Posts Tagged ‘hair care’
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Celebrities throughout the world have their own hair stylists. This plum spot can lead to increased demand, additional upscale clientele and higher fees. A few stylists to the stars and glitterati have landed book deals, network interviews and media contracts, including reality shows.
Of course, Michelle Obama, the first lady, has a personal hair stylist, Johnny Wright. She found him quite by accident while she was living in Chicago. During the campaign, she called on him several times to dress her tresses and he became a regular. Her previous stylist, Rahni Flowers, of Chicago had kept Michelle’s hair beautiful for 26 years. He declined the invitation to accompany the first family to DC. However, Wright moved to DC to take up the challenge and open a new salon in the area.
Inquiring minds want to know more about Michelle’s hair care regime, but Wright is mum about the products he uses on her hair. Since the first lady is perimenopausal, does she have thinning hair? Rumors abound that she is actually bald. The persistent rumor that she may be pregnant also leads searchers to speculate that she is experiencing pregnancy related hair loss. Some searchers are trying to find out if her hairstyle is based on a weave!
Although her hairstyle is unremarkable, it is elegant and simple enough to let her manage the long hours on the campaign trail and now to represent the nation with flying colors. Her most recent haircut, in July set the blog universe abuzz. Everyone from the Huffington Post and Anderson Cooper to the Michelle Obama Watch has an opinion about her hairdos.
Almost as an afterthought, some people do want to know who cuts President Obama’s hair. And his haircut is popular with all ages. Since he just gets haircuts (and he’s a man), this doesn’t get as much search volume or website blog action as does the first lady’s hair styling and stylist. There are over 400,000 plus websites at this point where discussions are taking place about Michelle’s hair. There are also over 100,000 blog posts, 10,000 in the last month alone.
It appears that Hairdresser to the Stars is not a bad job when you consider fame and the opportunity to catapult your career into a higher gear, during and after this sojourn. Folks who have shunned this “pedestrian career” might want to take a second look.
Tags: hair care, hair loss, haircut, Johnny Wright, Michelle Obama, pregnancy, President Obama, Rahni Flowers, thinning hair, womens hair loss
Posted in Female Hair Loss, Natural Hair Growth | 2 Comments »
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 | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
American women of African descent still pay homage to Madame C. J. Walker who invented the straightening comb in the 1920s. This hair appliance freed African-American women from countless hours of near futile hairstyling attempts. Madame Walker died a millionaire, even though the results of her method of hair torture were temporary! Rain, swimming pools and any other type of exposure to water could easily make her customers hair “turn back” or revert to its naturally curly state.
The combination of the straightening comb and hot curling irons made weekly visits to the local beauty shop an ethereal pleasure for women of all social classes. Those who had limited funds could stretch the time between their visits by investing in their own equipment and doing their hair at home. In this use, the straightening comb could have easily been responsible for complete baldness for millions of African American women.
In inexperienced hands, the straightening comb was capable of burning human hair right down to the hair follicles. The appliances that we have today have temperature controls that prevent them from reaching temperatures so high that they can burn your scalp and hair severely. However, the heating method for straightening combs was to place them on an open flame on a gas stove. A difference of a few seconds could easily result in a burned scalp.
Burned hair might grow back, but hair follicles do not often recover from scarring. Cicatrical alopecia (scarring) plagued many of the women who sought to beautify themselves with Madame Walker’s wonderful, new invention. However, it remained the hair torture appliance of choice for most African-American women until the invention of permanent hair straighteners during the later part of the 20th century.
Instead of heat, this method relied on the application of chemicals that changed the structure of the hair shaft from curly to flat. Many hairdressers and their clients hailed this innovation as a great leap forward in African-American hair care. Few dermatologists saw the application of chemicals like lye to the sensitive skin on the scalp as progress.
What permanent straighteners changed was the length of time that the hair remained straight and the necessity of avoiding water exposure. To the legions of women who were not satisfied with the texture of their hair, that’s progress. Or so it seems.
Tags: African American hair, cicatrical alopecia, curly hair, hair care, hair care history, hair style history, Madame C. J. Walker, straightening comb
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
Perhaps, you have been under a rock and you don’t know about the recession. While history shows that the economy usually recovers, most people will need to tighten their belts for a while to get through the bad times. Some people take the bus to work; others have given up cable TV. Many people looking for ways to balance their personal budgets have started looking at how to cut the cost of hair upkeep.
Maybe you won’t get your hair cut as often. Perhaps, you need to reconsider coloring your hair and renewing your perm every month. Maybe you are even considering taking the plunge and doing your hair at home! Don’t worry. You do not have to suffer from bad hair days just to keep gas in your car. You do not even have to start buying shampoo at the dollar store or collecting hotel and cruise line shampoo samples.
Recession or not, taking care of your hair at home, is not as hard as you think. The great part is that you will find that most of the items you will need are right in your kitchen or your pantry! Along the way, these minor changes in your normal hair care routine might help you save a few hairs too.
Apple Cider vinegar is one of the oldest home fixes for your hair. Dilute a cup of vinegar with seven cups of water. Rinse your hair with the vinegar solution after shampooing. It will make you hair shinier and liven up fading hair coloring. The vinegar smell will evaporate after just a few minutes.
Mayonnaise is a great conditioner for dry hair. You don’t have to spring for the most expensive brand. Slather it on before shampooing. Leave it for five minutes. Remove all the mayonnaise from your hair by washing it with warm water and a mild shampoo. Style your hair as usual. It will shinier, fuller and easier to manage.
Olive oil and avocados will also help you accomplish similar results. Some people alternate pantry ingredients (depending on what’s on sale in the grocery). Others even combine them to make a conditioner that suits their hair’s unique needs.
There is no rule that you can’t eat the leftovers if you decide to experiment by combining some of these recession busting kitchen pantry hair care ingredients!
Tags: alternate, alternative, apple cider vinegar, avocados, bad hair days, budget, conditioner, hair care, hair loss, hair upkeep, kitchen, mayonnaise, olive oil, recession, routine, style, unique
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
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