allowing you to nourish and strengthen your thin, weak, or damaged strands.

Squeeze out your wet hair so that the conditioner can stay on, rather than slide right off your strands, and then apply the product from the middle to the ends of the hair, concentrating mostly on the ends.

Conditioners support the hair cuticle by coating it or filling it in; they grant you hair that’s not just smoother and silkier, but stronger and less prone to breakage too.

Applying conditioner to the roots of your hair can cause the heavy product to build up on your scalp and clog hair follicles – that’s a no when it comes to preventing hair loss in the shower!

What conditioners to use for strengthening strands?

The PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Conditioner brims with hair-nourishing tomato stem cells, milk proteins extract to increase hair’s elasticity, and resilience-ramping sweet almond extract. This super blend will give you hair that’s much stronger, so you’ll witness less hair fall when you use it the right way too!

PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Conditioner retails for S$48 online.

4. Stimulate hair growth with a scalp treatment

A nourishing in-shower haircare routine doesn’t quite cut it if you’re serious about reducing hair loss, because post-shower is where you get to treat your scalp to a healthy burst of nutrients using a scalp treatment!

At-home scalp treatments, such as the PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Tonic, are packed with the essential nutrients to rebalance the scalp and strengthen the hair’s roots. The FEM Fortify Tonic, for instance, is formulated with lotus stem cells to boost hair follicle resilience and oat extract to replenish proteins necessary for healthy hair growth.

Since the product should be applied only after you’re out of the shower (no need to wash it out), the hair-lovin’ ingredients are left to sink into your roots and provide your scalp with a nourishing treatment. Think of scalp treatments as serums for the scalp: these nutrient-rich formulas are a must-have in a battle against hair loss.

PHS Hairscience FEM Fortify Tonic retails for S$120 online.

5. Brush out your strands after using a detangling spray

Should your #lifehack for detangling your unruly hair be brushing it out in the shower, perhaps it’s time to reconsider. Heads-up: it’s not the best method if you’re trying to protect weak or thinning strands and prevent hair loss.

That’s because the proteins in the hair form weaker bonds when the hair is wet, compared to when it’s dry, which means that your strands are at their weakest when you’re in the shower.

To avoid snapping your strands as you brush them out, try using a detangling spray on your towel-dried hair post-shower. After you towel-dry your mane, spray the detangling product over your mane before brushing them out using a detangler (brush).

Detangling sprays are formulated to soften and smooth hair cuticles so that they glide more easily; your strands will unknot and untangle with ease when you run the bristles of your brush through them.

Since the hair shouldn’t be sopping wet after a gentle towel dry, it should also be less vulnerable to breakage compared to when you’re brushing them out in the shower.

What detangling sprays to use?

The PHS Hairscience ADV Detangling Spray is an essential product when it comes to managing frizzy tresses. This fine mist is infused with nutrient-rich oils like sunflower and wheat germ oils, as well as a rose oil extract.

Use this after towel-drying your hair and before combing or blow-drying for hydrated hair that cascades when you brush through it with your fingers – which means reduced hair loss too!

PHS Hairscience ADV Detangling Spray retails for S$59 online.

6. Skip excessive use of hot styling tools

Although hot styling tools are useful for creating everything from silky-straight ‘dos to a billowing Korean-style blowout, they’re not so great when it comes to taking care of weak and damaged strands. The heat from hot styling tools creates tiny holes in the hair shaft, which causes hair to lose its elasticity and become more prone to breakage.

To prevent hair loss and protect your tresses from heat damage, cut down on your use of hot styling tools or give your hair a break between your styling days by opting for a natural ‘do instead.

7. Control the heat when blow-drying your hair

Since the hotter the tool, the more damage it does to your tresses, flat irons and curling irons rank high on the list of hot tools that are bad for strands – after all, they come directly in contact with the hair. That’s not to say that hairdryers can’t also do significant damage to your hair, especially if you use them in a high-heat setting most of the time.

Whilst it might be tempting to turn your hairdryer to the highest heat setting so that you can hop into bed fast post-shower, it’s best to switch to the protective setting on your hairdryer (or, if your hairdryer doesn’t have that option then use the lowest heat setting) for a gentler blow-dry.

Reduce damage to your tresses, and you’ll be one step closer to reaping reduced hair loss too.

8. Wear your hair down instead

Even though snatched-up hairstyles make a chic statement (think Bella Hadid-inspired slicked-back spikey bun and tightly-pulled feather braids that made a comeback this year), they’re the culprits for a type of hair loss called traction alopecia.

Essentially, traction alopecia is caused by a strain at the hair’s roots that comes from pulling back your hair too often, and the result is a receding hairline or a wider parting. The good news is that you can prevent this type of hair loss by wearing your hair down or putting it in a loose ponytail instead!

PHS Hairscience 16th Anniversary Hair Miracles Bundle

PHS Hairscience is offering a special promotion on its products for hair loss control and prevention with its 16th Anniversary Hair Miracles Bundle!

The bundle includes the complete FEM Fortify Range (Shampoo, Conditioner, and Tonic), which should be used during your in-shower and post-shower routine for reduced hair loss.

It also stars the brand’s ADV Elixir, which is PHS Hairscience’s bestselling product, suitable for all scalp types including a sensitive scalp. The ADV Elixir is an exfoliating scalp serum that gently sloughs away impurities and nourishes the scalp to encourage healthier hair growth.

Buy the 16th Anniversary Hair Miracles Bundle for just S$160 and you’ll be saving S$102.50, so snag this deal while you can!

PHS Hairscience 16th Anniversary Hair Miracles Bundle retails for S$160 (worth S$262.50) online or at the brand’s retail stores in Ngee Ann City, Plaza Singapura, Bedok Mall, and Wheelock Place.

You can also purchase this limited-edition bundle at the Takashimaya Counter.

Featured image credit: @lunalurey, @audreyvictoria_/TikTok

This article is brought to you by PHS Hairscience.