Chemical Hair Straightening

Chemical hair straightening has soared in popularity over the past decade. Although now, a move toward more natural texture in hair is taking place. But the process of chemically straightening hair has improved remarkably during its spell in the limelight.

This page brings to light some important issues to consider before having your hair chemically straightened. Once you've had it done, there's no going back... So get as much info as possible before taking the plunge!

Why Chemicals?

The frizzy nature of curly hair has people everywhere using flat irons on a daily basis to straighten their locks and add some shine. That's a lot of time invested. So, naturally, the notion of permanently straight hair (well, until it grows out) holds appeal. The question is, does chemical hair straightening live up to the ideal?

Unfortunately, many times the answer is "No!"

Probably the most effective chemical hair straightening process is Thermal Reconditioning, which can be a great long-term solution that will cut down (or possibly eliminate) the time required for straightening the hair.

Many other straightening processes leave the hair in a not-curly, not-straight, but plenty frizzy state. From this point, it's easier to smooth out than a tight curl is, but it's also not an option anymore.

With curly hair, on the days when you just don't have the energy for all the styling, you can opt to just wear it curly. Chemically straightened hair generally looks fuzzy and unfinished unless it is styled in some way. So, although chemically straightened hair takes less time to style, it's also somewhat limiting.

A Look at the Chemical Hair Straightening Process:

The Sedu flat iron has revolutionized the world of hair straighteners and is now considered far and away, the best of the best. It is made with Tourmaline technology which produces a huge amount of negative ions, straightening your hair record fast, but without the damage of traditional heat styling.

That's what you're paying for with this iron. Not a brand name or fancy packaging...it's all about the transformative power the Sedu flat iron has on troublesome hair. The plates glide through the hair, straightening quickly and effectively while boosting shine in a BIG way! There are hoards of user reviews (over 2000) and before/after photos at Folica.com. See what others have to say about this tremendous new tool.

Sedu Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron

First, a Warning: The procedure for permanent hair straightening uses harsh chemicals. It should always be done by a professional hair stylist familiar with the process. You can buy hair relaxing kits to use at home, but it's not recommended. Hair relaxing formulas use harsher chemicals than hair coloring formulas or perms. Straightening hair at home is not as easy as DIY hair coloring. The task should be left to experienced professionals.

Determining Hair Condition

At the salon, the hair professional should begin with a strand test to understand your hair type. The chemical procedure is received better on virgin hair that's had very little damage in the past. Thin hair will require a shorter time to be relaxed while coarse hair may require a longer procedure or harsher chemicals. Your stylist will need to determine this before beginning the process on your hair.

Damaged hair can become dry, brittle and prone to breakage. It will definitely look worse after being chemically straightened. You're better off to grow the unhealthy hair out and wait for new hair to receive the chemical procedure on. Go in with your hair in the best condition possible.

If your hair is damaged and you're determined to have it chemically straightened anyways, take a month or two beforehand to prepare your hair using intense hair reconstructing treatments.

Application: Strong chemicals are applied to the hair, directly on the hair shaft. There are generally two solutions... one to break down the keratin protein bonds in the hair, the other to reset the bonds after the hair has been straightened.

The first solution is applied on dry hair. Then carefully combed through the hair, taking care of not to stretch it. The hair is extremely fragile during this time and should not be disturbed too much.

The solution is generally left on for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the hair type and the type of chemical hair straightening solution used.

Once the stylist determines that the keratin bonds are free from their curly nature, s/he will remove the first solution and apply the second, to reset the bonds in the new, straight formation.

Maintenance: After the procedure, it's important to follow your stylist's instructions about after-care. The hair will be fragile and prone to excess breakage. A protein rich shampoo will help maintain the hair's elasticity and shine and increase its strength. Replace moisture by conditioning after each shampoo and weekly reconstructing treatments. Use a quality leave-in conditioner for detangling if necessary.

Depending on your hair growth, touch up applications should be done about twice a year. Avoid further chemical treatments, like bleach or permanent hair coloring. If you need to color your hair, use a semi-permanent. They're much gentler on the hair and may actually help to improve the appearance of damaged hair by adding shine and evening out color.

Although chemical hair straightening can dramatically reduce your styling time, there's still a lot of effort required to keep your hair looking good and minimize damage.

Fusion Hair Extensions

Fusion Hair Extensions

Hair extensions can be attached to your head in many different ways, including gluing, tubing, sewing, and clipping on. Different methods have different advantages. The method you choose will depend on many factors: your hair, your lifestyle, your budget, and your needs, for starters. If you are looking for a long-lasting, natural-looking hair extension, though, consider one of the fusion methods.

Fusion is generally the preferred method as fused hair extensions can last up to three to six months with skilled application and proper care. With fusion hair extensions, the extensions should be indistinguishable from your natural hair. If properly applied, the attachment site should be virtually invisible.

Fusion hair extensions can be applied in different ways: hot or cold fusion. Hot fusion or bonding uses hot glue to attach extensions to your hair. This is the more traditional method. While it does have many happy followers, others say that the glue causes the extensions to feel stiff and unnatural. These extensions can last up to 4 months.

Cold fusion is a new method, and is meant to be gentle for the hair. This method uses a keratin-based polymer to attach extensions to the root. As this method uses no heat, it is good for fine or thin hair. The polymer offers more flexibility than hot-glue, and results in more natural-feeling hair. For cold fusion hair extensions, many hairdressers use SoCap extensions and a clear bond. These extensions can last up to six months.

Fusion hair extensions are more expensive than other methods. If you want long-lasting, natural-looking luscious hair, they just might be the extensions for you.

If clipping on swatches of readymade hair makes you uneasy, if you are always hassled by the gripping fear that one fine day, chunks of hair extensions will detach themselves and fall off your head while the crowd stares dumbfounded, and if you are looking for a solution which is relatively more permanent and looks natural at the same time, then here’s just the thing for you. Fusion hair extensions, as the name suggests are attached to ones hair by a process called ‘fusion bonding’

The basic concept behind fusion bonding is to fuse the extension with the keratin protein of the natural hair, strand by strand. In this process the weft is attached to the hair root using bonding glue with the help of heated adhesive sticks which are create specially for this purpose.

Such hair extensions are of different types such as hot and cold fusion according to slight detours from the elementary procedure outlined above. Wefts or single strands can be used for hair extension purposes.

Putting the processes aside, there are also different types of hair that can be used in hair extensions. Synthetic, Chinese, African, European, and Asian are some of the hair one is bound to come across while exploring.

In fact, Indian hair is widely used and is considered of fine quality for hair extensions. Some people even grow their hair solely for the purpose of making a quick buck by selling them for extensions!

In a nutshell, although fusion hair extensions maybe more expensive than other options, they are definitely worth their while if you can find yourself a good extensionist. A good extensionist could definitely use his or her experience to provide you with a cascade of lovely tresses for a price !

Retro Hair Styles: Barbara Eden

Barbara Eden, born as Barbara Jean Moorhead on August, 23rd 1934 in Tucson, Arizona, everyone’s favorite Jeannie, is one of America’s most endearing and enduring stars. Her long running series "I Dream of Jeannie" has been on television screens globally for 40 uninterrupted years since beginning its first year network run on NBG in 1965. Her Long curled hair piled up on top of the head. Her vintage Hair Styles was the Fashion Statement of that Era.

All About Hair Colors

Choosing Right Hair Colors

Today more and more people are coloring their hair. Some choose hair color for added shine and body while others choose hair color for gray coverage. Looking for the color that is right for you can be baffling. There are so many choices. And many people are concerned of the effects of the chemicals on their bodies. Repeated exposure to certain chemicals in hair color may cause a number of symptoms including rashes, nausea, hair loss, itchy scalp and flaking scalp. Understanding the types of hair color available and their ingredients will help you understand which color is right for you. All hair colors are not created equal. Some colors contain many synthetic ingredients, and a large amount of toxic or allergenic ingredients. Look at your labels. Do the research about the ingredients. Be selective about what you expose yourself to. Many stylists become chemically sensitive because they are exposed to so many chemicals and fumes on a regular basis.

The first category of hair color is a temporary hair color. These colors usually last for 1-2 shampoos. The spray on colors for Halloween and some "rinses" are often temporary. This may not be the case for blonde hair or porous and chemically treated hair (perms). These hair types may be extremely porous and may act as a sponge, holding the color molecules for an extended period of time in random places along the hair shaft.The ingredients in these colors may often be FD& C dyes, which may or may not be food grade. A temporary hair color is usually applied to dry hair in the spray form. If the temporary color is a liquid, it can be applied to shampooed hair. Follow manufacturer’s instructions and call the manufacturer if you have questions.

The second category of hair color is semi permanent hair color. These colors usually last for only 4-6 weeks. These colors have the ability to blend gray hair without lightening the color of the other hairs. The ingredients of semi permanent hair colors vary from brand to brand. Some use strictly food grade dyes, or FD & C dyes, with an alkalizer to open the hair shaft slightly. Other semi permanent hair colors may contain oxidative dyes similar to that of permanent hair color, but use an alkalizer to allow the oxidative dyes to deposit on the outside of the hair shaft. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application and processing times and call the manufacturer if you have questions.

Another form of semi permanent hair color is the botanical hair color henna. The henna plant, also known as the LAWSONIA plant, can be a semi permanent hair color under certain conditions or progressive. You must not have extremely porous hair in order to take advantage of the temporary quality of the plant dyes. The henna plant comes in red tones. To alter the shade of the henna, some companies use a variety of ingredients. These ingredients may vary including: metals, oxidative dyes or other plant pigments such as indigo, madder root, turmeric or walnut. Metals may be extremely toxic to the body. Henna usually comes in a powder form and is mixed with water, coffee or black tea and applied to dry hair as a paste. The processing time varies from 15 minutes to several hours with a cap and heat depending on the effect you want to achieve.

Another type of color is a progressive dye. Progressive dyes deposit more color the more often you use them. The color builds with the frequency of application. Some progressive dyes may contain lead and other toxic metals. If you use a progressive dye and then decide to get a perm or a relaxer, you may run the risk of your hair melting away as the perm might have a reaction with the metals in your hair. Read the ingredients and make an educated choice.

Always follow manufacturer’s instructions and call the manufacturer if you have questions.

Permanent hair colors come in a variety of brands with a variety of ingredients. Some permanent colors have more natural ingredients than others as well as different concentrations of oxidative dyes. Oxidative dyes are chemicals that actually go into the hair shaft to develop into a color. Permanent hair color can use ammonia to open the hair shaft or monoethanolamine. Ammonia gets a bad rap. Ammonia in small concentrations is not toxic to the body and is necessary for some colors to cover gray or lighten the hair. Monoethanolamine is a chemical that has an odorless fume. In large concentrations (similarly to ammonia) it can be toxic. Monoethanolamine does not cover gray as well as ammonia and cannot lighten the hair as much as ammonia can. If you hair fades quickly and is extremely porous or damaged, a monoethanolamine color may be better for you, but it really depends on the brand. Some ammonia colors can be extremely conditioning depending on the other ingredients present in the hair color such as natural oils. Many colors tout "no resorcinol" but still contain a 2-methyl resorcinol. Many colors may lead you to believe they are natural when in fact they may contain one natural ingredient and the rest synthetic chemicals.

Lastly, what's the difference between a home color and a professional color?

Professional colors usually come with more choices, including strength of developers, while Home Kits are usually designed for gray coverage and one to two levels of lightening. To take a brunette to a blonde usually requires about 5 levels of lightening. A stylist can apply color in highlights, low lights or creative application of hair color in different shades. The fee they charge is for their time, their expertise in application and their knowledge of style.

Braiding Examples

French Classic Braids

Herringbones

Variations

Basic Braids

Classic Braids

Combination Braids

Crown Braids

French Braids with 2 buns

Split Ends and Dandruff

How to Prevent Split Ends

Trichoptilosis is a longitudinal splitting of hair fiber better known as "split ends". It develops after the protective cuticle has been stripped away from the end of hair fibers as a result of over processing. Any chemical or physical trauma that weathers the hair may eventually lead to split ends. Vigorous brushing can even induce it. Typically the damaged hair fiber splits into two or three strands and the split may be two or three centimeters in length. However the greater the damage to the hair fiber the more severe the split ends may be.

The best treatment for split ends is to cut the hair and remove the split and damaged hair by receiving regular trims to maintain blunt smooth ends.

Does Anything Really Fix Split Ends?

You cannot mend split ends; the only way to get rid of them is to trim your hair occasionally, tiny trims every four weeks, and following with deep-conditioning treatments in order to keep strands supple and flexible. Use good conditioners and don’t blows dry your hair on high heat. This type of a maintenance routine should ensure that splits don't crop up at all.

Things to remember:

1. Don't brush hair when it's wet, because that's when it is at its most vulnerable.
2. Cut down on hair dryers, straightening irons, curling irons and hot curlers.
3. Buy a natural-bristle brush that won't pull on hair and ultimately break it off, thereby causing a possible split end.
4. Wear a hat to minimize sun damage.
5. Condition after shampooing, and use a deep conditioner once a month.
   

Try these simple steps to stop split ends; you will be amazed how fast it works.

Dealing with Dandruff

Causes and Treatment

The term dandruff has become a catchall name for an annoying and often embarrassing condition characterized by itchy or flaky scalp. Millions of people across the globe are affected dandruff, itchy or flaky scalp. Although no one really knows for sure what causes the flakes and itches of dandruff researchers suggest they may be an inflammatory reaction triggered by too much of the microscopic yeast-like organism normally found in small amounts on healthy scalps.

What Is Dandruff Anyway?

By definition, common dandruff is an overproduction and build-up of dead skin cells. Our scalp -- like the rest of our body -- is covered with skin cells. As our skin renews itself, the top layer of old cells die and come off. Normally, the entire renewal process takes about two to three weeks. But for some, this process gets speeded up. The scalp increases its production of cells, causing the dead ones to pack together and build up on the scalp resulting in an itchy and red scalp. The dead skin slough off as white or gray flakes on our collars and shoulders.

Possible Causes:

Causes of dandruff are due to food allergies; allergies to hair care products; a combination of cold weather, low humidity and dry indoor heat; infrequent shampooing; and that standby root of most health problems -- stress. However dandruff cannot be associated with dry skin. Dandruff can actually cause due to overproduction in the scalp's oil glands and people with oilier scalp are more likely to have this disorder.

Dandruff Treatment and Preventions:

1. The first -- and probably most simple -- step in treating dandruff is frequent and effective shampooing of the hair and scalp. This washes away flakes before they can build up and helps soothe itchy scalp.
2. Mix 8 tbsp. peanut oil with the juice of half a lemon. Rub the mixture into your hair, leave on for 10 minutes and then wash as usual.
3. Eat a well balanced diet and make at least 50 percent of your diet raw food.
4. Avoid or decrease your intake of fried foods, dairy products, sugar, chocolate and nuts.

Just follow these simple tips and you will stop Dandruff !

Jennifer Anniston Hair Style

Getting The Sedu Look Without Breaking The Bank-Jennifer Anniston Hair Style

Lately it seems like everyone wants a Sedu hair straightener after seeing stars like Jennifer Anniston and J-Lo with beautiful, silky straight hair. After all, that’s the brand the top Hollywood stylists are using to create these stunning hair styles.

But, did you know that you really don’t need to pay an arm and a leg for the Sedu name when a less expensive model can give you as good or better results?

That’s right! You can get great looking straight hair with any reasonably priced hair straightener as long as you have healthy hair to begin with and pick a model with some must-have features.

If you really wanted to save money you could still use the old clothes iron way of straightening your hair but given the ease of use of the new hair straightener products available today it is something I wouldn’t recommend.

There are a few key things to look for when you are shopping for a hair iron that will give you the same results as the Sedu flat iron at a lower price: Jennifer ANNISTON hair style

Make sure it has ceramic plates, not metal plates. Ceramic is much smoother than metal and wont pull or break your hair. It also distributes heat more evenly and infuses your hair with moisture to help seal in the style.

Ceramic also has the benefit of generating a negative ion effect that helps to protect your hair from the irons high temperatures. The mineral tourmaline added into the ceramic is a definite plus because tourmaline enhances the ionic effect but if money is an issue you can skip this feature.

Make sure you have heat level settings. The most important thing to remember to get great straight hair is to use the proper heat level. As this varies by person you want to make sure you can set the heat level. Pick a model that has at least three heat settings. If the iron is too hot you can damage your hair and if it is too cold the style will not last very long.

Check heat up times as more expensive models take less than 30 seconds to heat up but if you can wait a minute or two before using the iron you can save yourself a little extra cash.

The lighter the weight the less strain on your arm and the easier it is to style your hair but lighter usually means more expensive. Try to buy an iron with a ceramic plate width of 1.5 inches unless you have very long hair. In that case opt for a 2 inch plate width.

If you spend a little time shopping around and checking reviews you will find that you can easily achieve that famous Sedu straight hair look without going broke in the process.