Influencers may make you feel like they won the genetic lottery with their flawless, perfect images, but we all know what a good filter and apps like FaceTune can accomplish. And while not everyone is going to admit it, entrepreneur and one of the biggest beauty influencers Huda Kattan is opening up about her struggles with hair loss.
In a recent YouTube video, the founder of Huda Beauty reflects on dealing with bald spots and thinning hair for years and why in order to eradicate the stigma, she decided to share the story with her followers.
"It's really important that we take away the shame associated with female hair loss and hair balding," she says in the video. "It's just another beauty issue that we all can get through as soon as we start to feel more comfortable talking about it."
Adding that Instagram is not always realistic, she said: "On Instagram, we paint this perfect picture with how things are. I want you guys to know the reality that goes into it and that nothing is as what it seems."
Kattan, who is known for both her eponymous beauty label and her spirited makeup tutorials, further revealed how it all started after being diagnosed with PCOS, a hormonal disorder that affects millions of women across the world.
At first, the beauty blogger resorted to tying up her hair in ponytails and avoided styling it too much. But after her hair stylist noticed a bald spot, she immediately started seeking remedies to stimulate hair growth. "I was shocked at how fast the hair started growing back; it was literally insane," she says. "Within a week, the bald spot was gone."
Kattan also offered tips on effectively living and dealing with baldness such as concealing patchy spots with eye shadow. "I sometimes mix it with a little bit of keratin or hair growth serum, and then it would really stick," she says. "And that would kind of help my hair follicles grow, too."
For a "healthy scalp," she recommends both topical treatments and taking vitamins. "Full disclosure, they will make you grow hair everywhere else, so if you've lasered you'll have to laser again," she adds.
There are also other tidbits of advice such as using red light therapy, and cutting down on those blowouts. "When you're experiencing hair loss, that small amount of tugging is not going to help reduce that hair loss," Kattan says.
Photo via Instagram