Has Selma Blair Beaten Postpartum Hair Loss?

Selma Blair’s postpartum hair loss is over!

Selma Blair is one of the few celebrities that is refreshingly open about her experience with postpartum hair loss after giving birth to her son Arthur on July 25, 2011. About three months after having the baby, the actress told People magazine, ”This is so not glamorous, but it’s true - I need to take longer showers so that I can collect the hair that falls out and throw it away so I don’t clog the drain. Why do actresses never talk about that? It just started falling out at the three-month mark. And I’m not a girl who likes extensions, so Selma’s going to be bald!”

I can totally sympathize with the fear of going bald – even though I’ve never had a baby! I admire the fact that Selma didn’t bother to cover up her temporary wide part, and she was too busy doing more important stuff – like taking care of her new baby.

This first photo was taken in mid-March 2012, and it appears she has beaten postpartum hair loss and her lost hair is starting to come back. She made it through the ordeal without going bald, and without relying on extensions or Joan Rivers Great Hair Day, which I would have used, since I’m apparently more vain than Selma. If she used a hair loss cover-up product and didn’t talk about her hair loss, no one probably would have noticed. But I’m glad she’s talking about it so that other new moms don’t feel so worried if it happens to them, since it’s totally normal.

Why does postpartum hair loss occur? When you’re pregnant, hairs that would have normally been shed stay on your head longer than normal due to higher hormone levels in your body. A few months after giving birth 40-50% of women experience excessive hair loss as estrogen levels plummets and many of the hairs hit the telogen (resting phase) at once. Postpartum hair loss is also called postpartum telogen effluvium, and the shedding normally peaks at three to four months after giving birth. Six to twelve months after giving birth, most women find their hair returns to normal. Selma Blair had her baby a little over six months ago, so her hair is already filling in nicely. However, some women report that their hair never returns to its pre-pregnancy state after giving birth, and sometimes having a baby can kick in genetic hair loss (Androgenetic Alopecia).

Let’s take a look at Selma Blair’s hair throughout the different phases of her life…

Here’s another photo taken very recently to show she has beaten postpartum hair loss, and her hair is on its way back to normal.

This photo was taken recently, and from afar it might appear she has hair loss, but up close you can see she just has gray roots. Again I admire an actress that doesn’t feel compelled to rush out and touch up her roots every week.

This is a picture of Selma Blair before she was pregnant, so you can see how her hair normally looks.

A very pregnant Selma Blair.

Another pregnancy photo of Selma.

Here’s Selma Blair and her baby Arthur. It’s hard to tell if she’s experiencing hair loss in this picture.

In this photo you can clearly see the postpartum hair loss Selma was talking about.

You can see her slightly wider part here.

You can see Selma’s temporary hair loss here too. If her hair wasn’t black it wouldn’t even be that noticeable.

I’m happy Selma Blair seems to already be on the road to getting all of her temporarily lost hair back. Have you experienced postpartum hair loss? Did all of your hair come back? Do you have any tips for coping with it?