Bad Hair Day

Having a bad hair day? I hear you. It’s not always the fault of the weather though. Sometimes how you take care of it

Are you using the right shampoo? What about conditioner? Shampoo cleans your hair and your scalp, so you might want to base it on its condition: dry or oily.  Conditioner should be used to treat your hair.

Dry:  Try to use shampoos that are specifically formulated for dry scalp. Ingredients like menthol and tea tree can help moisturize your dry scalp. Look for shampoo labels that promote moisture, hydration, smoothing, or curls (especially handy if you have curly hair). These products promote moisture and can be beneficial to your dry scalp. Avoid strengthening, fortifying, and volumizing shampoos. These products can strip your scalp of necessary moisture.

Oily:  Look for labels that read volumizing, strengthening, or balancing. These products are less moisturizing and more effective at removing excess oil. Avoid shampoos that are hydrating, moisturizing, smoothing, or good for curly hair. These shampoos tend to add too much moisture to your already oily scalp. After shampooing, avoid working your conditioner into your scalp. Rather, concentrate on keeping conditioner on the mid-shaft and ends of your hair. Rinse well.

How to fake great hair when it doesn’t think so.

Get a Great Deep Conditioner - A weekly (or more if your hair is super dry) deep conditioner will revitalize dry hair, restore moisture, and help tame frayed ends.

Use a Blow-dry Creme -  A blow-dry creme helps your hair dry faster, your brush glide smoother, and your hair stay straight and frizz free longer. 

Perfect the Blow-out with the Right Brush - A great blow-out can fake a great hair day with perfection, but the best way to get a great blow-out is to have a great ceramic round brush.

Invest in a Better Hair Dryer - You'll be shocked at how much faster, smoother, softer, and shinier your hair can be with a great hair dryer.

Protect Your Hair From Heat - Many heat protectors lock in moisture, prevent heat damage, and seal the cuticle down giving the illusion of super shiny, healthy hair. Whether you curl, straighten, flip, or crimp your hair, good heat protection is a must. 

 Add a Little Curl - Instead of wearing your hair stick straight, add a little bend to the ends. Waves and curls bounce light and give the illusion of healthier hair.

Clip-in Extensions - Hair extensions can transform your hair in an instant. You can quite simply add volume, length, and thickness without a huge investment or a lot of work.

Finish with a Shine Spray -  Whether you just don't "do" hair spray or your favorite brand isn't as shiny as you'd like, try a shine spray to give a final healthy looking touch to your hair, no matter how you style it.

Have's and Have Not's

Some people are not as fortunate as others because they suffered from cancer and in the process of being treated experienced hair loss.  Have you ever thought about growing your hair a bit longer so you could donate it to a worthy cause? If so, read on...
There are several organizations out there, some focused on adults and others on children. Also the length of hair can vary anywhere from 8" to 12" long. Whether or not it has been permed or treated with dies varies as well. 


The following steps are the same across the board:

• Clean and dry your hair before cutting.
• Braid your hair or put it in a ponytail before it is cut.
• Place the ponytail or braid in a sealed plastic bag with rubber bands at both ends.
• Place it in a padded envelope for shipping. Address it accordingly.
• After that usually a form or some other kind of documentation is required. 

The Childhood Leukemia Foundation accepts hair donations for the Hugs-U-Wear program, which gives wigs to girls who have suffered hair loss as a result of cancer treatments.
http://www.clf4kids.org/donate_hair.html


Locks of Love provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who are suffering from a long-term medical hair loss.
http://www.locksoflove.org/


Pantene Beautiful Lengths distributes free real-hair wigs through American Cancer Society wig banks all across the country.
http://www.beautifullengths.com/


Now before you go rush out there and chop off your hair, you may want to consider a few things:

1. It takes a while to grow your hair out. (You should try to take good care of it in the meantime. No one wants "sick"/damaged hair.)
2. You might want to consult your stylist and determine if a new hairstyle is warranted. 
3. It's better to have a stylist cut it for you rather than you chopping it off yourself and ending up with a crooked do(NOT)

Hair today...

Always want what you can't have? Not a problem. You got straight hair, we can make it curly. You got frizzy hair, we can straighten it out. Got grey hairs you want to vanish: poof! gone! Whether it's with chemicals or heat, there's a trick in our bag for you.

Are You a Good Candidate for a Perm?
Perms work best on hair that has not been colored or highlighted. The chemicals are too harsh for double-processed or heavily highlighted hair. Perming hair that's already damaged from highlights or color can result in major frizz.

If you have dry hair or loads of short layers, you aren't the best candidate for a perm. Perms will dry hair out even more and a perm on short, layered hair could end up poodle-like. Black hair and Asian hair can also be difficult, but not impossible, to perm. You'll want someone who specializes in your type of hair texture.

Not sure if your hair is a good candidate for a perm?  One way you can find out if your hair is damaged and can't withstand more chemical processing is to do the old float trick. Take a few strands of hair and put them in a glass of water, if they sink, this means your hair is damaged and is soaking up moisture. If the strands float, this means your hair is healthy. You may want to keep it that way and avoid the perm. The thicker your hair, the better the perm will take. Also, most perms generally last about 2-6 months.

How to Choose the Right Color Tone
You're likely a "warm" if you have golden, olive or dark skin and brown or dark eyes (most Latinas, Asians and African Americans fall into this category). "Warm" women tan easily and the veins in their inner wrists are green.

You're a "cool" if you have fair skin and blue or green eyes, you burn before you tan and the veins in your wrists run blue. If you're confused because you sometimes burn, sometimes tan, you likely skew warm.
If you have warm skin, opt for golden shades such as caramel and bronze in a darker shade than your skin. Avoid jet-black hair which will wash you out. If you do opt for a golden shade, don't go too light. Your best bet is to use semi-permanent color and never go more than two shades lighter or darker than your natural hair color.

A hair dryer & flat iron can be a girl's best friends
Things to consider when using a hairdryer : it's to dry and style your hair not bake it to a crisp. You may need to use a diffuser to avoid frizziness. Use a comb not a brush initially. Start with freshly-washed hair. Next add any hair products to lightly towel-dried hair. Then use the blowdryer. Separate your hair into sections (it's easier to work with). Now you can use the brush to style curls or straighten your hair.

Flat irons should be used only on hair that's been thoroughly dried. Ceramic plates are best. They diffuse heat better and result in less damage. First apply styling cream/oil to the damp hair. Next coat your hair with a heat-protective spray. Separate your hair into sections (it's easier to work with). Blow dry each section. Then take a 1-2" section of hair and clamp the iron down as close to the scalp as possible. Slowly pull iron down the length of hair. Rub a serum gloss between your hands and palm over hair for extra shine and to keep hair in place. To keep frizzies along the hairline at bay, spritz hairspray on an old toothbrush and 'brush' them down.

Searching hair and there

I am currently searching for a new hair stylist so it seemed appropriate to bring it up in today's topic about hair. I originally was going to focus on hair maintenance: products and tools but actually a good stylist goes a long way to having great hair. (We'll cover that next week.)


Your best bet is word of mouth. Ask friends and family, coworkers and neighbors. If you see someone with a good harido ask them where they go (they'll be flattered you noticed.)

On a similar vein look at review sites for both the salon and individual stylists. Not every peson within a particular salon is "awesome" or "terrible." Don't depend on how "pretty" their add or website is.
Try not to pre-judge. Just because you last stylist was a man/woman, older/younger, etc, doesn't mean the next one has to be too. You'd be surprised, some folks are just more gifted than others and that's not limited to a particular demographic.

If you go to a chain store be aware that many of the stylists there are often just starting out or don't get paid well enough to stick around, so there's higher turnover. My personal opinion is to find a good local salon with reasonable (in your opinion) prices and build a repore with their stylists until you find the one there who's skills best match your needs.

I have a friend who is a beauty school instructor. So if you're willing to take a risk and want to save a few bucks, find a reputable school and see if they have a "salon" attached where their students practice their craft.

And on a personal note, most salons carry certain brands of products. If you're loyal to one brand and your current salon doesn't carry it, get your hair cut there, but go to another one when it's time to resupply. (Don't forget some beauty supply stores will sell to "regular people" but others are exclusively for stylists.)

Shout out to my friends and customers...

Would you be interested in doing a VIP shopping party at Dress Barn (Dress Barn Woman) sometime this month?

I’m polling my friends & customers to see if they would be interested in saving 15% off their purchase (including clearance items!) They even serve refreshments.

The store is pretty flexible about reserving a date and time but I do need to RSVP with the total number of guests ahead of time.
I need to know by this Saturday morning: If you’re interested, when you’re available & if you need a ride.

Thanks! (This will be so much fun!)

It's Hip to be square (face shaped)

Hair is a wonderful thing because it keeps growing. If you "make a mistake" it WILL grow out. However trying to figure out the most flattering style for your face shape can be a little tricky. (No too many magazines take into account if you have children, a busy lifestyle, work in an industry that might not "cooperate" with your chosen style, or that you might not WANT long/short/straight/curly hair.) So you can follow the suggestions but use discretion so that you  don't end up unhappy.

Quick quiz! Is your face: round, oval, square (rectangle) or heart shaped? (Don't know how to figure that out? No problem.) As it turns out in my research yeilded MORE shapes. There are now: oblong, diamond and pear (triangle) shape.

The oval face is considered to be the ideal shape by hairdressers. The oval face is mathematically 1.5 times as long as its width, with the forehead slightly wider than the jaw.
Round faces are characterised by a round chin.
Pear (triangle) shaped faces have a narrow forehead and are widest at the jawline, with a round chin.
Heart shaped faces are widest at the temples and narrowest at the jawline. Usually the chin is small and delicate.
Diamond shaped faces are widest at the cheekbones and narrow in the forehead and chin.
Square (Rectangular) faces have a square jawline and hairline at the forehead.  (Rectangular has a longer and narrower shape but otherwise is very similar to square.)

If Your Face Is Oval
Any shape and style can be worn, whether it's short, long, layered or bobbed.
The only thing to consider with an oval face shape is what part of your face you want to accentuate. This is where you can get creative with bangs or how you style your hair everyday

If Your Face Is Round
Because they lack the length of the oval face, the hair should be cut to create the illusion of length in the face.
This is achieved by creating height on top of the head, and minimising hair width by keeping it flat at the sides and around the ears.
Hairstyles with height and fullness at the crown will give the illusion of a narrower face shape, particularly those short in length.
Longer hairstyles or ones that are kept close to the cheeks with no width will look better.
Middle parts are great for creating the illusion of narrow length.
No bangs are the ideal as the focus point becomes the bridge of the nose, creating a more oval shape.
If bangs are used they should be swept across, or in the case of solid bangs, only where there is substantial height on the top.
Short hairstyles are great and do not suffocate small round faces.

If Your Face Is Pear (Triangle) Shape
The objective of a suitable style of hair cut is to give the illusion of an oval face by creating width at the forehead and temples.
Layered hairstyles will help balance and soften your prominent jaw line.
Styles with layers that taper at the jaw line can also be flattering.

If Your Face Is Heart Shape
The hair cut style's objective should be to create an oval by adding width at the jawline.
Any textured chin-length hairstyles will suit best.
If bangs are wanted make sure that they are side-swept bangs not straight across as blunt cut bangs will only make your face shape shorter and wider.
Shoulder length cuts with wispy layers that kick out will also work very well.
Height on top will work but only if they belong to shoulder length or longer hairstyles.

If Your Face Is Diamond Shape
By creating width at the forehead and minimising it at the cheekbones, the illusion of an oval face can be achieved.
Hairstyles that add width at the chin area such as chin length bob cuts or shoulder length wispy kicked out looks.
Styles that tuck in behind the ears also work well to show off a wonderful cheek bone structure.
Hairstyles with straight across bangs will also work to shorten long faces, as will side parts.

If Your Face Is Square (Rectangular)
Square faces are 'too short', so a suitable hair cut style seeks to create height elongating the face.
Hair should be layered around the face to soften the jawline.
Jaw and brow nearly same width. Hair should wisp around face to reduce squareness.
Wearing bangs swept over to one side will create diagonal movement to minimize square shapes.
Short to medium length hair will also suit you, especially if the style is rounded in shape or has wispy ends.
Styles with height at the crown will also work in your favor.

The ideal style of hair cut for rectangle is one which creates width at the sides disguising the narrowness.
A fringe can also shorten the face, and a style with a side part will help to reduce the square appearance.
Wispy forward falling hair onto your face will soften your jaw line.

Hair It Is

As you may see in my photo, hair is a topic, near and dear to me. I feel I'll need to dedicate several blogs over time to cover it properly. I hope you'll find it as fascinating as I do.

In order to understand the vast topic that is our hair, we’re going to start at the beginning (also known as the root but properly referred to as the follicle.) It’s composed of several parts including a few below the surface of your skin. Your hair has a bulb like end and a long core, with a sheath surrounding it. The primary component/protein of your hair is called keratin. (Which is also found in your skin and nails.)

Not to bore you, but did you know your hair grows in phases? There’s anagen –> growth, catagen –> regressing,  telogen –> resting and finally exogen –> shedding. Most of your hair at any time is in the growth phase, which is why it seems like it’s always growing. Different parts of your body grow hair at different rates however.  (Also the color of your hair and the follicle’s shape can affect rate of growth too.)

What’s most interesting is that some people are desperately trying to grow more hair in certain places and others can’t wait to get rid of it. If you’re trying to grow it, you’d be best to eat foods that contain protein, omgea-3 fatty acids, biotin, Vit A, B & C, & Zinc. Examples are: Egg whites & chicken (protein), nuts (omega-3 and zinc), salmon (omega-3), beans (biotin & zinc), dark vegetables (Vit A&C), carrots (Vit C), brown rice (complex carbohydrates, Vit B and zinc), and cottage cheese (calcium.) As always, please eat in moderation and check with your doctor first before changing your diet.

Over the next few weeks I’ll try to break down some of the more popular topics into smaller digestible pieces. Area’s I’d like to explore include: types of hair, length & styles, color, things we do to change it, maintenance& troubleshooting. (After all – the phrase “bad hair day” doesn’t just apply to celebrities now does it?