Encore Hair Center

Your hair loss can show up months after the trigger.
A fever. Crash diet. Surgery. Major stress. Medication change.
These can push follicles into the shedding phase, but you may not see the result for about three months.
That’s telogen effluvium, and it often improves once the trigger is addressed.
But here’s the important part:
Is it temporary shedding, or is something progressive happening underneath it?
That’s why a proper assessment matters, including a scalp evaluation.
Because the thing you notice today may have started months ago.

Two women can sit in my chair and say the exact same thing: “My hair is thinning.”

But their hair loss can have completely different causes—and completely different plans.

One is 34, six months postpartum, shedding in handfuls, with very low ferritin.
The other is 58. She’s barely shedding, but her part has been widening year after year, and the follicles at her crown are miniaturizing.

Same complaint, different biology.

That’s why a scalp evaluation is such an important part of the assessment.
I don’t just look at how much hair you’re losing. I want to see what’s happening at the scalp and around the follicles.

Under magnification, I can look for clues that help tell the story:
Is the follicle miniaturizing?
Is the hair in a resting phase?
Is this shedding or progressive miniaturization?

Because those answers matter.
Your hair loss deserves a plan based on what’s actually happening—not a generic solution.
First, we figure out why.

Not everything marketed for hair loss is a scam.
The problem is that we’re often given an answer before anyone asks the most important question:
WHY are you losing your hair?
Thickening shampoo? It can make your hair look fuller—but it doesn’t necessarily change what’s happening at the follicle.
Biotin? It can help if you’re deficient. But taking more isn’t automatically the answer.
Trimming your ends? Great for healthier-looking ends. It has nothing to do with what’s happening at your scalp.
So before you buy another product, start with the cause.
Because when you understand WHY you’re losing hair, choosing the right solution stops being a guessing game.

Half of what I do isn’t treatment. It’s translation.
I look at your scalp under magnification.
I look at your bloodwork.

And I ask: How long has this been going on? What changed in your life a few months ago?
Because your hair is often reacting to something that happened long before you noticed the shedding.
My job is to connect those dots—and explain what your hair may actually be responding to.
So many women come to me after months or even years of guessing.

And honestly? The relief that comes from finally having an explanation is one of my favorite parts of this work.

Your one small thing to do today:
Stand outside in natural daylight (not your bathroom) and take one clear photo of your part line.

Save it. That’s your baseline. Because you can’t accurately track change if you don’t know where you started.

If you’re seeing more scalp along your part line, what you’re seeing today most likely started months ago. Your follicles can respond long before your part line gives you a clue. And these four things can work against your hair and scalp:

Constant tension.
High heat.
Harsh cleansing.
Skipping meals.

The frustrating part is that hair has a delay. What’s affecting your follicles today may not become visible for months—which is why we often miss the connection. So if your part is looking wider than it used to, don’t just try to make it look fuller. Find out what’s actually happening underneath and get a trichology assessment.

Assessment BEFORE treatment.

Your shedding only means something if you track it consistently.
Same wash day. Same schedule. Same collection method.
Otherwise, that number doesn’t really tell you much.
Most people naturally shed around 50–100 hairs a day, and you’ll often see more on wash days simply because several days of shedding may be released at once.
And here’s where I want you to pay attention to:
If checking the drain has turned into checking your hair—or your mirror—ten times a day, you’re no longer collecting data. You’re feeding anxiety. Which can cause hairloss!
What actually gives you useful information?
A proper scalp and hair assessment that establishes a baseline.
Stop counting every hair.
Start understanding what your hair is actually telling you. Go see a hairloss specialist and get answers. Don’t guess. Assess.

A trichologist rates the habits, not the products.

SMASH ✅
• Washing your hair more often. Your scalp is skin. The hairs in the drain were already shed, the wash just collected them.
• Eating enough protein. Hair is made of it, and your body feeds your organs first.
• A few minutes of scalp massage. Modest evidence, free, and low risk as long as you are gentle.
• Bloodwork before you buy anything. Ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid.

PASS 🚫
• The same tight ponytail every single day. If it gives you a headache, it is pulling on the follicle.
• Counting the hairs in your drain. Losing 50 to 100 a day is normal, and the counting only feeds the fear.
• Crash diets. Your hair pays for it about three months later.
• Bleaching at home while you are actively shedding. That is breakage stacked on top of loss.

Most of these cost nothing. That is the point. What you do with your hair matters long before what you buy for it does.

Hair loss is a lot like roller skating.
When a roller skate feels wobbly, you know something is off—but you can’t fix it until you figure out which wheel is causing the problem.
Hair loss works the same way.

Shedding and thinning can look the same in the drain, but they are not the same problem.

Shedding is about how much hair is falling out.

Thinning is about how much scalp is starting to show through.

Shedding can be sudden and temporary, often triggered by stress, illness, medication, or weight loss.

Thinning tends to be slower and progressive and requires a completely different approach.

So before you try to fix the whole skate, let’s figure out which wheel is wobbly.

Five things you can stop buying for your hair, and the last one costs you the most.

Biotin does very little unless you are actually deficient, and it can skew thyroid and cardiac bloodwork, which is a real problem when the whole point is finding out why you are shedding. Trimming your ends does not speed anything up because hair grows from the root, not the tips. Castor oil has no regrowth evidence and it can felt and mat the hair you still have. Any treatment bought before you know your diagnosis is just a guess with a receipt. And an ill fitting wig pulls at your hairline all day, which damages the very hair you are trying to protect.

Notice that two of the five are about information—not treatment.
That’s intentional.
You can’t choose the right treatment until you know what type of hair loss you’re dealing with.
And no bottle on a shelf can tell you that.
Get the answers first. The right treatment follows.