Many people wonder what the best hair shampoo is. They think that a shampoo can do all        sorts of wonderful things to their hair forgetting that the function of a shampoo is to cleanse  hair. How have we come to expect these benefits? It is the result of advertising which has      raised our expectations.

Years ago many of us were led to believe that we need to change our shampoo once a month to avoid “build up” and to keep our hair healthy. This was the advertising campaign of a particular company that sold shampoo. Was this based on scientific evidence? No, because there isn’t any. But consumers bought this hype lock stock and barrel.

People started to believe that they had “build up”. Build up of what? Apparently, build up of shampoo, conditioners and hair spray. (Impossible nowadays even hair spray is water soluble).

Advertising tells us that there is “build up” and the way to remove it is to change shampoos. (Does this make any sense?). This is a contradiction because what shampoos do is remove dirt and oil particles from the scalp and hair which cannot be done by water alone.

It’s amazing what we think shampoos can do for our hair. Today we can buy shampoos that claim to be the best shampoo for curly hair, the best shampoo for dry hair, the best thinning hair shampoo, best hair thickening shampoo, etc. Besides suggesting switching your shampoo manufacturers have decided to solve your hair problems (and imagined hair problems) with shampoos that can:

Make your hair healthy

Make your hair shiny

Change your hair

Detoxify your hair

Remove build-up

Give your hair body

Condition your hair

Add moisture to your hair

Stop hair loss

Make your hair thicker

Define curls

Protect against everyday environmental stresses

Make your hair less frizzy

Make your hair less poufy

Help regrow hair

Prevent hair color from fading

Protect hair from the sun

Conversely, some people think shampoos can:

Dry out your hair

Make your hair fall out

Cause breakage

Make your hair dull

Shampoos have become an obsession for some people. They have become “shampooholics”. There is even a “Shampoo Club” and some people suffer from “shampoo burnout”.

• “I can’t remember where I heard this but I thought that you should have at least two different shampoo’s in your shower. You’re supposed to switch from one brand to another every so often so you don’t get buildup or something”.

• “I have heard that your hair gets “used to” to whatever shampoo or conditioner that you are using regularly. I am not sure I believe that but that does not stop me from rotating shampoos and conditioners every few days….”

• “I try to switch my shamoo& conditioner up pretty often. I get bored and always want to try something new. It’s good for your hair, so there’s less buildup. Like the other said, using a clarifying shampoo (1x per week at least) will remove buildup”.

• “I try to switch out my shampoos often. If I don’t I get a lot of buildup. Also, my hair will get too used to one shampoo and that shampoo will not work in getting my hair clean. It also dries my hair out to use the same shampoo for too long”.

• “My roommate says you’re supposed to cycle your shampoo–use a different kind each day for a few days and then start over. My best friend says it’s bad for your hair and makes you have scalp issues”.

• “My idea was to change every time i finish a bottle. So i would finish this batch of Dove, go buy some other brand, when thats done, go back to the dove that I already have. I usually use the same shampoo so im not sure if it will even work”.

·        Would you change your shampoo for love?

“My girlfriend once told me that she loved the smell of Head & Shoulders 2 in 1. I considered switching over to make myself irresistible – despite hating combo cleansers – but we broke up before my Herbal Essence ran out. Would you make the compromise? How important is stability in a relationship when deciding to depart from a product?”

“Sorry for all the shower-time questions. Apparently I have nothing else to think about”.

Some people advocate against using shampoo completely. Why? Because they believe it’s “damaging” to your hair. This is also not based on scientific evidence.

Hair shampoo commercials have been and are still extremely successful. We seem to believe everything we are told. We even believe we can see and feel it in our hair.

The upside is that it’s good for business, and it’s good for the economy. But is it good for your pocket book and how will you feel when you realize that it’s not true?

One thing you have to consider is that cosmetic companies seem to be able to make claims without providing scientific evidence while other companies making false product claims risk being punished by the law.

Now, let’s look at the scientific facts. Every shampoo consists of three main ingredients. Water, anionic surfactants and a sudsing agent. Anionic surfactants what do they do? They are instrumental in removing dirt and keeping it emulsified, suspended and dispersed. They prevent re-depositing the dirt. Each surfactant molecule has a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that is attracted to water molecules and a hydrophobic (water-hating) tail that repels water and simultaneously attaches itself to oil and dirt. Those opposing forces loosen the dirt and force it away from the surface of the hair. The dirt particles can now get rinsed off the hair.

This process of removing dirt particles cannot take place with water alone or by adding “organic” substances to water such as wheat germ, etc.

The lathering helps you evenly distribute the shampoo on your head.

Shampoo is also slightly acidic. Its pH value is below 7 (6.5) and therefore does not dry out your hair.

So, regardless what shampoo you buy, in a drug store or hair salon, inexpensive or expensive, it has the same basic ingredients. It is designed to lift and remove dirt particles from your hair and that is all it does and can do.

It’s a wonderful invention, easy to use compared to times when people washed their hair with soap. The alkaline in the soap mixed with the calcium in the water left behind a film that made hair look dull. In those days a vinegar rinse was used to remove the film from the hair – the acidity neutralized the alkaline and removed the film.

So go ahead and buy any shampoo you want and as many as you want and pay as much as you want. Buy it because you want clean hair, you like the smell, how it suds and how it rinses out but not because it is supposed to make your hair thicker, prevent hair loss, de-frizz your hair, condition your hair, moisterize your hair, etc. Just buy it for what it is designed to do and that is to cleanse your scalp and your hair. That’s all you should expect from a shampoo and it does this very well.

Over the years I have noticed that many hair stylists advise against perming  hair that has been colored. My clients have confirmed my perception.

There are many unhappy women walking around with flat and straight hair because their hair stylists believe that colored hair (permanent hair color) should not have a permanent wave. There is no better remedy for flat hair than an expertly done permanent wave to give it body. Why do hair stylists take this position.

Well, many years ago when permanent hair color was first introduced, the chemical make up was very different from permanent hair color used today. In the early days, the hair colorist had to literally stand beside the client the entire time, watching closely as the color developed and became darker with every passing minute. If s/he did not wash off the color at the right time and left it on a minute too long, the color would be too dark. The client was stuck with a much darker hair color.

Thank goodness we no longer have to go through this difficult process. Today, a permanent hair color takes automatically 30 – 45 minutes to process,  after which time the color will not change.

Years ago the chemical make-up of the permanent hair color  did not support the type of perm that was used. You probably have seen pictures of women with little cables and clamps attached to perm rods heated up in order to activate the perm lotion for processing.

This explains why a permanent wave was not applied to colored hair. Hair stylists continue to hold on to what was true in the past but is not applicable today.

For many years, I have permed  hair that has been colored with a permanent hair color. I also perm my own hair which has highlights.

Will perming hair that has been colored with a permanent hair color damage the hair? There is no doubt that it will dry out  your hair – dry hair means that the cuticles are slightly raised – yet your hair is able to cope with this as demonstrated by all the women who perm and color their hair as long as both procedures are professionally done.

Hair is an incredibly strong fiber that can withstand all kinds of handling, chemical and otherwise. You see the proof all around you. And this is a good thing.

Is there a hair color for women with sensitive scalp?

Hair color manufacturers have yet to come up with a permanent hair color for a sensitive scalp.

People who feel that they have a sensitive scalp tend to color their hair with a permanent hair color. It is this type of hair color that can give people with a sensitive scalp a burning sensation. (Hair bleach can also cause a burning scalp).

Chances are that after reading this article you will be able to minimize or totally eliminate the discomfort of a sensitive scalp and continue to use permanent hair color. A sensitive scalp is not normally a symptom of an allergic reaction to hair color unless you have other symptoms such as redness of the scalp, forehead or the face, neck or behind the ears. You can also have swelling of the face and neck or severe itching in which case you should immediately wash off the color.

However allergies from permanent hair color are very rare. (You may have read otherwise). In my experience of coloring hair for more than thirty years, I have encountered two clients with a light allergy to permanent hair color.

If you are concerned that you might be allergic to permanent hair color, you can perform an allergy test. Mix a tiny bit of permanent hair color with a couple of drops of developer (peroxide) and apply it to the inside of your arm and covering it with a band aid. Leave it on for 24 hours. The hair color will leave a dark spot which will disappear after washing it a few times. If you have no reaction, you are not allergic.

You may think that a natural hair color like Henna is the ideal hair color for a sensitive scalp. The problem is that you can’t use Henna for just any hair color you want.

For example, if you want to cover white hair, then only a permanent type of hair color will do the job. Henna, like other types of hair color such as permanent hair color, semi-permanent, demi-permanent and temporary hair color has limitations. A major drawback is that it is not suited for covering white hair. It will turn your white hair into an unnatural kind of bright red or stain it in a gold tone, depending on the shade of Henna you use.

I have several clients who experienced a sensitive scalp when permanent hair color was applied but the discomfort subsided when I made the following changes:

1. I mix permanent hair color with 10 volume peroxide instead of 20 volume for coloring white/gray hair (most hair salons use 20 volume hydrogen peroxide) when using a formula to color white/gray hair.

2. I use a crème color. Permanent hair color also comes as a gel which has a slightly higher pH value and can sometimes cause greater irritation to the scalp than a crème hair color.

3. I tell my clients not to wash their hair for two days before coloring to prevent the scalp from becoming irritated from rubbing it during the shampoo.

4. I do not comb the hair through to the ends. I only apply permanent hair color on the re-growth for the entire processing time.

5. I never distribute the color through the hair by massaging it. I have seen hair stylists massage the hair color into the scalp in order to distribute the color to the ends or combing the color through to the ends. I think this is an absolute no-no. The comb scraping along the scalp or massaging the color into the scalp will inevitably irritate your scalp. (There are exceptions when you need to bring the color through to the ends during the last 10 minutes of the processing time but special care should be taken not to irritate the scalp).

6. I am careful not to massage the scalp when I rinse and shampoo the color off following processing. I gently apply conditioner afterwards.

If you have a sensitive scalp, following these suggestions will help make coloring your hair a painless experience.

I think this is a great example and inspiration for anyone who has gray/white hair. Not only did it make her look younger, it made her look better. And when you look good, that is all that matters.

This type of transformation is best suited for three color types, the soft cool (Summer) the strong cool (Winter) and the soft warm (Spring) color types. However, the light blonde needs to be a light gold blonde.

If you have been wanting to do something about your gray hair then you might consider a hair color like Helen Mirreneas. It’s low risk and as it is not a huge transformation and easy to keep up. Your face will be framed by a hair color that has pigments which will make a difference to the color of your face rather than a gray hair color that can makes your skin tone lifeless. Even though silver/gray/white hair is a striking hair color it will dull your skin tone because there are no pigments in gray hair.

  Helen Mirren with Gray Hair     ..with New Hair Color

I have been intrigued with this for a long time because I didn’t know what a “Bob”  really looked like. Magazines constantly describe hairstyles as Bobs. All different kind of hairstyles, yet nevertheless they all seem to have the same name.

The problem was that when a client told me that she would like to have her hair styled in a bob I could not visualize what it should look like. So, I decided for once and for all to find out what a bob really looks like.

It is a style where the hair is longer on sides  cut at chin length – than in the back and neck. But you can tell that a lot of liberties have been taken describing all kinds of hair styles that don’t fit this description yet calling them a bob.

The bob became popular in the 1920’s when women started to cut their long hair short and this was the first short hairstyle. The bob was invented in 1909 by a hair stylist named Antoine in Paris. So here is a picture of the original bob from the 1920’s:

And several “bob hair cut variations” of today.

what does a bob hairstyle really look like

Here is an overview of what shingles is

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. After someone has had chickenpox, the virus lives on in the nerves. It is never fully cleared from the body and remains dormant in the nerve tissues. The virus becomes reactivated under certain circumstances, such as emotional stress, immune deficiency – from AIDS or chemotherapy – or with cancer. It spreads along the nerve fibers to particular area of skin supplied by the involved nerve. I most cases though the cause of the reactivation is not known.

When it is reactivated it causes shingles. The skin rush is preceded by pain or itching or tingling or burning of the skin – (in my case I had pain in my back and thought I had pulled a muscle and a couple of days later the first signs of the rash appeared on my left shoulder blade) – and manifests itself in many people as a very painful skin rash with blisters that can resemble third degree burns. (My skin rash did resemble third degree burns). The blisters follow the path of individual nerves that come out of the spinal cord. Blisters may occur along the entire center path of the nerve or only in certain areas supplied by the nerve. Twenty percent of the people who had chickenpox get shingles.

So, are shingles catching?

Shingles cannot pass from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles can be spread from a person with active shingles to a person who has never had chickenpox through direct contact with an open blister. The person exposed would develop chickenpox, not shingles. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious. A person is not infectious before blisters appear or with post-herpetic neuralgia (pain after the rush has gone).

Once a person has had chicken pox they cannot catch shingles (or contact the virus) from someone else.

The virus is not spread through sneezing, coughing or casual contact.

If you can diagnose shingles early and get antiviral drugs within 48 hours of the appearance of the rash you can reduce the duration of the rash, but the benefit of the drugs are limited.

I had shingles-are they catching?

Let’s examine this for a moment. Sunscreen contains an ingredient that tries to prevent the ultraviolet rays from penetrating the skin. Actually your skin has a major mechanism that doesn’t allow the ultra violet rays get too deep. It does that by producing dark pigments and that is why the longer your skin is exposed to the sun the darker it becomes. Your suntan is the result of the skin protecting itself. Don’t forget, the skin is the biggest organ of your body. It is extremely important to you.

However, as you can imagine, hair is made totally different than skin. It really is just a fiber where the core of the hair is enclosed by several horny transparent layers. So, even if you apply a conditioner which contains sunscreen it will have no effect on your hair because it is anatomically different from skin.

The only time you need to protect your hair is if you are at the ocean in the sun all day long. The sun – and the air is mixed with the salt of the ocean – will dry out your hair. If you are one of those people who is outside all day long (at the ocean) you can either smother your hair with hair conditioner or keep your hair covered.

You will be just fine.

The truth about hair health and the sun

Have a look at this brush so that you will not be one of the unlucky ones who have had a “brush” with this hair
styling utensil. It does look innocent enough. Just round with single nylon bristle. What harm can this brush do to
me, you ask?
Well, especially if you have long hair and want to curl your hair with this type of brush, once it is in your hair
you very likely will not be able to get it out again, unlike the other round styling brushes which you simply unroll
- even if your hair gets tangled a bit in the process.

I was once told by one of my clients that her daughter who had long hair used such a brush – they were in
hotel to get ready for a friend’s wedding – when her daughter was unable to get this brush out of her hair. They
called a hair stylist from the hotel to remove it but the brush had to be cut out of her hair. I have heard from
other clients who had the same problem with this round brush.

Even as a hair stylist I find this styling brush impossible to use.

So, consider yourself warned.

A dangerous hairstyling brush

Have you ever wondered why some hair colores look better on you then others? That is because the color that looks best on you, that makes you look fabulous is the color that goes with your color type.

You can tell when you look at Lindsay Lohan’s blonde hair picture that something does not look quite right and the reason for that is that the blonde hair color is wrong for her. The darker color on the right makes her look good.

Also have a look at Farah Fath’s pictures. It’s the same story. Does she not look great in darker hair? Do you see how it makes her eyes show?

Cameron Diaz went from her beautiful very light blonde hair to dark brown and it does not suit her. It’s a very bad color choice for her. Again why? Because it doesn’t agree with her color type and that’s why it does not suit her at all. Neither does Nicole Kidman’s very,very blonde hair color agree with her color type. She looks flat and she looks so much better as a strawberry blonde. I am sure you can tell the difference.

I guess, movie stars will do anything to be talked about, even if it is only their hair colors. Blonde seems to be the “make me glamorous” hair color of the movie stars and celebrities.  It doesn’t seem to matter that these wrong hair colors do not make them look good and I suppose they can get away with it. But I have to say that I am amazed about how unaware they are of how  important their hair color is for their looks. I always think they should know better.

much better                                   Cameron Diaz                 Farah Fath

                                                                                                                     Lindsay Lohan

          Nicole Kidman

   Too          

 The Good and the Bad hair colors of the Stars  

Also on short hair the back is longer and can be cut kind of shaggy. You can see hair from the front of the face on short hair. Long hair is whispy rather than cut in a blunt line.

All in all these hairstyles are soft and versatile. A really nice change.

The new hairstyle trend