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Jack Martin

Styling Professional operating from the West Coast who focuses on grey hair. His clients include Jane Fonda and well-known figures.

Which bargain product do you swear by?

I highly recommend a gentle drying cloth, or even a smooth cotton shirt to dry your hair. It's often overlooked how much stress a typical terrycloth towel can do, particularly for grey or color-processed hair. This one small change can really minimize flyaways and damage. Another affordable staple is a wide-tooth comb, to use during washing. It safeguards your strands while smoothing out tangles and helps keep the health of the individual hairs, particularly post-bleaching.

Which product or treatment is worth splurging on?

A professional-grade heat styling tool – featuring innovative technology, with smart temperature control. Grey and blonde hair can develop brassy tones or get damaged without the right iron.

Which hair trend or treatment would you never recommend?

Self-applied color lifting. Social media makes it look easy, but the actual fact is it’s one of the biggest gambles you can do to your hair. I’ve witnessed clients melt their hair, experience breakage or end up with bands of colour that are incredibly challenging to remedy. I also don’t recommend keratin or permanent straightening treatments on pre-lightened strands. These chemical systems are often excessively strong for weakened hair and can cause long-term damage or discoloration.

What frequent error do you observe?

Clients selecting inappropriate items for their particular strand characteristics. Certain clients overapply colour-correcting purple shampoo until their blonde or grey strands looks flat and dull. Some depend excessively on strengthening conditioners and end up with stiff, brittle hair. A further common mistake is thermal styling minus a barrier. In cases where you employ hot tools or dryers without a heat protectant, – particularly on bleached locks – you’re going to see brassiness, lack of moisture and splitting.

What would you suggest for thinning hair?

Shedding demands a multifaceted plan. Externally, minoxidil remains a top choice. My advice includes scalp serums with caffeine or peptides to boost blood flow and aid in hair growth. Applying a cleansing scalp wash often helps eliminate impurities and allows treatments to work more effectively. Oral aids like specialized formulas have also shown positive outcomes. They work internally to benefit externally by correcting endocrine issues, stress and dietary insufficiencies.

For people looking for something more advanced, platelet-rich plasma treatments – where a personalized serum is applied – can be effective. That said, I always suggest 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 pursuing temporary solutions.

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A Trichology Expert

Scalp and Hair Scientist and brand president of Philip Kingsley services and items for shedding.

How frequently do you schedule salon visits?

I schedule cuts every ten to twelve weeks, but will remove split ends personally every two weeks to keep my ends healthy, and have color touches every two months.

Which bargain product do you swear by?

Hair-thickening particles are truly impressive if you have areas of scalp visibility. They attach using static to your strands, and it comes in a range of colors, making it almost invisible. I personally applied it after childbirth when I had significant shedding – and also presently during some considerable hair loss after having a bad infection previously. Because locks are secondary, it’s the initial area to show decline when your diet is lacking, so I would also recommend a well-rounded, nutrient-rich diet.

Which premium option is truly valuable?

If you have female pattern hair loss (FPHL), I’d say prescription hair-loss topicals. When dealing with temporary hair loss, known as TE, buying an over-the-counter product is fine, but for FPHL you really do need clinical interventions to see the optimal outcomes. From my perspective, minoxidil combined with additional ingredients – such as balancing elements, inhibitors and/or calming components – works best.

Which popular remedy is ineffective?

Rosemary extracts for shedding. It's ineffective. The whole thing stems from one small study done in 2015 that compared the effects of 2% minoxidil to rosemary oil. A low concentration like 2% is insufficient to do much for male pattern hair loss, so the study is basically saying they provide similarly low results.

Additionally, excessive biotin. Rarely do people lack biotin, so consuming it probably won't help your locks, and it can skew thyroid readings in blood tests.

Which error is most frequent?

In my view, we should rename "hair washing" to "scalp cleaning" – because the main goal of cleansing is to rid your scalp of old oils, dead skin cells, sweat and environmental pollution. I notice clients skipping washes as they think it’s damaging to their locks, when in fact the opposite is true – notably in cases of dandruff, which is worsened by the presence of excess oils. When sebum remains on the skin, they decompose and cause irritation.

Unfortunately, what your scalp needs and what your hair likes don’t always align, so it’s a balancing act. But as long as you are gentle when you shampoo and handle wet hair with care, it shouldn't harm your hair.

What solutions do you suggest for thinning?

With female pattern loss, minoxidil is essential. Scientific support is substantial and tends to be most effective combined with additional ingredients. If you're interested in complementary therapies, or you choose to avoid it or cannot tolerate it, you could try micro-needling (under professional care), and perhaps platelet-rich plasma or light treatments.

For TE, you need to do some detective work. Noticeable thinning usually relates to a health trigger. Sometimes, the cause is transient – such as sickness, virus or emotional strain – and it will resolve on its own. In other cases, thyroid imbalances or vitamin/mineral deficiencies are the driving factor – the most common being ferritin (stored iron), vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficiency – and to {treat the hair loss you need to treat the cause|address shedding, target the underlying issue|combat thinning, focus