Clients come in panicking about hair in their shower drain at least once a week. And I get it — seeing a clump of hair come out is alarming. But before you spiral, you should know: losing hair and losing your hair are two very different things.
Normal shedding is more than you think
The average person sheds 50–100 hairs a day. That’s normal. Every single hair on your head goes through a growth cycle: anagen (growing, 2–7 years), catagen (transitioning, a few weeks), telogen (resting, a few months), and then it falls out to make room for a new hair.
100 hairs sounds like a lot until you remember you have roughly 100,000 of them. It’s 0.1% of your total. You won’t notice it visually.
If you wash your hair every other day, you’ll see more in the drain on wash days because you’re releasing 2 days’ worth of shed hair at once. That’s not more loss — it’s just accumulated shedding.
When shedding becomes a problem
Excessive shedding — called telogen effluvium — is when significantly more follicles than normal enter the resting phase at once. Instead of 50–100 hairs, you’re losing 200–300+ daily. Now you notice: thinner ponytail, wider part, hair on your clothes, hair everywhere.
This usually happens 2–3 months after a triggering event. Common triggers: major stress, illness or surgery, rapid weight loss, starting or stopping birth control, postpartum hormonal shifts, nutritional deficiency.
The good news: telogen effluvium is almost always temporary. Once the trigger resolves, your hair regrows. It just takes time — usually 6–12 months to feel like yourself again.
Hair loss is different
True hair loss — alopecia — means the follicle itself is compromised. It’s not just shedding more than usual; it’s the follicle losing its ability to produce hair. This can show up as a widening part that doesn’t recover, thinning at the temples, a receding hairline, or circular bald patches.
The most common type in women is androgenetic alopecia (female pattern hair loss) — gradual thinning, usually starting at the part line. It’s genetic and hormonal, and it doesn’t resolve on its own. It needs treatment.
How to tell the difference
Shedding: you see full-length hairs coming out with a small white bulb at the root. The hair grew to its full length and then released normally — just too many at once.
Loss: you see shorter, thinner hairs. Areas that used to be dense now look sparse. The density doesn’t return after a few months. These are signs the follicle itself is miniaturizing.
When in doubt, see a dermatologist. They can do a pull test, examine your scalp under magnification, and run bloodwork to check for underlying causes.
What we do at Reverie
We’re not doctors, and we don’t diagnose. But we see your hair under professional lighting every few weeks or months, which means we often notice changes before you do. If something looks off, we’ll tell you — and we’ll recommend seeing your doctor if we think it’s warranted.
For clients dealing with thinning, we offer Davines Naturaltech Energizing scalp treatments, volumizing cuts and styles, and honest guidance on extensions or toppers if appropriate.
The worst thing you can do is panic and ignore it. Come in and talk to us. We’ve had this conversation hundreds of times, and we’ll help you figure out what you’re actually dealing with.
