tangled sunflower © lynette sheppard
Thinning hair has plagued me since the beginning of menopause. Actually, it freaked me out more than any other symptom! And I had plenty of them. When I dashed to the dermatologist and hairdresser in a panic, they were less than concerned or interested. I really felt alone.
Thankfully, those days are behind us. More and more, thinning hair is recognized as a frequent and disturbing malady for Menopause Goddesses. While overall, my thinning has slowed and stabilized, I still long for fuller hair with more body.
I help matters by having my hair cut in layers, and getting periodic highlights to “fatten” up my hair so it looks fuller. Still, anything that can help, I am game for.
When the Redken folks were looking for women with thinning hair to try their new Cerafill product line specifically geared to us, I raised my virtual hand up high. Pick me, please. Pick me. And they did.
For two weeks, I used the Cerafill solution to thinning hair. I used the Defy shampoo and conditioner. Then I worked in the Cerafill Maximize Dense FX which thickens hair diameter. I also tried the fourth product they sent called Cerafill Maximize Texture Effect, which really fluffed up my hair.
Cerafill defy
Previously I’d had pretty good success using my previous shampoo and conditioner – Nioxin. As for products to fluff, I changed every other month – they all worked okay. I did feel like my hair seemed thicker subjectively using the Cerafill products almost right away. But I wondered if I wasn’t just talking myself into it.
Yes, I should have taken before and after pictures but other than the inadvertent neck selfies when my iPhone camera flips to front facing, I rarely take photos of myself. I’d have to depend on my sense of touch.
Near the end of two weeks of use, off I went to a professional conference. A woman came up to me out of nowhere and said, “I love your hair. I would give anything to have hair like yours!” I stammered a “Thank you” and went to the restroom to take a look in the mirror. While I wouldn’t say I felt that I looked dramatically different, my hair did look full and normal. Normal is big when you have thinning hair, believe me.
I got more compliments on my hair over the three days of the conference than I have had over the last 12 months. I think that would constitute a successful trial of Redken’s new Cerafill thin hair solution.
Tomorrow, I go to see my hairdresser. I’ll let you know what he says!
In the interests of full disclosure: I am participating in a Vibrant Influencer network campaign for Cerafill powered by Redken. I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.* I am in no way affiliated with Redken and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.
*If you regularly read my blog, then you know that I don’t endorse anything lightly nor do I pretend to like something when I don’t. Nuff said.
For more information, check out these links:
Redken Cerafill Webpage
Cerafill Salon Finder
Redken Youtube Page has some cool videos of real people and their experiences with the products, so you don’t have to just take my word for it.
Yes, there is hope for our hair after menopause. Hallelujah!
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I started using Cerafill Defy products in mid-July. My menopause switch flipped on earlier this summer. Out of the blue everything changed. Skin, hair, vertigo and hot flashes. I had not heard that hair thinning was a symptom of menopause. I have very thin, fine hair and have been shedding for some time. I thought I was seeing more scalp and without any prompting, my stylist confirmed it. The next day she contacted me about this product. I jumped on board. So far I can’t tell a difference in the way my hair feels. I’m still losing quite a bit every time I shampoo. For that reason, I try not to shampoo too often, but with fine hair it needs it every 2-3 days. I took a before photo of the top of my head and took another one after 3 weeks. I emailed them to my stylist and she says she can see a difference and honestly was surprised at the results. I’ll continue to use the products and hope for the best. I am also taking Biotin to strengthen the hair. Right now I’d be happy if the fall out would slow down.
I’m so glad you tested this product and reported your results. Yay for hope!! Keep us posted, but already I think I’m going to give it a try. Thanks!
Let us know how it works for you, Angela!
I got a free sample of this from ULTA which I have not yet tried. I have a hypo thyroid condition so I lost alot of hair even while on synthroid. I’m way past menopause but I never got hot flashes or any symptoms!
What Cerafill products do you have to use. Is it just the shampoo or do you need some of the others to start with?
I think just the shampoo and conditioner to start might be fine – my hair is thin and fine so I needed the volume booster as well. I am happy to say that my hair has stabilized so I no longer use any of those products – I still get a layered haircut and have my hair hilited every six months to plump up the hair shaft. I currently use Love shampoo and conditioner, which is for dryer hair (which I have now). Good luck – give it a try. Let us know how it goes! All my best,
Lynette
Thank you for this! I am 50 and my hair just starting falling out and thinning dramatically in the last 3 months or so…it is freaking me out! I would like to keep coloring it, since I’m not that interested in going “au natural”, but I figure I should stop coloring until it stabilizes a bit…BTW how long before it stabilized for you? And do you color your hair and with what product? Thank you for your words…this is sooooo hard…like you said, it is the symptom that is terrorizing me the most…:0
Hi Josie, I actually started coloring my hair, well really highlighting it almost right away, because it “plumps” up the hair follicle according to my hairdresser (who suffered with thin hair since childhood.) She has used a variety of different highlighting formulas – i would suggest having it done professionally to make sure it isn’t too hard on your hair. No perms though – super damaging they say. It stabilized after about a year – I do feel like the Nioxin shampoo helped a lot in the beginning. Hope this helps – good luck and keep us posted. Hugs, Lynette (BTW it stabilized but never did it go back to how thick it was prior to the Pause.)