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Head scratcher: scalp care is booming, but will it make a hair of difference?

Oils and serums, scrubs and LED masks – product categories once reserved for faces have crept to the top of the head thanks to a nascent scalp-care market

The pharmaceutical scientist Hannah English, who regularly posts about beauty to her 68,000 Instagram followers, believes people have become more open to discussing conditions such as dandruff, which affects 50% of adults at some time in their life, as well as spending more money to fix it. Photograph: June Ng/Getty ImagesWhile many scalp-care products cost as much as their skincare counterparts, these prices are dwarfed by the expense of scalp light therapy devices, which often retail for over $1,000. Cook says at-home LED devices may help with hair loss, but “most of the pioneering studies have been done on technologies that are a lot more complex, expensive and effective, and used by doctors in clinics”.

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