Ricki Lake. Courtesy
Ricki Lake loves her natural hair — but it’s been a journey. After experiencing years of hair loss from styling trauma and dramatic weight fluctuations, the actress famously shaved her head. But now she’s found a solution and her strands are thicker, healthier and more lustrous than ever — and she’s sharing her secret with Us!
The Hairspray star, 52, has been using danish brand Harklinikken for ten months after shaving her head, and it’s made a huge difference in her locks — and her self-esteem. “It has given me my life back,” Lake tells Us. “And I know those are big words, but honestly, anyone that’s suffered with this knows what I’m talking about. It takes over your life. Every time you walk past a mirror, every time you run a brush through your hair, anytime your boyfriend wants to grab your hair and pull it, every time you’re in the shower, it consumed me.”
Lake’s 30-year struggle with her hair ironically started when she was 18. “For Hairspray, it was all my own hair and I love it but that set the stage for the quality of my hair being damaged. It was worth it, because that was the part that made me famous and put me on the map, but it definitely did take its toll,” she says. Next up was Winterbourne, for which Lake lost 30 pounds quickly, and with that came hair shedding. “I had noticeable, oh my God, clumps of hair in the shower. It was traumatic.”
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She sought help from a trichologist, but after two pregnancies and more roles that required crash dieting, like when she did X Factor and Celebrity X Factor, the hair loss escalated. And wearing extensions didn’t help. “By this time, I was wearing this hairpiece thing and it just kept pulling on my hair. It was super fragile. It was really in bad shape and I just needed to be set free.” So she took matters into her own hands. “I have the video to prove it of me taking the buzzer and just saying F it,” Lake admits.
A couple months after shaving her head, the mom of two found the Danish hair care solutions brand Harklinikken “sort of by accident.” The founder, Lars Skioth, knew Lake’s story and prescribed a customized regimen of natural, nutrient-rich formulas that target roots encouraging healthy growth. The star found her “pot of gold,” she tells Us. “I literally have a full head of hair. It was sparse when I shaved it and so everyone can see and go back to my pictures. And it’s just, it’s night and day. And I can’t explain how it works because it’s so easy. I use the shampoo, I use the conditioner, and I use the extract at night. That’s it. And the extract is just like putting water on my scalp. The texture is just like water, no scent to it. And it’s just been a game changer for me.”
And now, the actress loves her hair! “It’s hilarious because every morning I’ll look at my boyfriend and I’ll be like, “I love my hair today.” Because when I sleep on it, and I’m like, “It’s so good.” And he’s like, “Oh my God, it looks amazing.” So we have a running joke. Just showering is really a thrill for me now because I hated showering all the time. It was like a phobia almost. Of course I showered but I hated the process. And now having my guy wash my hair in the shower, maybe that’s too much information, but that’s amazing. I never thought I’d be in that place.”
For more information about Harklinikken products and customized regimens, click here!
