Pregnancy is a weird old experience. As if growing a baby in your tummy isn’t enough of a miracle, many women find that a bulging belly & evaporating waistline isn’t the only physical change their body will go through. Yep, the much touted “pregnancy glow” isn’t simply a thing your friends will toss at you to make you feel better when your tummy juts out beyond your breasts, it’s a very real phenomenon. Many women will find their nails grow stronger & longer in pregnancy, and their hair becomes thicker, fuller & more healthy-looking.

We can credit pregnancy hormones for our luscious locks, in particular a surge in estrogen. Increased blood circulation and a pumped-up metabolism bring more nutrients to your hair, making it less brittle and likely to fall out. Normally, the average head loses 100 hairs a day — but not all at once, so you don’t notice them. Pregnancy temporarily halts this shedding giving mums-to-be longer & fuller tresses.

Postpartum hair loss

Unfortunately, before you have time to get your bum down to a L’Oreal casting, your baby will arrive and post-partum hairloss will kick in. Between 3-6 months after giving birth many women experience a sudden shedding where hair that didn’t fall out in pregnancy, now will. So, at a time when you are most likely sleep deprived, missing your bump, and feeling terribly body conscious, it can come as quite the shock to wake up to a pillow full of hair.

Introducing LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo & Anti Hair Loss Serum

LA Science dual anti hair loss regime uses clinically proven technology to improve the thickness, and overall health of your hair. An advanced anti hair loss system, LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo & Serum offers a twofold treatment to tackle the woes of thinning hair, and extend the growth phase of the hair cycle.

Not only is it quickly garnering a reputation as a solution for postpartum hair loss, it’s also fab for both men and women suffering during the winter months due to changeable weather and the effects of central heating.

How does it work?

It’s all quite simple really. It uses an active peptide combination that is delivered directly to the roots to nurture and thicken thinning hair. The act of gently massaging LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo into the scalp every day, helps to increase blood flow to the scalp, condition hair and follicles and prevent hair loss.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Copper Tripeptide (to increase blood supply) / Biotin & Arginine (to create a healthy environment for hair to thrive) / Hydrolysed Keratin & Silk (a fibrous structural protein, naturally occurring within hair, that helps protect it from damage and stress)

Couple this with twice daily LA Science Anti Hair Loss Serum and your hair has the very best weapons at its disposal to combat physical stress on the hair shaft and defend itself against breakage.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Peptides (to encourage stronger hair shafts to grow at source) / Portulaca Oleracea & Polygala Tenuifolia Root Extracts (Chinese herbs renowned for their ability to balance hair & scalp deficiencies) / Hyaluronic acid (a moisturiser capable of carrying up to 100x its weight in water to further condition the hair)

As featured in More Magazine, Maytime Times & Your Hair Magazine

Delivery of the active ingredients to the hair follicle helps:

1. - Improve blood supply to the scalp
2. - Revitalise and rejuvenate the hair follicle
3. - Strengthen the hair shaft
4. - Normalise the hair growth cycle
5. - Inhibits depigmentation
6. - Activates the stem cells of the hair follicle

What did I make of it?

I’ve always had very thin and fine hair. It won’t hold a curl any longer than an hour, and only needs threatening with a pair of straighteners to fall into line. When I was a teenager, my ears would regularly poke through this gossamer curtain and I earned the nicknamed “weasel ears” - needless to say I absolutely hated it and always lusted after fuller hair.

Pregnancy delivered this dream in all it’s technicolour glory and brushing my hair was a real treat. My Denman brush was swept to the side to make way for an oversized paddle brush, and I started having fun with my GHDs. Yet all this was short-lived and my hair promptly fell out when I packed in breastfeeding after 6 weeks.

LA Science seemed like an interesting proposition. I understood the science behind it, but wondered just how much more effective it would be compared to a good head massage (which would surely bring about a similar increased blood flow). I also had reservations about how soft and glossy my hair would be if I ditched my conditioner (this is not required when you use the shampoo & serum in tandem).

Using the system is a bit of a departure from my normal hair care regime. As my hair is prone to drying out and split-ends, I only tend to wash it 3 times a week. Switching to daily washing was a bit of a chore at first, but spurred on by the possibility of thicker hair, I stuck with it.

The shampoo is best described as iridescent in colour and smells like liquid hand soap (so not unpleasant). It comes in an 250ml pump action bottle with screw top lid (ideal for eeking out the dregs of the bottle) and lathers beautifully making it easy to massage in. I paid extra attention to my scalp and massaged it in for a good 5 mins before working it through to the ends.

The serum is fragrance-less and a light and non greasy texture that sinks in quickly. It’s recommended you massage in twice a day (morning & 2 hours before bedtime) although I was a little confused as the instructions didn’t state whether to use on wet or dry hair, and how much to use. I ended up doing a bit of both - massaging in a few generous drops after my morning hair wash onto towel dried hair, and in the evening on bone dry hair. Pleasingly, as the formula is so light, it didn’t leave my hair feeling greasy, lank or itchy.

In fact, the serum is the real winner for me. It’s like a leave-in conditioner that delivers soft and healthy-looking hair that stays clean and fresh for longer. On the few occasions I haven’t got around to washing my hair of a morning, the serum keeps my hair from drying out and prepares it perfectly for styling.

Does my hair feel thicker? Yes, a little. I’m only two weeks into my trial but I already feel more hair-confident.

Does it feel healthier? Yes, yes, yes.

Any niggles? Nope.

LA Science are priced very reasonably at £14.99 (shampoo) & £29.99 (serum) and available from all major Boots stores and online at www.la-science.co.uk (the website is currently having a makeover so to purchase online, head on over to Amazon). If you decide to give it a go, do let me know what you think.