Friday, March 26, 2010

Curly Hair,naturally

Curly hair is oftentimes very difficult to manage. Wouldn’t the whole world just be a better place if we all had straight, manageable hair? Some people are blessed to have exactly that, but some just aren’t that lucky.

It’s not really such a burden to have unruly and wild curly hair if you only know the right way to manage it. You’ll be surprised at all the different styles and ways you can wear your hair and you’ll soon learn to love being born with naturally curly hair!
Here are a few tips you can try to manage your naturally curly hair.

Wash and wear. One advantage of having curly hair is that you really don’t have much use for a comb. Right after taking a shower, you can just dry your hair and you would be good to go. If you’re the type who lives by the saying “Messy is beautiful,” then having naturally curly hair is the right style for you. Just tousle those curls and you’re all set.

Go to your favorite hairstylist and get a haircut. You may go for short layers to create that playful, funky look. You may wear it long and loose to give that fresh, cool look. Any hairstyle that you choose, it’s going to look okay as long as you wear it confidently and proudly. Don’t be ashamed your hair’s going different sorts of directions.

Soften your curls with conditioner. To tame your hair a bit, you can ask your hairstylist for suggestions as to what conditioner you can use to make the curls softer and look lighter. A hot oil treatment or hair spa will also do the job. This way, every time you run a comb through your hair it would go all the way and not get stuck somewhere in the middle.
Don’t brush your hair wet. On that note, it is also advised to refrain from brushing your hair right away after washing it. Doing so would cause the curly patterns to break and therefore creating a lot of frizz. Should you feel the need to brush your hair, do so right before showering or after applying the conditioner, before you rinse it out.

If you have been blessed with tiny curls and you would want to define them, here is an effective way: take one lock of hair at a time and twirl them around your index finger. Do this after drying your hair a bit, while it’s still a bit damp.

Straighten your hair. Straightening naturally curly hair is something that is quite hard to achieve. If you want your hair to undergo a drastic change and have your hair completely straightened out, you would need to consult your hairstylist about what treatments you can have done on your hair. But if you would just want to be straight-haired for a day or so, you have another option. You could use a straightening iron. It would be best to have someone assist you with this because the iron is hot and you would need to have someone help you straighten your hair one section at a time.

Having naturally curly hair can be both a blessing and a curse, and this would usually depend on the prevailing trends in fashion and style. You can highlight your curly hair as a fashion statement, or you can tone it down a bit if you want to be subtle.
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Posted by rashi at 9:18 AM 0 comments
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how to avoid bad hair days

Do your bad hair days happen after rushed mornings? We all develop a healthy routine in the morning as we prepare for work, school or loitering. Oversleeping leads to rushing, which can upset the routine. Guess what? This is often why we leave for work upset over bad hair. We didn't have time to follow the routine. Maybe we blow-dried our hair more than usual or, in a mad rush, applied too much hair spray. Maybe we forgot product that our hairstyle requires. Maybe we ran out of product because we were too rushed the previous morning to take account of the empty bottle. The point is, rushing won't help you avoid bad hair days, but it can cause them.
I bet there's someone with perfect hair at work, school or wherever you loiter - someone who never suffers even a moment of imperfect hair. Every follicle is in place. Every cuticle shines healthily. '(Sigh...) If only there were a way... for my--my hair....' you think.

While we all hope that person has a spectacularly bad hair day sometime, the truth is that you can have hair that healthy, too. You can be the person who never has a bad hair day. It's all a matter of whether you want to tolerate the occasional bad hair day, or devote the time and effort to ensure that it never happens again. Are you ready to take these three steps?

Develop the discipline to adhere to a good morning routine.
Honestly detail your routine and hair desires with your hairstylist.
Come to terms with your hair type and make the necessary adjustments to prevent oiliness or dryness.
If so, you can avoid bad hair days.
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Posted by rashi at 9:15 AM 0 comments
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how to avoid bad hair days

We've gotten a lot of mileage out of "bad hair day." The term conjures up a comically unfortunate hairstyle, an anomaly for someone whose hair is normally at least presentable, if not stylish and dignified. Why do bad hair days happen? How much of it is meddling and mistreatment, as opposed to bad luck? Who's to blame? Anyone? Some higher being?

Does the phrase resonate with us because of our inclinations to boil all of life's problems down into a relatively trivial, unrelated complaint? Or does it resonate because something relatively minor can overwhelm and ruin our day?

First of all, you must make sure that you aren't just projecting your unrelated, larger issues onto perfectly innocent hair. Take a few moments to reflect on your day. Is your hair to blame? If it helps, take a picture of yourself right now and compare it to a picture of you on a good day. Does your hair look any different?

If you're certain that your hair is indeed bad today, then it's time to diagnose the problem and see to it that the mistake is never repeated.
If your bad hair days become increasingly common, you run the risk of turning them into... normal hair days. Typically, the reason for this will be the condition of your hair. Is your hair too oily or too dry? Both extremes can definitely cause bad hair days until you nurse your hair back to luscious health. To do this, you must modify your hair products, grooming habits and nutrition. Read our articles about how to care for dry hair and oily hair. Right those wrong tresses!
Sometimes a new hairstyle can cause bad hair days. People often have to wait for several days or maybe even a couple weeks before their new style grows enough to look good. Sometimes the bad hair days continue as the hair grows. If you can't shake the bad hair day, then you should get your hair styled for a second time, by a different stylist. If the bad hair ceases as the hair grows, then observe how long your hair must be in order to look good in that style. The more guidance and detail you can give a hairstylist next time, the more you can avoid bad hair days in the future.
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Posted by rashi at 9:11 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, March 25, 2010

WOMEN HAIR LOSS


It can not be disputed that women tend to spend more time on their appearance than most men and are therefore more attune to any changes which may be occurring. They are more than likely to notice the see-through quality of thinning hair early on. When this starts to happen it is a slow process, not one where the hair loss or thinning of the hair is enough to clog the drain as it falls out all at once.

Women would generally be aware of the female genetic balding process when they discover problems with styling their hair. When this occurs it is fortunate as it will allow the Women to adjust her styling to compensate for the hair loss. If the loss is greater or continues, then the Women is able to conceal this with a new hairstyle, up to a point. By having a layered cut, a pulled back style like a pony tail, or a bun, the Women is able to disguise the thinning hair fairly well. They will also have the option of using hair extensions or other types of hair systems.

However, regardless of how well they disguise it, hair loss is a psychological challenge for women who will fondly remember their thick, luxurious hair of times gone by, and will be aghast at the lumps of hair they find on their hairbrushes or in the drain. The thinning of hair can make a Women feel older and less attractive.

There are a number of types of identifiable hair loss in women, and they will differ based and due to their causes. The cause of female hair loss is evident in the pattern, and doctors are able to look at the pattern of loss to determine the cause and an idea of how to treat it.

Roughly 10 per cent of women will experience the classic pattern of genetic hair loss, which is an intact frontal hairline for the first 2/3 inch, and the hair loss behind that persistent hairline.

One other type of recognizable pattern of genetic hair loss in women relates to the top of the head, and therefore spares the frontal edge of the hair line. Some women with genetic hair loss may experience a diffuse hair loss. This refers to the thinning of the hair all over the head, including the sides and back of the head, and will not be confined to any particular part of the head. This type of hair loss is more common in postmenopausal women, although it can show up in younger women too.

You can find out more about the common causes of women's hair loss at:

In regard to women and the thinning of hair patterns, there is a distinct relationship between mother, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. When a history is taken from women who suffer with hair thinning problems, there are generally more than half of the women interviewed who have thinning hair or suffer with baldness, who have female relatives with a similar problem.

Genetic hair loss in women is relatively uncommon and is usually referred to as female pattern baldness or female androgenetic alopecia. In women with this condition, the common pattern will differ to that of men. The pattern of hair loss in men will follow the Norwood classification, the postmenopausal pattern in women is characterized by diffuse thinning starting at just behind the normal hairline and spreading to and beyond the swirl. Unlike men, women with this type of hair loss often have a significant level of miniaturization in the back and side of the scalp. This relates to the decreasing hair shaft thickness in some hair and loss of hairs within the follicular unit.

In some women, the genetic pattern of hair loss is closely related to an increase in male sex hormone - androsterone, testosterone, and DHT. However, in most cases of genetic hair loss, it will occur when the sex hormone levels are normal. Women who develop pattern balding later in life also have a genetic component to their hair loss, however, the relationship is not as strong. The changes which occur at the time of the menopause are an obvious contributing factor.

Due to the fact that genetic hair loss presents itself in a different way in women than it does in men, a different classification system is used. The Ludwig classification, illustrated below, is used by Doctors to describe the thinning that women experience. A Ludwig type 1 is related to the mild widening of the part width. Type 2 will be associated with patients who have increased thinning with moderate widening of the part. Type 3 patients will suffer significant widening of the part width.
A few women will develop pattern balding in a way that is similar to that of men. These patients are therefore better classified using the Norwood classification system and the hair loss will be mainly limited to the front and top of the scalp and won’t affect the back and sides. These patients may well benefit from hair transplant surgery. Approximately 15 per cent of women suffer with this type of pattern balding.
Aside from genetics, female hair loss can derive from a variety of medical causes, from the general to the more specific, including postpartum and menopausal hair loss. Many medical conditions may cause hair loss and can include thyroid disease, anemia, iron deficiency, weight loss induced by severe dieting or eating disorders, medication use, and a variety of autoimmune diseases.

As a woman who may be experiencing hair loss, you should initially be evaluated by a dermatologist to ensure that there are no underlying skin conditions which may be contributing to the hair loss. These may require a different type of treatment and a biopsy may be needed to rule out the presence of certain skin diseases such as alopecia areata.

Your local GP will be able to carry out the tests required, and a dermatologist could hone in on a diagnosis. Blood tests can be crucial in ruling out some identifiable medical conditions, and can check the following contributors to female hair loss:

ANA - antinuclear antibody - used to test for lupus or other autoimmune diseases. The test will be either negative or positive, and further testing will be necessary if the result is positive.
Iron - check on serum iron levels, TIBC (total iron binding capacity) and ferritin deficiencies in iron.
Estradiol - a sex hormone which indicates the status of ovarian output. FSH - follicle-stimulating hormone. This indicates the status of ovarian output and will reflect the woman’s ability to ovulate.
LH - utilizing hormone - a sex hormone which indicates the status of ovarian output a woman may have in her overall aging process, when she ovulates, this hormone stimulates the production of eggs.
Free testosterone - could help the doctor to determine the woman’s ability to convert testosterone into estrogen.
SHBG - sex hormone binding globulin - the level will indicate the status of male hormones.
TSH - thyroid-stimulating hormone - the level will show the presence of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.
Total testosterone - will be largely bound to proteins in the blood.
It is necessary to remember that even after a medical condition has been corrected, your hair loss may persist due to a switch in your genetic makeup that has been turned on when the medical condition occurs. Once the hair loss starts it could be hard to turn this switch off. It would be hoped that following treatment for the medical condition that the hair loss would slow down and that any deficiency in you overall hormone balance is corrected.


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Posted by rashi at 7:24 AM 1 comments
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HAIR GrOWTH

Please read the following reader friendly notes carefully before embarking on your chosen hair growth strategy.

Hair Growth

Hair consists of long keratin fibres, twisted rope-like and protected by an outer coating of keratinised cells. A cluster of active cells known as the dermal papilla lies just below the surface of the skin and it is from here that the hair fibre grows in its follicle or shaft.

The growing fibre becomes hardened to form the final hair structure which extrudes from the scalp. At this point the hair fibre is dead with only the root tip exhibiting living, growing cells. The number of dermal papillae is determined at birth as the body cannot produce additional clusters.

The hair growth cycle is characterized by three main stages:

1. Anagen stage - this is a fixed phase of growing that usually lasts between two and seven years. The average rate of growth is about six inches (15cm) per year with all hairs growing at roughly the same rate, depending on one's age, health and genetic make-up.

2. Catagen stage - this is a phase of transition lasting for roughly two to four weeks. At this time the hair shaft becomes detached from the dermal papilla and moves upward within a contracting follicle.

3. Telogen stage - this resting period lasts about three months allowing the hair to detach itself from the follicle prior to falling out. At this point the cycle repeats itself.

The shedding of hairs is therefore a natural process with anything from 100 to 300 hairs randomly shed from the scalp each day.

The influence of genetics

The dominant factor affecting hair growth is the genetic program that gives a particular hair follicle a predisposition to grow a new hair, or to stay in the resting phase and not grow hair. The cells that contain each individual follicle will possess a pre-determined set of instructions that is initiated and controlled by hormones released by the various glands in the body.

The cells that make up our body communicate with each other through hormones. The specialist cells in hair follicles have receptors for certain types of hormone messages that initiate a pre-programmed response. All normal men and women produce what are known as male hormones, the most common ones being testosterone, androsteinedione and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). These hormones have a useful role to play in both sexes but occur in different concentrations. The fact that androgens occur in much higher concentrations in men explains why this form of hair loss is much more common in men than in women.

The effect of these hormones on hair follicles is as follows:

1) High levels of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase occur in certain cells of the hair follicle and sebaceous glands.

2) 5-alpha-reductase converts testosterone into DHT.

3) DHT causes a process of miniaturization of the robust terminal hairs.

4) This leaves fine, short, less pigmented vellus hairs that provide inadequate scalp coverage.

5) The growth phase becomes progressively shorter until these hairs are lost for good.

Natural progression of hair loss:

At birth humans are covered with varying amounts of soft, fine body hair that is vellus in nature. Through time some of this hair becomes the more robust terminal type that may change color and texture. At puberty the hairline is characterized by its low, flat spread across the forehead but this persists only for a few years.

As men progress through their twenties the hairline assumes a more mature look with slight front-temporal recessions. This gives a concave appearance to the hairline on each side with a lower peak in the middle, as illustrated in Norwood Scale Number II Classification below. A hairline is considered to be balding only when the pattern resembles that illustrated in Norwood Class III.

The Norwood Scale is an extremely useful tool in developing your hair growth strategy as it allows you to establish your own degree of hair loss in a way that is understood by experts in the field of hair loss treatment. Most importantly, it can help you to differentiate between normal hair loss that does not require urgent remedial action, and more extreme loss that does require immediate treatment.
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Posted by rashi at 7:17 AM 0 comments
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