Anabel Kingsley has spoken publicly about her long history of eating disorders, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, revealing that bulimia once caused her thick hair to fall out in handfuls.
The 42-year-old, who leads the Philip Kingsley hair clinics in London and New York as well as the family’s haircare brand, said her polished public image had concealed years of private struggle.
“To the outside world I’m cool, calm and collected, immaculately dressed and perfectly coiffed at all times,” she said, describing how difficult it had been to reconcile that image with her mental health problems.
Kingsley said her eating disorder began after she was sent to boarding school at the age of 13, where she was bullied about her weight and isolated by other pupils. She recalled surviving largely on fruit, vegetables and tea because she avoided the dining room.
Her parents eventually removed her from the school after a drama teacher raised concerns that she was being bullied and was not eating. Although she received psychiatric and psychotherapeutic support, she said the experience continued to affect her.
At university, Kingsley’s bulimia became more severe. She said her hair, which had once been “gloriously thick”, began coming away in handfuls and was reduced to wispy strands.
Her father, the late trichologist Philip Kingsley, was distressed by the change. Kingsley recalled that he warned her: “Your hair is going to fall out.”
She said the loss later became especially painful because her long, thick hair had formed part of her identity. Despite her professional expertise in hair and scalp health, she acknowledged that she still experiences periods of restrictive eating when she is under stress.
Kingsley said she now has a healthier relationship with food and her body, while stressing that recovery is not necessarily a straightforward process. She hopes speaking openly will challenge the assumption that someone with an eating disorder must look visibly unwell.
“You don’t have to look sick to be suffering,” she said, explaining that she had been a healthy weight during the worst period of her bulimia.
Why rapid weight loss can affect hair
Kingsley has also warned that dramatic weight loss, including weight loss associated with GLP-1 medicines, can trigger excessive shedding even when the medication itself is not the direct cause.
She has described the condition as telogen effluvium, in which the body prioritises essential organs when it is deprived of nutrients and temporarily reduces the resources sent to hair follicles. She said shedding can appear around three months after the event that caused it.
According to Kingsley, deficiencies in protein and ferritin, the body’s stored form of iron, can have a significant impact on hair. She has said improvement may take between six and 12 weeks after nutritional problems are corrected, reflecting the length of the hair-growth cycle.
The consultant trichologist said temporary shedding can settle as the body recovers, but advised people experiencing hair loss to seek professional assessment rather than assuming it is simply a consequence of treatment or dieting.
