My Best of 2024: Leonor Greyl hair care

Investing in Leonor Greyl shampoo, hair oil and treatment spray has enabled me to make my peace with age related hair changes.

As I write this, it’s exactly one year since my first encounter with Leonor Greyl Hair Expert Masa. Masa was in store at The French Pharmacy to introduce the brand and give customers the opportunity to see exactly what was happening at scalp and strand level with her diagnostic camera. I’ve long been intrigued by Leonor Greyl, and I love the fascinating horror of diagnostic cameras, so this was the perfect chance to find out more about Leonor Greyl – and myself!

My Hair History

Regular readers and patient friends will know that I’ve fretted about how thin my hair is for more than thirty years. I have tried various products to give my hair a bit more oomph and to trick the eye into thinking it was fuller. My usual pattern is to have a few weeks of wailing and despair, then to get distracted and forget all about my hair concerns until the next time the bathroom light hits my head in a strange way whilst I’m looking in the mirror, and the lamentation cycle starts again.

But last December was different. I was concerned about my hair not just for reasons of vanity but for reasons of health. I felt that menopause had wreaked havoc with my head. My scalp felt uncomfortable and looked redder than usual, a disconcerting number of strands were coming loose with every wash, and going grey added insult to injury, as the lighter my hair became the thinner it looked.

My first Leonor Greyl consultation

My scalp seen on the screen confirmed my suspicions. It was red and irritated in some places; looked white and waxy in others, and I could clearly see my poor follicles attempting to produce new hair, but being literally blocked by build-up. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it felt good to have confirmation that something needed fixing.

An effective consultation requires a consultant who listens to you and tailors their advice towards what you will do, not what you should do – and in Masa, Leonor Greyl have the perfect consultant.

Just because I know full well that the human body (like the internet) is a garbage-in, garbage-out machine, doesn’t mean that I am going to act on that knowledge, and do any of the very basic things that will make my body healthier. It’s important to me that medical professionals and beauty experts alike don’t judge – even if internally, they are thinking ‘this woman is batshit crazy’ – and tailor their advice accordingly taking into account the laziness, the oppositional defiance disorder, and the out of sight out of mind lack of object permanence that so often derail my efforts to do myself a little bit of good.

To my delight, Masa understood all of this. She gave me interesting insights and advice into HRT, vitamins and a healthier diet and then selected three products from the Leonor Greyl range that she felt would be most effective even if I continued to half-arse my haircare, comme d’habitude. 

My Leonor Greyl purchases

Leonor Greyl is a luxury brand and its pricing reflects that – which is why I had been intrigued by it for years, but hesitant to fork over the cash required to try it out.

This time though, I felt it was exactly what I needed. My hair was making me feel miserable, and to get back some feeling of joy where my hair was concerned I needed something fancy, something luxurious, something that was an aesthetic and sensuous pleasure to use. Everyone knows I love to #BeMoreFrench, so Leonor Greyl, founded in 1968, packed full of high quality naturals, and looking like the kind of products Anouk Aimée and Françoise Hardy might have had on their respective dressing-tables seemed like the perfect choice.

Masa recommended that I sooothe my scalp by alternating two Leonor Greyl shampoos, and massage in a restorative oil to soften and stimulate.

• Bain Traitant  à la Propolis  (Gentle Dandruff treatment Shampoo)
• Shampooing au Miel (Gentle Volumising Shampoo)
• Régenérescence Naturelle (invigorating and purifying oil rollerball)

Without Masa’s guidance, I would never have chosen the Bain Traitant a Propolis. I’m of an age to associate any mention of dandruff with visible flakes of white on the shoulders of one’s garments, and I’ve never had that, so I  assumed that a dandruff shampoo would cause problems, not solve them.

But Masa suggested I begin treating my hair with the Propolois shampoo, and then introduce the Miel, alternating use of the two products once my scalp had stabilised a little. 

I assumed that the Propolis shampoo would be less pleasant to use than the more prettily named products, and I was wrong! It’s gorgeous to use, with a lovely subtle scent, and is my favourite of all the shampoos. I still use it once a week, and the feel and the fragrance make hair-washing a pleasure and not a chore.

I recommend Leonor Grayl haircare because …

My Leonor Grayl products feel like a wonderful, luxurious treat and I get a big psychological boost and a pleasure rush every time I use them. This is exactly what I wanted.

The Leonor Greyl shampoos, and the treatment oil Régénérescence Naturelle were gentle but effective choices for my fine, fragile hair. My irritated scalp felt better within two weeks of using Leonor Greyl exclusively, and a follow-up session with Masa’s diagnostic camera in October showed that the skin was calm and healthy, and excitingly, little sprouts of new hair were erupting from follicles that I’d thought were doomed to only ever produce one strand.

When it comes to pricing, one woman’s ‘how bloody much?!’ is another woman’s mere bagatelle and never more so than in this time of racing inequality. When I went for my first consultation with Masa, I had figured out that the ‘buy two products get a third free’ promotion that evening would mean that I could budget to spend about £60 and get a lot of bang for buck.

And whilst the shampoos are more expensive than high street brands the formulations are so good (and my hair so fine!) it turns out that I don’t need to use very much product in each wash to get clean, soft and beautifully fragranced hair, so I have only re-upped once this year, when I introduced Bain Restructurant à la Banane to my routine. 

My Leonor Greyl routine – and Masa’s clever recommendations – have allowed me to enjoy my hair again – including those thinning areas and the increasing number of grey hairs! I consider that money well spent.

I think anyone whose hair is their crowning glory would enjoy celebrating their glorious locks with this product range, making Leonor Grayl a fabulous Treat Yo’self option for people with a big fat bee-yoo-ti-ful mane. 

I could be more aggressive in pursuit of fuller hair, but I have had the opportunity to try targeted systems aimed specifically at regrowth in the past, and although the results weren’t bad (and could have possibly been better if I’d been more emotionally committed to following a systematic regime), using products that continually reminded me that I thought of my hair as problematic was not good for me emotionally. And I don’t think it’s wise to enter into any kind of relationship – even with a product – from a position of unhappiness and insecurity.

But now, thanks to Masa and my Leonor Grayl products, when it comes to my hair I’m working from a healthy foundation, both physically and emotionally. And so I feel more inclined to experiment with products that claim to alleviate thinning, and intend to try something new in the next few weeks, secure in the knowledge that I’m happy with my hair as it is: feeling and looking good and smelling gorgeous! And any extra growth will just be a nice bonus and welcome surprise.

My first Leonor Grayl purchases were:

• Bain Traitant  à la Propolis – current RRP £36.00 for 200ml
• Shampooing au Miel (Gentle Volumising Shampoo) – current RRP £24.60 for 120ml
• Régenérescence Naturelle (invigorating and purifying oil rollerball) – current RRP £28.90 for 20ml

Find out more about Leonor Greyl here

Explore the Leonor Greyl range available at the French Pharmacy here

Want some advice from Masa?

Find Masa on Instagram here

Click here to discover Leonor Greyl treatments offered by Masa at Michaeljohn, Sloane Square.

Click here for a free in-store consultation with Masa at The French Pharmacy