The effects of perming hair
Did you know that heroes in ancient Greece used harsh soaps and bleaches to lighten and redden their hair to the colour that was identified with honour and courage? In fact, even first-century Romans pre-ferred dark hair, this was done with a dye con-cocted from boiled walnuts and leeks.
Things have not changed much over the centuries. More and more youngsters are experimenting with styles, going blonde or simply curling or straightening their hair. The worst hit are probably models and actresses, who have to be at out-door shoots or work under bright lights, and are prone to dandruff and probably have to get their hair styled every second day. But, perming, dyeing and straightening hait seem to be becoming increasingly popular. But, before going in for these, it is best to understand the risks involved.
Heat styling products like curling and straightening irons can dry out even oily hair if they’re used too much. Follow the instructions carefully, and don’t use them on wet hair or high settings, and give your hair a vacation from styling once in a while. Ask your trichologist for advice on using heat styling products.
Chemical treatments can also harm hair if they’re not used properly. If you decide you want a chemical treatment to colour, straighten, or curl your hair, it’s best to get it done by pro-fessionals. Stylists who are trained in applying chemicals to hair will be able to evaluate your hair type and decide which chemicals will work best for you.
Here are some things to be aware of when getting chemical treatments:
• Relaxers: Relaxers (straighteners) work by breaking chemical bonds in curly hair. Relaxers containing lye can cause skin irritation and hair breakage. And, don’t use relaxers, or any other hair treatment, if your scalp is irritated. If you decide to keep straightening your hair, you’ll need to wait at least six weeks before your next treatment to protect your hair. Relaxers can cause hair breakage when used over a period of time, even when they’re used properly. Using blow-dryers, curling or straightening irons, or colour on chemically relaxed hair can also increase the risk of damage.
• Perms: Perms take straight hair and make it curly. The risks are similar to those associated with relaxers.
• Colour: These are types of colour: Permanent (which means the colour stays in your hair until it grows out) and semi-permanent (the colour washes out after a while). Some semi-permanent colouring treatments, like henna, are fairly safe and easy to use at home. Some people get a condition called contact dermatitis (an allergic reaction with a rash) from henna and other ‘natural’ products, so be sure to test a small area first. Other colour treatments –especially permanent treatments –can cause hair loss, burning, redness, irritation.
• Perming and straightening: Girls with curly hair want it straight and silky and those gifted with the latter want them curled. Salons are flooded with clients making requests for various hairdos.
However, many people have to settle for damaged and destroyed hair. When hair is straightened or curled, tremendous heat is applied in order to change its natural shape. This converts the protein cystine (of which the hair is composed) to cystine and then manipulated into a certain look, before changing back. However, in the process some amount of cystic acid is generated. This process results in 20 percent to perm your hair or get it straightened, make sure you don’t do so too frequently.
• Hair colour: Regular streaking and dyeing can cause cumulative damage, although it may take years before there are obvious signs of hair breakage. Permanent chemical dyes may damage the hair by breaking through the cuticle shield to invade the cortex. They may also cause an auto immune reaction leading to alopecia or a skin disease called dermatitis. Instead of using a permanent dye, try a rinse or a temporary dye.
The incidence of lawsuits seeking compensation for damage caused by chemical abuse is increasing alarmingly and the role of trichologist as an expert witness is increasingly coming into play. In today’s world of fashion, nobody likes to abstain from all the look enhancing treatments and hence it is important to remember to take care of your hair, just like your skin and your body. Just as you build up your body, you have to build up your hair ideally seven times stronger to withstand all the abuse on it.
It’s important to get a tricho check before you go for any treatment. So as t find out about the strength of your hair. Your trichologist shall then suggest methods to take care of your hair. You may be too fashionable fir your hair likes Consult your trichologist for advice.
Choosing the right shampoo
How a shampoo cleans your hair is what makes you fall in love with it or wish you’d never purchased it. Some shampoos are aggressive and not only sweep away dirt, but also your hair’s protective sebum-in fact, some are so aggressive that they can damage your hair’s cuticle layer. Others contain high doses of moisturizer- too much, perhaps, for your hair. To help you find a shampoo that works for your hair type, many manufacturers creates formulas for specific hair types.
Daily or normal shampoos are middle-of the road shampoos with a balance of cleaning and moisturizing properties. Moisturizing shampoos contains less detergent than other shampoos. They also boast a generous dose of conditioners to attract and retain moisture, making them ideal for dry, damaged, permed, or colour-treated hair.
Deep cleansing or oily hair shampoo contain a concentrated dose of detergents to remove impurities and oils. These often rough up the cuticle, for this reason, only the oiliest of the oily among you should use these-experiments first with normal hair shampoos. If they don’t leave your hair as clean as you’d like it, then try an oily hair formula. Speciality formulas include shampoos to add body to limp hair, make grey hair sparkle, or coddle coloured strands.
When washing hair, concentrate shampoo at the roots and allow shampoo to slide down the hair shaft as it is being rinsed out. Lathering the entire head creates tangles and dries out the hair’s fragile ends.
Working with your hair and hairstyle
You probably have an idea of what styles your hair can and can’t pull off. For instance, if your hair is stringy-soft, there’s no way it will look kittenish worn halfway down your back. Likewise, if your hair is incredibly thick, it won’t be sleek and swingy in a short, one-length bob; instead, you’ll look like someone put a mushroom on your head.
Icy blonde, Scandinavian hair is usually fine in texture, most Central European hair is medium and Asian and Latin American hair is often strong and coarse.
You can attempt to overlook your hair type completely-if you can find a hairdresser who will let you. Most stylists, however, know that your hair type plays an integral role in determining which styles will and won’t work for you. When a stylist talks about hair type, he or she is referring to a few different elements: how fine or fat in diameter your individual strands are, how many of these hairs you have on your head, and whether the strands are straight, wavy, or curly.
It is most likely that you already have an idea of what your hair can and can’t do, as well as the hairstyles that suit you best.
Ordinary versus salon shampoos
I have tried every salon shampoo around, as well as all of the chemist and supermarket brands, and as much as I hate to admit this, the salon. Formulas are generally better than the mass-market versions. After doing some research, I think I know why this is: to keep prices down, mass-market shampoos use cheap ingredients, which are usually harsh and lack the finesse of high-quality, ones. For example, I have yet to find a mass-market shampoo that doesn’t use harsh surfactants-usually sodium lauryl sulphate, but sometimes sodium layreth sulphate or ammonium laurel sulphate. One of these detergents is usually the first or second ingredient listed, meaning there is a high concentration of the ingredient. Salon products, on the other hand, are more likely to use gentle, more expensive detergents, such as sodium cocoyl isetheoinate, methyl cocoyl taurate, cocamidopropyl betaine, or cocamidopropylamine oxide. Many salon products also bury detergent in the middle of the ingredient list, meaning the shampoo isn’t as harsh and is less likely to strip hair of natural oils and cuticle bits.
Yet not everyone wants to spend too much on something that will be on their hair only a few seconds. To “healthy up” a mass-market shampoo, dilute it (try one part water to two parts shampoo) or use the recipe below to make it a bit less harsh, and a bit more conditioning.
If you’re on a limited budget, go ahead and buy a cheaper shampoo and reserve the rest of your hairdo cash for a top-of-the-range conditioner-a product that can make a huge difference to how your tresses behave.
Semi-home- made shampoo
• 2 teaspoon almond, sesame, avocado, or macadamia nut oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut milk or cow’s milk
• ¼ cup shampoo of choice (you can also use an equal amount of liquid castile soap
Combine ingredients in a bowl and whisk for 2 or 3 minutes, or add the ingredients to a blender and mix on low for 25 seconds. To use, wet hair and massage appropriate amount of the mixture into your roots. Rinse well. If desired, follow with your favorite conditioner. This makes enough for two shampoos. The remaining portion can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Dandruff
One of the major disorders of the scalp and is known as Pityriasis. Like skin, being shed and replaced, in the same way the uppermost layer of the scalp continuously sheds the scale. If dandruff is neglected for a long time, it leads to baldness. It is generally believed to be infectious and is considered contagious which may spread by the use of common combs, brushes, towels, soaps and other articles. Sluggish condition of scalp, poor blood circulation, poor hygiene and deficient diet are some other causes of hair dandruff.
Dandruff is of two types:
Dry dandruff and
Waxy type dandruff.
Dry dandruff is characterized by an itchy scalp where small white scales usually attached to the scalp or loosely scattered in the hair, shed off.
The waxy or greasy type of dandruff is yellow in color, scaliness of the epidermis mixed with the sebum oozing from scalp, causes scales to stick to the scalp in patches causing itchiness. If the greasy scales are torn off, bleeding or oozing of sebum may follow. Dandruff should be treated immediately on finding the slightest signs of its existence.
More protein, less hair?
LEAN, MEAN AND BALD
You went on a high-protein, low-carb diet to lose the flab and ended up losing hair instead! What’s the deal.
It turns out there may be a link. A study in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of medicine showed that vitamin deficiencies (particularly of B vitamins, zinc, and . iron) have been associated with hair loss. “On diet, especially low- carb, high-protein diets, there is alack of vitamins and minerals,” says Wilma Bergfeld, M.D., the lead author of the study and head of clinical research in the Cleveland Clinic’s department of dermatology. “These Unbalanced and quick diets tend to result if the weight loss is 20 pounds or grater”.
Best remedy:- Take daily multivitamin during and after the diet. Or, for the daring among you, try some fruits and vegetables.
Fine?Flyaway/Limp Locks
Fine hair is more sparsely populated over the scalp, has a much thinner diameter under the miscroscope and is more often than not fair in color. Due to the texture, it is difficult to get any ‘volume’ or lasting style into the hair.
What Causes This ?
Genes mostly. Many of the factors contributing to fine hair are inherited ie how much hair is on your head, and how large or small the diameter of your hair strands are.
Other factors affecting may include illness, post-pregnancy hair thinning or poor diet.
It’s often a balancing act living with fine hair. Too much moisture will weigh the hair down making it look limp, whereas too much heat or dry conditions will cause fly-away hair.
Fine hair is also easily damaged as the protective cuticle is not as thick as in other hair types.
Some Tips
Try going to bed with your hair in loose braids with a bit of styling gel or mousse in it. In the morning simply unbraid and run your fingers through it for a touseled look. Or try the same with a bun in the top of you head. Again make sure this is not tightly held in place all night. — Hair Braids
Add some color ! Adding color can plump up the hair structure. But more importantly, skillful coloring can break-up the one dimensional flatness of one solid overall color giving the illusion of more texture and bounce. — Hair Color
Perhaps think about a gentle perm. — Hair Perm
Rinse hair very thoroughly after washing and conditioning. — Hair rinse
While styling, use volumizing products such as mousses, but limit them to the root area of your hair only.
Don’t try blow-drying when your hair is still very wet. Towel-dry your hair first. — Hair Dryers
Blow dry by holding your hair up with your fingers at the roots and aiming the dryer at the roots of your hair.
Basic Home Coloring Advice
1) Only use a semi-permanent hair color first. If you use a permanent color and it goes wrong you might find that the inexpensive box you bought at the chemist ending up costing you ten times as much at the salon in ‘colour correction’. With semi’s you can wash them back out
again if you make a mistake. Lots of hair coloring tips
2) Choose the color carefully. Opt for a lighter shade than the manufacturers say because the color almost always comes out darker than indicated on the box. Check it against your skin tone to see if it suits you.
3) Read the instructions through twice and follow them to the letter.
4) Don’t skip the strand test because you want it done that night. What if it goes wrong ? You’ll be sitting in a hat instead of dining out or partying the night away. Also of you have an allergy you may end up with an irritated scalp or worse.
5) Never mix products as you may end with with a harmful chemical reaction.
6) Make sure your watch or clock is working before you start. Timing is essential with home coloring products.
7) Have someone around who can help you out with any patches at the back of your head which maight be difficult to reach.
8) Rub vasaline round your hair line before you start. This will stop the product from staining your skin.
9) Time it exactly and then wash thoroughly with a gentle shampoo and then condition.
Related Topics:
Henna for hair
Greying hair
More on hair care
No More bad Hair Days!
Great solutions to get the look you want.
1. Get it straight – For a smooth, sleek look, try shape contouring nonsticky gel which will provide “hold? and even protect hair from heat styling. Don’t expect it to iron out the curliest of locks, but it will tame wavy hair into submission.
2. Pump up the Volume: Thickening lotions can plump up thin or flat locks - without any odor or sticky residue. Tip: Lift your hair up and away with a brush, and dry from underneath for maximum fullness.
3. Reduce frizz and flyaway: Negative ion emitting hair dryers claim to neutralize the “evil? positive ones responsible for your hair’s unruliness.
4. Curl Care: Anti-frizz creams have a hydrating, defining effect and smoothes the hair cuticle.
Watch - Hair Style Gallery and Hair Spray and gels
Back Combing
Hair are made fluffy by combing hair from end to the roots, it is called back combing. The hair have to be back combed before a switch is fixed on them. Divide hair in three parts and the tie the central one with a hairband. Turn the hair of the right with back combing at the back in two-two inches. Now do the same with the front hair, means take two-two inches of hair and turn them towards ears by back combing. Do it at the other side too.
Then collect all the hair at the neck and pin them up. Make the pressed hair fluffy form the back of comb, so that all the hair on the head look round shape and fluffy. If you have heavy hair, make a lock at the neck of the back-combed hair. Light hair can be folded around a switch. Make tails if long dense hair and roll them around a switch, it will look more attractive.
A small hairline and fluffy combing looks good on a broad face and a long hairline with hair made fluffy at the sides look good.
Open the back combed hair carefully so that they don’t break.
Do the combing in the right manner where you have done back combing, they will not break. Don’t pull the rubber band, cut it with scissors, hair will not break.
Learn about Routine Hair Care, Hair Brushing Methods, Hair Style Gallery, All About Haircut, Hair rinse and Washing hair tips.