The shampoo that helped restore and re-grow my thinning hair.

I’ve never had a ‘body’.

I’m talking not much muscle tone, not a fast metabolism or even a remote level of fitness.

The good news about that is now that I’m 41.75 years old, I don’t feel any different, and I’m not mourning the loss of anything youthful about me…

Well, except my hair.

It all started a year ago, when my beloved and much-trusted hairdresser of seven years gave me some bad news: my full head of hair was depleting – slowly – but surely.

I didn’t believe him, but the man knew my scalp better than anyone, and he could notice a very subtle difference in the strength of my hair.

Which would, he warned me, eventually lead to thinning of my hair overall. Apparently, this is what happens to most of us when we hit our 40s.

My reaction? Denial. But I bought the shampoo he recommended because I’m polite like that.

And much to my surprise, it’s made a difference to my hair that I didn’t even know I needed.

When you go to congratulate your bestie hairdude @atiliodusa (and his lovelies from @clipjointsalons ) after an ace show at @adlfashionfest & he fixes your hair so you look ????????because that’s what he’s been doing forever ????#aff17

A post shared by Nama Winston (@namawinston) on Oct 12, 2017 at 1:57pm PDT

So what’s this ‘miracle’ product? It’s a haircare ‘system’ called Nioxin, and it’s all about preservation and protection of what you have, and enhancing your scalp’s health – exactly the same as your beauty routine for your face.

What is Nioxin?

Nioxin is a brand that specialises in haircare products for weakening hair. It offers four different levels of treatment, catering for all hair types.

Level 1 is for natural hair with light thinning, level 2 is for natural hair with progressed thinning, level 3 is for coloured hair with light thinning (AKA me), and level 4 is for coloured hair with progressed thinning.

Each level includes a shampoo, a conditioner, and a stimulating lotion that you rub into your scalp afterwards. But don’t worry, that step barely takes any time.

The range also has other specialist products, like thickening serums.

How do I know if I need Nioxin?

You can feel it when you run our fingers through your hair, and you also might be able to see it. Think about the three Ds:

Derma: the skin on the scalp needs to be healthy and clean of product build up so that hair follicles don't clog and hair can grow. If that doesn't happen, the lack of new growth will make hair look increasingly thin.

Density: fewer hair strands give the overall impression of thinning hair.

Diameter: finer hair strands are prone to breakage, and fine strands look fluffy or fall flat.

If you notice any of these things happening to your usually glorious hair, it might be worth giving Nioxin a go.

Which Nioxin treatment do I need?

If you're unsure about the state of your hair, or aren't confident enough to decide between the four levels of treatments, ask your hairdresser - or visit the Nioxin website.

But essentially, the levels are pretty straight forward and are based on whether you colour or not, and whether you're simply thinning, or can see real loss.

How soon will I see results?

Of course, results, and the speed of results, varies from person to person.

But for me, I saw the first new growth of hair that I didn't even realise I had lost, within a couple of weeks.

At first I was actually annoyed by the small hairs that sprung up, until I realised they were new growth - and then I was excited!

I love my other shampoo. Can I still use it sometimes?

Yep, Nioxin is designed for daily use, which seems like the right thing to do if you want to get the maximum benefits.

But I occasionally use my hair mask instead of the Nioxin conditioner, and sometimes when I've run out of Nioxin, I've used my son's shampoo for a couple of days, and I've never felt a weakening or regression of my hair.

I also used to buy a special shampoo that was designed to retain colour, but in all the time I've been using Nioxin, I've found it doesn't affect my colour, even after it's just been done.

Where can I buy Nioxin?

Mamamia Shopping stocks some of the Nioxin range. Oh, and it's currently on sale.

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