Ricki Lake Updates Us on Her Hair Journey, Love, and Life Right Now

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

It was New Year’s Day 2020 when Ricki Lake posted her fresh buzz cut on Instagram: “Liberated and Free, Me. First things first, I am not sick. (THANK GOD.) I am not having a midlife crisis, nor am I having a mental breakdown,” she wrote, “though I have been suffering. Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years… I have been struggling with hair loss for most of my adult life.”

Before that moment, Lake says, she had worn extensions or a hairpiece and “had tried steroid injections, PRP [platelet-rich plasma injections], supplements, and Propecia [a prescription for hair loss in men; it isn’t FDA-approved for women]. I was desperate,” she shares. “It’s not that these things did nothing, but they didn’t help enough.”

Lake has androgenetic alopecia, a common hair-loss condition that affects up to 50 percent of people. She also experienced many of the major triggers for shedding throughout the years, including pregnancy, stress, hormonal shifts, yo-yo dieting, and very frequent styling and color-processing sessions on the sets of Hairspray, her talk show, Dancing with the Stars, and more.

“I expected to be rocking a bald head from that day on. But then I heard from Lars [Harklinikken, founder of the eponymous hair-growth brand],” Lake says. “I went to his clinic for a consultation, which is so important. He’ll tell you if you’re a candidate and whether he can help you or not.” Harklinikken felt he could help Lake, and so she followed his protocol and started to see substantial growth over the past few years. Here, her joyful story:

First things first: What’s your current haircare routine?

I don’t color my hair anymore. I don’t wear extensions. I don’t use hot tools very often. And what I think is the biggest piece of all: I don’t stress about it. My hair doesn’t consume me like it once did.

Now I have this kind of French cut, and I use the Harklinikken products exactly as instructed. The Hair Gain Extract, I believe, is the game changer. I apply it to my scalp every night. Then I wash my hair almost every day with the Balancing Shampoo and use the Hair Hydrating Mask as a leave-in conditioner. I’ve been doing this very consistently; it’s working for me, and I don’t want to screw it up!

What do you say to people when they’re at their lowest because of hair loss?

I get it; I used to be so acutely aware of my hair loss. I could be sitting here talking and I’d feel a hair drop. It sounds crazy, but women who struggle with this know exactly what I’m talking about. We’re so fixated on seeing our scalp in the mirror.

But once I “came out” about my hair-loss secret, I started to see so many other people talking about it too, particularly on social media. I follow these amazing women like @whlpnetwork and @hairlossbonita. They’re so inspiring and very helpful. The fact that I’ve also been able to help people on their hair journeys has given me purpose.

What was it like to keep your hair loss a secret for decades?

It was soul-crushing because I normally share everything about my life. It tortured me in private for a very long time. So shaving my head and telling the world that this is what I had been going through was a relief and a huge part of accepting who I am.

And since then, everything has come to me tenfold. I’ve fallen madly in love. I’m in this incredibly happy, healthy marriage. Does my back ache when I wake up in the morning? Yes. Do I have an extra 20 pounds on me? Yes. But, overall, I’m the happiest 55-year-old you’ve ever met. I’ve accomplished so much in my career and built this really special home in Malibu with money I earned myself. I don’t come from money; everything I’ve achieved I’ve done on my own. Now I get to do my documentary film work and play with my hot man.

I have been to the darkest of dark places, like when I lost my partner to suicide almost seven years ago, so I have an appreciation for being in a place of joy and abundance. As I say in my documentary, you have to have some of the agony to have the ecstasy.

Hair Gain Extract

Balancing Shampoo

Hair Hydrating Crème

You Might Also Like

• Watch Oprah Talk About Longevity with Dr. Peter Attia

• Why Are Americans So Bad at Getting Old?

• Yes, You Really Can Make Your Skin Cells Younger