Shedding: the Natural Cycle of Hair

As much as we want to hold onto every hair we have, it’s only natural to shed. It’s part of the normal cycle.

Just like our gardens, our favorite flowers go through seasons and we watch their petals fall before winter and then bud again in spring. It’s the same thing for our hair: it has its seasons. It just has a different, some might call it scary, name … shedding.  One of the most common questions we get asked: “Why is my hair shedding?” And “How do I stop it?” First, SHEDDING HAIR IS NATURAL. Second, sometimes shedding increases.  Let's talk about why. 

DETOX

Are you new to these products and noticing more shedding than normal? You are going to be ok. When introducing such clean hair products like these, it’s not uncommon to shed the old. These shampoos are working hard to exfoliate and release any stagnant oils and build up from previous products. Naturally, that means allowing some of those unhealthy hairs to shed. That’s okay, because this allows the scalp to recalibrate and create new hair growth just like the flower buds in spring. 

Think of shedding as the Fall season: you’re shedding the old so you can make room for the new. You’re clearing out the old ingredients and making room for those lovely ingredients to get absorbed into the skin and hair follicles which in turn will allow for stronger, happier, more vibrant hair.

We have a number of helpful tips in our Journal: Scalp Detox + Symptoms.

NATURAL HAIR CYCLE

Transitioning to natural hair care or not, our hair goes through cycles of growth and shedding. Here are those stages:

Anagen - The Growing Phase.
The hair follicle will produce hair for many, many years.

Catagen - The Transition Phase.
A short transitional phase where the growth slows way down. This phase can last a few weeks. Your hair follicle starts to shrink and detach from the base of the follicle.

Telogen - The Resting Phase.

The hair follicle is dormant and no longer growing. About 10-15% of all hairs on the body are in this phase at any given time.

Exogen - The Shedding Phase.

This is when the hair finally lets go. This can happen naturally or by brushing, washing or styling your hair.

A number of factors can affect the amount of time your scalp/hair spends in any of these stages: this can include your hormones, stress, seasons, hair treatments, styling, pregnancy or genetics. There are many factors involved, so it’s always important to do a little self-check when experiencing anything out of the normal with scalp issues, shedding, hair loss, etc.

Under Luna’s herbal extracts are there to help manage and support the natural cycle. Encouraging older growth to shed and lots of new growth to occur. Often we get notes from folks saying they have shed a ton of hair in the process of switching to Under Luna but their hair is thicker and stronger than ever before.

We hope this helps! Happy hair washing :) 

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