Posts Tagged ‘conditioners’
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
A quick search of the Internet shows that hair care is an immensely popular business. People engaged in this business include the manufacturers of shampoos, conditioners, hair dyes, styling gels and mousses, along with hair appliances. This category of hair care businesses alone accounts for billions (not millions) of dollars annually of our national economy.
The various stylists who wash, curl, condition, color and cut our hair make up the next largest segment of this business. This side of the industry has many independent operators who set up shop after completing vocational school courses that they need to obtain a cosmetology license. In addition, we have beauty and barber shop franchises. This type of hair care business comes with a proven business plan and a trademark that can catapult sales well above those that independent shops can garner.
Wigs for vanity, along with toupees for hair loss victims, are yet another large segment of the hair care industry. In addition to full wigs, the current mania with hair as adornment spurs the hair enhancement segment. This includes production of synthetic hair and processing of human hair, packaged and sold for braids, weaves and temporary applications, like buns and ponytails.
Drugstores, grocers, beauty supply stores and websites devote a sizable amount of shelf-space and inventory stock to hair care products. In addition to the cleaning, styling and conditioning products, consumers need easy access to combs, brushes, hair appliances, scruncis, hair rollers, hair bands and barrettes. Whether you plop down your money at the store or online, this segment of the hair care industry gets a fair share of the economic pie too.
As the population ages and more adults begin to experience hair loss and thinning hair, the customer base for hair loss treatments and hair replacement therapies will increase dramatically. New products, appliances and appear almost daily.
More than ever before in history, the hair care industry, along with its suppliers, is responsible for millions of jobs. When we take stock, we see that hair or the lack of it is fueling a thriving segment of the economy. Even during a recession or a full-scale depression, hair care is big business for many. How on earth did the economy grow before the first commercially bottled shampoo and the first hair salon appeared?
Tags: baldness, business, conditioners, economy, franchise, hair care, hair care industry, hair enhancement, hair loss, hair replacement, shampoos, stylists, synthetic hair, thinning hair, toupees, treatment, vanity, wigs
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Hollywood hair stylist, Chaz Dean is highly regarded in the beauty industry and by numerous celebrities. After years of styling celebrity coiffures with special, high-end hair grooming products, Dean has jumped ship and abandoned shampoo. In the process, he has given the no shampoo movement a huge boost. Celebrities, journalists and glitterati are lining up to endorse his new stance.
Right now, you will either have to be up in the wee hours of the morning to catch Dean’s infomercials for his new products – the no soap Wen hair cleanser and conditioner system. It is not a shampoo. It is an herbal formula that you rub into your hair and scalp to clean it. Then after you rinse your hair, you can apply a small amount as a leave in conditioner.
Dean and his celebrity endorsers warn us that the soap and additives in popular shampoos are contributing to nationwide “bad hair days.” In addition, although Dean will not say so, traditional shampoos are also contributing to skin and scalp irritation, along with some premature hair loss and baldness. His product commercials do mention sodium laurel sulfate as one of the hair no-nos that we should avoids at all costs.
Another supporter who provides a testimonial for the infomercial is none other than the star of “How Do I Look?”, Finola Hughes. Of course, as the host of a beauty makeover show, she says, how her hair looks, on camera and off is critical to her career.
She and her personal stylist struggled to keep her hair from being damaged by hot studio lights and the repeated application of shine products. Her hair was unmanageable, as a result. Emmy Kasten, publisher of 944 magazine, also appears in Dean’s infomercial to endorse his “no-poo” approach to hair care.
Currently, consumers can only buy the Chaz Dean Wen hair care system from his website or (if you are an insomniac) by catching the infomercial and calling his toll-free sales line. With celebrities like Emmy and Finola on the team, expect his product to hit the health and beauty stores before the end of this year. On the other hand, maybe the other shampoo manufacturers will “catch the drift” and give consumers better shampoo choices so that ordinary people get a shot at having fewer bad hair days and saving our hair from the ravages of modern shampoos.
Tags: baldness, Chaz Dean, conditioners, Emmy Kasten, Finola Hughes, hair loss, irritation, manufacturers, scalp, shampoos, sodium laurel sulfate, Wen
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
Dry hair is a signal that you are having more than just a few bad hair days. Hair is alive like your skin; it should be soft and supple. When you hair is constantly dry, this is a clue that something is wrong with your diet or your hair grooming routine. In some cases, severely dry hair is an early warning of a health condition that may eventually affect more than your tresses.
Dry hair is much more easily damaged than hair that has enough natural lubricants. The hair shaft is rough and breaks more easily when you brush or comb it. Split ends are also more likely to become a problem when your hair is excessively dry. This will often result in the loss of entire strands of hair, if you do not remove them. (Despite advertisements to the contrary, there are no products that can repair a hair shaft that has split.)
Blow dryers are one of the chief causes of dry hair. Never use the high setting on your blow dryer. Start with the medium setting and allow enough time to dry your hair with the least amount of heat possible. As the water in your hair evaporates, lower the heat setting until you are only using air.
Hair that is air-dried will never develop the constant dryness that we associate with blow dryers. Forgo the convenience of instantly dry hair occasionally. Towel dry your hair. Then use a detangling comb to help loosen your hair enough for air to flow through it. Use your fingers to fluff your locks and separate your hair, until it is all completely dry.
Apply oil and moisturizing products sparingly. Your scalp can usually produce enough natural oil to give your hair the lubrication it needs. Although hair is porous, it cannot absorb massive amounts of oil, other moisturizing products, mousse and styling gel. Over application of these products creates a vicious cycle that makes it necessary to shampoo your hair more frequently or to use more shampoo to clean your hair. And, in the process, you will wind up with dry hair all over again.
Tags: blow dryers, conditioners, dry hair, hair follicles, hair shaft, shampoos, split ends
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Shampoo your hair only if you trust the manufacturer. Otherwise, to avoid hair loss, skin and scalp irritation, and sometimes worse, you’re better off just leaving your hair alone. What’s in your shampoo? The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wants to know and you need to find out why. Does your shampoo play a starring role in hair loss and other consumer health problems?
The list of chemicals and ingredients in cosmetic preparations numbers over 10,000. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration does not test consumer cosmetics before manufacturers put them on the market in the United States. They have no authority to do this, regardless of the country of origin. If there are enough consumer complaints, the FDA steps in, after the fact. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review is an FDA-sponsored project. In 1976, CIR started collecting available study data on cosmetic ingredients intended for human use. Their aim is to make it possible for the FDA to be proactive about cosmetic ingredients.
To date, the FDA has banned only nine chemicals from cosmetic usage. Studies on over 100 more have been inclusive. They have been certified neither safe nor unsafe for skin application by consumers. Among these are sodium laurel sulfate and some common coloring agents widely used in shampoos. Parabens and diethanolamine (DEA), suspected carcinogens that turn up in shampoos, also lack a government safety rating.
European countries have already banned many of the ingredients on the inconclusive list. Why can’t we share the knowledge? Perhaps, we should buy their test results and get the ball rolling. Maybe our government wants to conduct its own tests for good reasons. In the meantime, consumers wind up being guinea pigs in the unofficial tests that cosmetics manufacturers conduct by putting questionable products on store shelves.
Some cosmetic manufacturers participate in the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. They have voluntarily signed agreements to eliminate unsafe ingredients from their products. Their shampoos and conditioners are good alternatives to ones that still have a long list of unpronounceable and potentially harmful ingredients. Many consumers turn to the Skin Deep database to find data on chemicals in popular brand name shampoos and conditioners.
Eliminate preventable hair and scalp problems. Protect your hair and body by reviewing the labels on the products that you use for grooming. If you can’t find suitable replacements for chemical-laden shampoos, you can always make your own. It’s not rocket science. To make a shampoo with ingredients that you can trust, all you need is glycerin, soap flakes, and common herbs like chamomile or rosemary. Look up herbal hair cleansing formulas at your local library and natural living websites.
Tags: banned chemicals, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, carcinogens, chamomile, coloring agents, Compact for Safe Cosmetics, conditioners, Cosmetic Ingredient Review, cosmetics, DEA, diethanolamine, Food and Drug Administration, ingredients, natural living, parabens, preventable hair and scalp problems, rosemary, shampoo, Skin Deep, sodium laurel sulfate, unsafe ingredients
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Some people may have sensitive scalps.The French government recently allowed dermatologists to spend tax dollars conducting a study to determine if sensitive scalp is a scientifically verifiable condition. You read it here. Duh! You gotta love it.
The results were inconclusive. So, the researchers have requested more funding for additional studies. Once the French medical community actually confirms that this mysterious “condition” exists, that it is not a figment of the imagination, and that X number of people suffer from it, what’s next?
Sometime in the distant future and millions of francs later, we may get down to the causes. Finally, after you and the next generation have headed off for a dirt nap, researchers will “find” a treatment. But, will they find a cure? Stay tuned, the sensitive scalp sequel is on a storyboard near you. This is backwards. No, let’s be plain, it sucks!
Sensitive scalp might be inherited, environmental or even fantasy. Do consumers in France and the United States need more studies to find out if it exists? We need studies before the fact to figure out if chemicals in our food, water and cosmetics are contributing to it. If you or your loved ones have a sensitive scalp, you now know that scientists in France may soon prove that it exists.
Let’s hope that American tax dollars will be spent giving the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control the teeth that they need to complete inconclusive studies on the potentially harmful chemicals in popular shampoos and conditioners that may contribute to sensitive scalp.
If you grow impatient waiting for the final verdict, just examine your grooming habits, cosmetics, and food choices. Find your own cure. You’re likely to find the culprits much sooner than any government does. If you are one of the sufferers of this mysterious “condition,” imagine that you’re completely on your own. For the time being and well into the future, you are.
Tags: Centers for Disease Control, chemicals, conditioners, cosmetics, cure, dermatologists, food, Food and Drug Administration, France, French government, funding, medical, sensitive scalps, shampoos, studies, tax dollar, treatment
Posted in Female Hair Loss, Hair Loss Products, Natural Hair Growth | Comments Off
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