I have a hell of a lot of empathy for Lindsay Lohan. And you never hear me say that. But Lindsay has beaten the crap out of her hair over the years, in addition to living a pretty hard life – by choice. Thanks to frequent dye jobs and extensions (likely coupled with poor dietary standards and heavy alcohol and drug use) her hair is so thin that you can see her scalp. Whenever I see photos of Lindsay I’ve always been impressed with how thick and pretty her hair is, but it turns out that’s just because of all her extensions. Which is one of the best ways to make sure you keep on losing your hair – and of course it rarely looks good up close.

Lindsay Lohan is losing her hair at an alarming rate!

After years of abusing various hair products — dyes & extensions, etc. — the Mean Girls actress’ scalp is starting to show.

And that’s not all — Lohan usually leaves a trail of red hair wherever she goes!

“Lindsay has done so much to her hair, it’s a wonder she hasn’t lost it all!” an insider told American tabloid the National Enquirer. “She overprocesses it and gets too many extensions, which often rip her real hair out.

“You know Lindsay has been around when you see these long red hairs everywhere.”

[From Showbiz Spy]

Ick. The trail of long red hairs everywhere made me think of Tina Fey’s comment about Paris Hilton’s hair looking like a Fraggle. She said when Paris was hosting SNL they’d “find what just looked like nasty wads of Barbie hair on the stairs.” Shedding some hair is inevitable, and if it’s long it’s worse. But there’s a line between normal and disgusting.

Last summer – I remember, a fateful day in August – I decided my naturally light blonde hair had gotten a bit too dark, and thus it was time to do something about it. Having never dyed my hair and being warned to fear it by my mother, I decided to go with a safer option. Well, what I thought was a safer option. I bought some Sun In, which claimed it would naturally and safely lighten my hair. I followed the directions on the box, and to my delight it looked great. Until a few days later when I decided it wasn’t quite evenly light. So I did a little more. And a bit more three weeks later when I thought it had darkened again, even though the box says the lightening is permanent. And a few more times after that.

Then I noticed my hair started shedding a lot more than usual. I mean all-out falling out. What I’d thought was natural was actually hydrogen peroxide without the advantage of immediate deep conditioning like when you dye your hair. And while I was trying to play it safe and not overdo it by spraying my hair gradually, I was just gradually frying it instead of all at once, which actually made it a little less obvious and easier to ignore.

So I’ve spent the last year obsessively deep conditioning my hair while trying every product on the market to thicken it. Between being so weak, light colored (thanks Sun In!) and thin, I’m left with just a light crop of toddler fuzz – albeit a long one. It’s definitely growing in thicker, but it’ll take years to grow it long enough that it’s noticeable. I stare in envy at girls on the train with thick, lustrous hair – the exact same kind I used to have. Really, hair can rebel against you for any number of reasons. In Lindsay’s case, it’ll ultimately be a lot better if she lays off the extensions and deals with the fact that it’s going to look thin and mousy for a while but will eventually be a lot healthier. Ug. I just had sympathy for Lohan. I feel sorta queasy now.

Here’s Lohan and her newly-blonde extensions on July 31st. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .