Beetroot Hummus

A delicious, hair enhancing Summer inspired recipe.  Perfect for lunch or as an appetiser.  Carotenoids in beetroot make it beneficial for the effective growth of hair. It helps in maintaining glossy texture and improves the quality and thickness of hair. 

4 large raw beetroots

400g Jar of Chickpeas (you can use tinned but the Spanish chickpeas available from Planet Organic in a jar are bigger and more juicy!)

Grated zest of 1 orange

Juice of Lemon/Lime

1tsp Oil (olive or rapeseed)

Pinch of Ground Cumin

Pinch of sea salt (I love the Sal de Ibiza)

Pinch of White pepper

A little coriander

Preheat oven to 200°/180° Fan oven/Gas 6, lay the beetroots on to double thickness foil and create a parcel around them.  Roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven.  When the beetroots are cool enough to handle, peel them and put the flesh into a blender.  Drain the chickpeas, rinse and pat dry on kitchen towel to remove any excess water.  Add them to the blender along with the Lemon/Lime juice, orange zest, oil, cumin, salt & pepper.  Blitz until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and garnish with coriander.  Serve with a rainbow vegetable crudité

Adapted from The Detox Kitchen Bible

Try this nutritious Hair Enhancing recipe from Deliciously Ella

Buckwheat & Beetroot Risotto

Serves 4

5-6 Beetroot
2 Mugs of Buckwheat (400g)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
Salt & Pepper to taste

Start by roasting the beetroots whole, with their skins on in an oven set at 210° C (190° Fan oven).  They will take about an hour to cook.  You don’t need to add any olive oil.

Once the beetroots are nice and soft and the skin is becoming crispy, take the beetroots out of the oven and leave them to cool for a minute.

Place the buckwheat in a sieve and rinse with cold water until the water that comes through is totally clear.

Place the buckwheat in a saucepan with 3.5 mugs (1 litre) of boiling water.

Let the buckwheat boil for a minute or two, then let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes until all the water has evaporated and the buckwheat still has a little ‘bite’ and nuttiness, but not crunchy and not too soggy.

Peel the skin off the beetroots and place the flesh into a food processor with the lemon juice, coconut milk, salt & pepper to taste and blend.  The mixture should come out smooth.

 Once the buckwheat is cooked, stir in the beetroot mixture, heat through then serve.

HAIR AS A BAROMETER TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Our hair is a beautiful barometer for general health and wellness, showing us when we are depleted in nutrients like  Iron or if we are unwell, tired or stressed.

The causes of hair loss in women can be varied and complex: genetics; nutritional deficiencies; stress (both internal and environmental) and hormonal fluctuations can individually or all be at play. With the approach to the menopause typically beginning at 40, hormonal fluctuations may be implicated. Proper thyroid function is also crucial for the hair growth cycle. Stress and nutritional deficiencies should also be addressed. 

According to MY Nutritionist Jackie Mc Cusker* “The role of Iron deficiency in hair loss cannot be underestimated and it is important to have a serum ferritin blood test to assess whether non anaemic - iron deficiency is present and if so, corrected”. She continues “whilst Haemoglobin levels are routinely tested for anaemia, Serum Ferritin is a measure of the body’s iron stores and is not routinely measured in a full blood count”. This has particular importance for hair loss as “research has shown that a serum ferritin level of 70 ug/L is recommended for optimal hair growth” (1). In addition, the amino acid L-lysine is required for proper uptake of Iron uptake and vitamin C enhances increases it’s absorption.  Jackie ADVISES  “its important to remember that should your iron stores be depleted, it may take a minimum of 3-6 months of iron supplementation to bring the Serum Ferritin levels up to this trigger point”. 

ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT...

Iron absorption is greatly enhanced when taken with Vitamin C and supported by a diet rich in Vitamin C and B group vitamins. Proteins are very important, especially those rich in the amino acid, L-lysine, such as turkey, chicken, legumes including soybeans.  Foods rich in Vitamin C include Bell peppers, dark green leafy vegetables including broccoli, kale, spinach and Swiss chard. Iron rich foods include organic lean meat, vegetables such as beetroot, eggs, lentils and dried prunes.

When seeing your doctor to check if low iron may be a factor in hair loss, be sure to ask if your Serum Ferritin level is being measured as part of your blood tests. As Jackie mentioned, your haemoglobin can be absolutely fine but your iron stores low. Other factors that also need to be tested for are Thyroid Function and Sex Hormone imbalances (particularly important around times of major hormonal fluctuations from pregnancy to peri and post menopause, this will be covered more extensively in a later post).

In addition to these standard blood tests, a doctor may refer you to a specialist, if hormone (endocrinology) imbalances are suspected.  A qualified nutritionist, like Jackie, may suggest other testing (from Bloods to stool to hair to saliva) “to look for underlying imbalances and nutritional deficiencies that may be disturbing the hair growth cycle and the quality and condition of the hair. Achieving optimal health being the key”.

* Jackie McCusker Nutritionist BSc (Hons) Nutritional Therapy, mBANT,CNHC

Email: jackie.mccusker@sky.com Telephone Number: 07976 535675

1. Rushton DH (2002) Nutritional Factors and Hair Loss. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 27; 396-404

'Instinct told me the doctors were wrong'

by Catherine O'Brien for YOU Magazine first published 12th October 2014

Headaches, shaking, drowsiness – her son’s symptoms were deemed ‘probably nothing’ by his doctors but, as celebrity hair colourist Louise Galvin tells Catherine O’Brien, she knew they were signs that something was wrong. 

Louise at home with her children, from left, Ophelia, Daniel and Eleanor

For most mothers of small children, late afternoon is when squabbles break out and tiredness and hunger levels reach a tipping point. In short, it is not normally the best time to conduct an interview. But Louise Galvin has insisted that 4pm is fine, and sure enough, when I turn up at the allotted hour, all is calm. Ophelia, seven, is about to begin a Kumon maths session, while Daniel, four, and Eleanor, two, are quietly enjoying a stopgap biscuit before tea. As for Louise, she projects such serenity in her loose-fitting shirt and skinny jeans, you’d think she’d just come in from a yoga session, rather than a full day at work.

Louise’s days are spent at the London salon owned by her father Daniel Galvin – the stylist credited with giving Twiggy her blonde crop, Princess Diana her highlights and a whole host of celebrities, from Sharon Osbourne to Nicole Kidman, their camera-ready tresses. As a hair colourist par excellence herself, Louise’s own clients include Samantha Cameron, Patsy Kensit and Sophie Dahl – all of whom value her ability to deliver not only fabulous-looking hair, but also a five-star relaxation experience.

Daniel now ‘leads a normal life'

Creating an aura of tranquillity is part of Louise’s professional tool kit and, at first glance, it is something she has seamlessly replicated in her home. She and her television executive husband Charlie Bracken live in a sumptuously renovated six-storey house in Kensington, where the neutral colour palette and elegant furnishings provide the perfect backdrop for their collection of 1950s abstracts. To almost any other visitor, it is a peaceful haven, but today Louise has invited me here to talk publicly for the first time about a painfully dark chapter in their lives.

Two years ago, Charlie and Louise sat before a consultant paediatrician and heard the news that every parent dreads – their son Daniel had a brain tumour. ‘When I think back to that moment, my overriding memory is of my legs buckling and panic invading my whole body,’ says Louise. ‘And even now, when I hold Daniel close, I feel tears welling up inside and tell myself we are just so lucky not to have lost him.’

Daniel is Charlie and Louise’s first child together. Charlie, 47, has four teenagers from an earlier marriage and similarly Louise has Ophelia, so their son’s arrival in 2010 cemented their blended family. And, until he was 17 months old, Daniel was the picture of blossoming good health. But in the early summer of 2012, Louise noticed that, despite the fact he had already been walking for four months, her son was struggling for balance. ‘He was also sleepier than usual and shaky when he woke up in the mornings,’ she recalls. ‘And he kept saying that his head hurt.’

Louise had only recently given birth to Eleanor and they were about to go on holiday, but she was concerned enough to take Daniel to their GP, who assured her there was ‘nothing to worry about’. She also, while taking Eleanor for a postnatal hospital check-up, sought a second opinion about Daniel. Again she was reassured that his symptoms were ‘probably nothing’ and she should keep an eye on him and bring him back if she continued to have worries.

“Daniel was sleepier than usual and kept saying that his head hurt”

The family went to Ibiza, where they have a villa, but the anxious niggle at the back of Louise’s mind would not go away. And, although Daniel was not overly poorly, he wasn’t himself either. On their return to the UK, Louise tried a different tack – she sought the opinion of a podiatrist who agreed that Daniel’s walking was ‘not great’, but like the doctors Louise had seen previously, suggested a watch-and-wait strategy. Finally a chance conversation with a friend led Louise to paediatrician Dr Michael Markiewicz at London’s Cromwell Hospital. ‘He said, “You are right, something is wrong,” and although in one sense, it was the last thing I wanted to hear, it was also a huge relief to know that we were now going to exhaust every avenue,’ she says.

Dr Markiewicz organised blood tests followed by a CT scan, which showed hydrocephalus – once known as ‘water on the brain’. And to find the cause of the hydrocephalus, Daniel then had an MRI scan, which showed a growth the size of a tangerine in his cerebellum – the part of the brain that plays a crucial role in motor control.

‘As soon as he got the results, he called us in and told us Daniel was going to need urgent surgery,’ says Louise. ‘And that was when our world shifted on its axis.’ Three days later, Daniel’s tumour was removed by an expert team in a six-hour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The best news – which came with test results the following week – was that it was benign. 

Some of the incredible work done at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Louise and family outside their Kensington home

But still Daniel faced a long road to recovery. He needed to learn to sit, stand and walk all over again. He also developed posterior fossa syndrome, a temporary but distressing condition which, in Daniel’s case, caused spikes in his body temperature and mood swings. ‘He wouldn’t eat or drink and didn’t want anyone near him, which was very upsetting,’ says Louise. Six weeks later, as the family celebrated Christmas, Daniel finally had a smile on his face. ‘Only then did it feel like we were getting our little boy back at last.’

Almost two years on, Daniel is a happy, chatty boy who loves nothing better than running around with his sisters.

He is still working on his fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil, but otherwise, says Louise, ‘he leads a normal life’. However, the worrying times for Louise and Charlie are not completely over. Daniel has needed ongoing monitoring because surgeons were not able to remove his entire tumour. A tiny – 5mm – part of tissue remains, because, Louise explains, ‘it was in too awkward a place for them to get it out safely’. It means that Daniel must have regular scans to check for any regrowth – and initially the tumour did grow, although it has now stalled. 

Louise with her husband Charlie

‘As each appointment approaches, I have sleepless nights, and the most frustrating thing of all is that we know this could have been avoided,’ she says. Doctors have told Louise and Charlie that had there been an MRI scanner in the operating theatre they would have been able to scan Daniel during surgery and press ahead with the delicate removal process, ensuring that he came out tumour-free. Theatre MRI scanners are available in some other UK cities, but there isn’t one in Great Ormond Street. ‘It’s all down to funding,’ says Louise. ‘They need £2 million and I am going to be relentless in raising that money so that other children and parents don’t have to suffer in the way we have.’

With her huge hazel eyes and honey-kissed hair, Louise may look irrepressibly girlish, but she talks like a woman who means business. ‘I’m a natural optimist, and professionally I’ve always relied on my training and experience,’ she says. ‘But I’m also at that age where I’ve started to appreciate the value of my intuition.’

Now in her mid-40s, Louise is the eldest of Daniel and Mavis Galvin’s three children. Her parents met while working as stylists in the same Knightsbridge salon and by the time Louise came along, Daniel, the son of a humble barber, was making his name as a protégé of the legendary Leonard. Louise’s childhood was always tinged with glamour – as a small girl, she remembers her father driving a Rolls-Royce – but she also grew up understanding that hard work was paramount. When she was nine, she remembers her father coming home in a beaten-up yellow Toyota and explaining that he’d sold the Roller because all his money was going into starting up his own business. ‘My dad is someone who would never spend more than he earns,’ she explains.

Consequently, although home for Louise and her brothers Daniel Junior, now 43, and James, now 39, was a luxurious five-bedroomed house in Hertfordshire and they attended private schools, they didn’t have a family holiday abroad for seven years. ‘And when we did finally go away to a hotel, we were banned from touching the mini bar,’ she recalls.

“Even now, when I hold Daniel close, I feel tears welling up inside ”

While her brothers were mischievous, Louise was the responsible big sister. ‘I was a good girl who did her homework, respected authority and always did what she was told.’ From the age of 11, she worked in her father’s salon on Saturdays, starting as the cloakroom girl and eventually graduating to washing hair and assisting senior stylists. Although academically able (she acquired a degree in literature and sociology in her early 30s), she left school at 16 and initially worked for public relations guru Lynne Franks before, along with her brothers, gravitating towards the family business.

Louise is extremely close to her mother (who gave up hairdressing to raise her own children, but has always played a crucial background role in the running of the salon). ‘When Daniel was ill, she moved in with us and I couldn’t have got through it without her,’ Louise says. But her relationship with her father sounds more complex. ‘I love him very much, but I have never been a daddy’s girl. He was tough on me always. When I started out in the salon he instructed the receptionists that they were not to book me clients – I had to build my reputation by recommendation. With my brothers, it was the opposite – he wanted them kept busy all the time. I can’t explain why he was like that. There is a lot of him in me – we share the same drive – and maybe that is why we clash sometimes. But I still totally respect him.’

Daniel playing piano

Her father’s exacting stance paid off in terms of Louise’s professional success. She built a network of clients and for a while her career took her to Canada, where she set up a Galvin franchise and trained a team of colourists. Back in London, she launched her own award-winning products – collaborating with a French chemist to banish all ‘nasties’, including parabens, petrochemicals and silicone, which, she points out, destroys our hair’s natural ability to shine. Her Sacred Locks range of shampoos and conditioners is made using only natural ingredients and has been endorsed by many of Louise’s celebrity clients, including Cara Delevingne and Amanda Holden.

On a personal level, however, things didn’t always go so smoothly. In the mid-noughties, Louise had a brief, disastrous marriage which fell apart two weeks after the birth of Ophelia. Again, Louise’s father took a tough line. ‘I was back at work after eight weeks’ maternity leave. I had a mortgage to pay and he made it clear I had to be self-sufficient.’ It was a crunch time for Louise and she sought counselling to get her through it. ‘I have learnt that I don’t have to be gung ho and that I should give myself time to think things through.’

After three years of single motherhood, she met Charlie through a mutual friend. ‘We both had a bit of a Jerry Springer story,’ she says, alluding obliquely to their earlier marriages. ‘But we are also both positive and forward-looking. On our fifth date, he said, “I think this is it,” and I felt the same. He is everything I ever wanted.’

“ I’ll raise money relentlessly so that other parents don’t suffer in the way we have”

Charlie and Louise celebrated their marriage with a lavish party at Claridge’s five years ago, and today, like those of most parents, their lives are a constant juggling act. Cambridge graduate Charlie is the financial brains behind cable TV giant Liberty Global and Louise continues to combine her salon work and products business with motherhood. But coping with the trauma of Daniel’s illness has focused their priorities and brought them even closer together. ‘We don’t take a single day for granted,’ says Louise. ‘I try to be relaxed and I don’t want to mollycoddle, but I’m so relieved that I kept searching for an answer to Daniel’s illness. That’s what I truly learned through this experience. I’m grateful that my son is alive and I’m also more determined than ever to trust my instincts.’

To help Louise raise money for an MRI scanner for Great Ormond Street Hospital, go to justgiving.com/Louise-Galvin

Read more:

• Louise Galvin is fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC)

Magical Manhattan Moments

There are many truly magical moments in life - I’ve had lots of those - they make all the hard days worthwhile.  If you’re starting your own business, treasure these occasions.

Celebrate them.  I do.

Here’s one magical moment I remember so clearly – and it took place in Manhattan.

By 2004, my client list as a colourist had become international and I was spending one week out of every six working in NYC.  Many clients from that time were Brits then based in the USA -from Plum Sykes (Vogue) to Alice Ryan (luxury brands events/PR for Dior, Valentino, Ralph Lauren), Camilla Long (Sunday Times) and writer/model Sophie Dahl.

Suddenly Bergdorf Goodman (*swoons*) decided to launch four boutique brands, including my “Sacred Locks” and there was going to be a terribly chic cocktail party to present us to their top tier clients. I booked myself into a room at Soho House in the Meatpacking District downtown.  I was unbelievably excited (but trying not to show it because they don’t go in for that sort of thing in Manhattan).  Even though I’d bought a suitcase of clothes with me I decided this was worth a bit of retail therapy.

A short cab ride later I arrived at Madison Avenue and walked straight into Celine and bought a beautiful round neck, soft-soft- cashmere, cropped sleeve sweater.  Then I took a little walk and saw a pair of gorgeous Manolo Blahnik two-tone shoes in black and taupe.  I brought a pencil skirt with me from London - it just hit my knees. The whole look made me feel so very glamorous.

The evening at Bergdorf’s passed in a whirl of conversations, explanations about the ethos and story behind my products and lots of photographs.  Every so often I would sneak happy loving glances at the long shelf with my beautiful products on it, elegantly lit by mini spotlights.

 It was a night to remember.

For a few years I flew back and forth, regularly, between London and NYC, building up a strong client list of top magazine editors and celebrities passing through town.  I made many close friendships during that time and had many wonderful experiences.

 It’s not easy being trans-continental.  It looks so glorious in vintage Grace Kelly movies but the realities are constant jet-lag and a sense of not quite belonging in either place after a while.  In the end, the universe made the decision for me.  I became pregnant with Ophelia and decided to focus on building a nest back in London and re-claiming my life.

Two more children (Daniel and Eleanor) later, I travel a lot less than I used to, but my Manhattan Moments are so clear in my memory and I do treasure them, because so much of what I learned in those years travelling back and forth from London to NYC has informed who I am today.

______________________________________________________________

A-List colourist Louise Galvin has tended the beautiful locks of many famous and fashionable beauties, including Sophie Dahl, Plum Sykes and Patsy Kensit, at her father Daniel Galvin’s salon. Now Louise brings her own Carbon Neutral, natural ingredients haircare product line to the global ecommerce market with the launch of LouiseGalvin.com.

Editor's Diary: Louise Galvin's Launch of Sacred Locks Haircare

Taken from YOUMAGBLOG first published Wednesday 4 June

Louise and Me

Thus a select group of women gathered at the elegant London home of banker Marisa Drew to discuss all things hair with haircare entrepreneur, Louise Galvin.  Daughter of the legendary Daniel, Louise has had tricology in her DNA since birth but even with all her accumulated knowledge - along with access to the best haircare products in the world - she still despaired at the state of her typically fine, English locks.  'No matter how often I washed it, or with what expensive product, my hair still looked lank and lifeless after a day or two,' she told me.

The haircare panel (from left) nutritionist Jackie McCusker; health & beauty journalist Suzanne Duckett; Louise Galvin; chemist Christina Hayden

So she set out - with chemist Christina Hayden - to find out why.  Their research showed that the silicone used in most haircare products (which gives hair its sleekness) and the parabens (a cheap preservative) gave the hair, with repeated use, a coated, brittle effect.  The more you wash, the more coated it becomes.  Between them they set out to create a range containing no silicone, no parabens, and no sulphates (another baddie in hair products).  

The Sacred Locks range

Watermelon & tomato canapes by Honestly Healthy

Thus over champagne and delicious canapes (with hair-boosting ingredients!) supplied by Honestly Healthy, we celebrated the launch of Louise's pioneering new good-for-you Sacred Locks range.  It makes sense, after all, that if we care about what food we put into our bodies, we should care about what we apply to our scalp and all those tens of thousands of hungry little hair follicles that reside there.

We're all now staunch advocates of Louise's products!  (PS her tip: if you want to rid your hair of its coating of nasties before switching to her much-gentler range, give your hair one light wash ... in Fairy Liquid!).

Amanda Wakeley with Marisa Drew

Stunning orchids at the event

Louise & Amanda Wakeley