I'm a 53-year-old beauty expert and I've finally found a cure for my hair loss

Many of us are grappling with the midlife hair mare. Common complaints include thinning, decline in quality and easy breakage – and last year I exacerbated matters by unintentionally dropping a stone. Swift weight loss made my hair noticeably puny at the sides and around the temples. Trichologist Anabel Kingsley explains that hair follicles age just as our skin does. At the same time, hormone fluctuations impact growth: oestrogen (a female hormone) levels decline, while the ratio of androgens (male hormones) rise in relation, causing loss and density changes.

Anabel’s Philip Kingsley clinics recommend paying attention to your scalp health, stress levels and diet. At her clinics, they check protein, iron, vitamin B12 and zinc levels. She also advises against low-carb diets, since ‘carbohydrates provide energy to maintain the growth of rapidly dividing hair cells’. ‘Think of proteins as your hair’s building blocks and complex carbs as the builders,’ she says. Hence the problem with restrictive diets and Ozempic causing hair loss.

Her Density Amino Acid Protein Booster supplement does what it says on the tin (£33 for 120 capsules, philipkingsley.co.uk), while the Density Healthy Hair Complex (£33 for 60) contains the vitamins and minerals Anabel’s experts most commonly see deficiencies in at their clinics. As if menopause wasn’t enough, Shabir Daya, co-founder of Victoria Health, alerts me to another hair-loss factor: winter hair thinning. ‘This is when hair sheds or becomes weaker due to cold weather, dry air and reduced sunlight, restricting vitamin D,’ he says. ‘It can lead to breakage, a dry scalp and diminishment.’.

Shabir’s solution is biotin (vitamin B7), which is found in foods such as egg yolks, nuts, soya beans and bananas. Try Solgar’s Biotin 5,000mcg (£22.50 for 50, victoriahealth.com) or Superior Hair (£33 for 90). The latter is also packed with zinc and copper. Weight loss made my hair puny at the sides and around the temples, writes HANNAH BETTS. In terms of topical solutions, there’s TYPEBEA’s G1 Overnight Boosting Peptide Serum (£43, sephora.co.uk), a bestseller from Rita Ora and beauty mogul Anna Lahey’s hair-growth firm.

It is proven to reduce hair loss by 60 per cent in three months. The star ingredient is Baicapil, a botanical complex which stimulates cells. My hairdresser also recommended something akin to the midlife holy grail – a product that claims to improve sparseness while also inhibiting grey hairs: Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum (£54, cultbeauty.co.uk). It should be used daily, but I was nowhere near as dutiful.

Yet, months on, this cocktail of pea-sprout extract and amaranth peptides has had a discernible effect. My hair is denser, glossier and darker, too – presumably thanks to the Anti-Grey Complex, an antioxidant and amino acid ‘smoothie’. Only imagine if I’d used it religiously. Supplements and serums will take time to have an impact. What to do in the meantime?. Shabir admires Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer (£24, victoriahealth.com), while my fine-haired, 62-year-old tester raves about Revolution Hair R-Peptide 4x4 Leave In Restore Mask (now £9.60, revolution beauty.com), saying: ‘I almost don’t recognise my own hair!’.

I favour a body-building shampoo and conditioner such as UKLash UKHair Growth Shampoo and Conditioner (now £12 each, sephora.co.uk). Also in my arsenal are the double acts by Moroccanoil and Sam McKnight, plus Viviscal, Dove Pro-Age, and L’Oreal’s Extraordinary Clay Rebalancing range. Josh Wood Colour Root Smudge (£15, boots.com) is an instant morale booster for sparse scalps, too. Immediately selling out upon launch on January 7, The Ordinary’s GF 15% Solution (£13.50, boots.com) has been a colossal hit. GF stands for ‘growth factors’ – a class of peptides that play a role in repair, for skin that looks and feels younger. They strengthen the skin barrier, too. To get them at this price is phenomenal.

The presenter, 57, says she only started wearing make-up every day at the age of 45, but adds that now ‘a bit of mascara and lipstick is vital to my being’. She swears by Ilia Lip Sketch Hydrating Lip Crayon (£26, sephora.co.uk) and Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara (£32). She also uses Estee Lauder’s DayWear Sheer Tint Release Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Moisturiser SPF15 (£54) to give her skin a youthful glow.

Is it any wonder make-up artist Lisa Eldridge was awarded an MBE by the King in the New Year honours list? She’s not merely a national treasure but an international one, too. Her latest launch, Lisa Eldridge Pinpoint Concealer Micro Correcting Pencil (£27, lisaeldridge.com), is a gamechanger. It camouflages spots and broken capillaries and is brilliant at lifting shadows. Think of it as her no make-up make-up, perfect-skin technique in product form.