Posts Tagged ‘hair loss’
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Baldness stalks us from the beginning of life to the end. Sure, your mom told you that you should never make fun of anyone’s new bald baby. It’s bad manners and worse, you have no way of knowing (when the time comes) if your baby will be the butt of snide remarks and snickers. Of course, there’s the bad karma thing to worry about, as well.
The same thing is true about the misfortune of hair loss victims. Go with the golden rule – don’t laugh, at least not out loud. Taking a tour of hair loss through history will prepare you for the day when hair loss hits home.
Flickr doesn’t have any photos online of the 2008 Vice Presidential candidate that show his before and after hair loss and hair replacement treatment. Although Vice President Biden’s hair has been thinning for the last 10 to 20 years, a few people just missed the whole story about his attempt to do something about his thinning hair.
Many people who have seen Biden’s hair replacement treatment are shaking their heads in disbelief. Quite a few are even laughing out loud, in spite of what their mom taught them. One online magazine that follows Washington politicos even went so far as to call it Biden’s Helmet.
Hair transplants don’t regrow hair. Furthermore, like comb-overs, they attract even more attention to your head. If you’re Joe Biden, on a mission to create world peace or restore economic growth, that could be quite a distraction.
One problem with his hair transplant is that while his hair was thinning over several decades, it also changed colors. Finally, his full head of hair is an attractive silver gray. However, the transplanted hair doesn’t quite match the hair that’s still growing. Professional hair stylists have suggested that he dye all his transplanted hair a darker color.
Too bad that he’ll have to join the ranks of millions of women who dye their hair, to hide their gray. He looks great with gray hair, plugs and all.
Tags: baldness, combovers, hair loss, hair plugs, hair replacement treatment, hair transplants, regrow hair, Vice President Biden
Posted in Hair Loss Products, Natural Hair Growth | No Comments »
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 »
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
If you’re pregnant, you can expect to lose some of your hair during and after pregnancy. Search your family tree. If either of your parents or your grandparents had significant hair loss by middle age, keep your fingers crossed. You may have inherited the baldness gene. Are you a female Baby Boomer? Congratulations – you’re menopausal or perimenopausal and so is your hair. If you work in certain occupations, engage in water sports that involve swimming pools and seawater, or live with certain diseases like lupus and diabetes, expect hair issues. The brutal facts are that heredity, lifestyle and life’s events can cause thinning hair, excessive hair loss or baldness.
It’s hard to escape all of the potential factors that could contribute to your hair loss. Meanwhile, back at the fort. The best defense is a good offense. You can help your hair stay healthy longer by adopting a kinder, gentler approach to hair grooming. At least you won’t unwittingly contribute to the factors that could rob your of your hair.
Your hair does NOT need many of the ingredients that you find on the label of your shampoo and conditioner. Many of the indecipherable ingredients have no real purpose in hair care; most are preservatives, binders, waxes or coloring agents. They give you a temporary hair fix. Unfortunately, you will soon find that you need another fix soon after, if you are to keep your bad hair days to a minimum. Even a few organic and natural shampoos use some suspect ingredients.
Grab a shampoo bottle; any bottle from a major cosmetics manufacturer will do. Take out your reading glasses and fire up your browser. Get ready for some interesting reading. In addition to the usual suspects mentioned here previously (DEA, Phalates, Parabens, Propylene and Polyethylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl and Sodium Laureth Sulfate), some other common ingredients that you DON’T need for healthy hair are:
1. Fragrance
2. Imidazolidinyl Urea
3. DMDM Hydantoin
4. Isopropyl Alcohol
5. Mineral Oil and Petrolatum
These ingredients can lead to skin irritation and dryness, hormone disruptions, cancer and worse. A good rule of thumb for hair care ingredients is if you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin and hair!
Visit the Skin Deep website to find shampoos and conditioners with the fewest unnecessary chemicals. Give the hair you’ve got a better chance of staying on your head.
Tags: baldness, binders, conditioner, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance, grooming, hair loss, Imidazolidinyl Urea, ingredients, irritation, Isopropyl Alcohol, menopausal, Mineral Oil, natural, organic, Petrolatum, pregnancy, preservatives, shampoo, thinning hair, waxes, womens hair loss
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 3 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 »
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
During the Holocaust, those fortunate enough to be incarcerated immediately had their heads shaven. The reason - robbing a person of their hair immediately reduces self-esteem. All too often, regardless of culture, hair defines our identity.
Throughout history, hair has been the subject of many musings, pontifications and quotes that range from the silly and hilarious to the most sublime and somber. These quotes cover every hair issue from beauty to baldness.
Beauty & Adoration
“Hair brings one’s self-image into focus; it is vanity’s proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices.” - Shana Alexander
“Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality.” - Charles Chaplin
“The hair is the richest ornament of women.” - Martin Luther
“I’m a big woman. I need big hair.” - Aretha Franklin
“I’m undaunted in my quest to amuse myself by constantly changing my hair.” - Hillary Clinton
“Long on hair, short on brains” - French Proverb
“I’m not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb. I also know I’m not blonde.” - Dolly Parton
Gray Hair
“Gray hair is a sign of age, not of wisdom.” - Greek proverb
“Gray hair is God’s graffiti” - Bill Cosby
“Gray hair is a blessing - ask any bald man.” - Unknown
“By common consent gray hairs are a crown of glory; the only object of respect that can never excite envy.” - George Bancroft
“There is only one cure for gray hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the guillotine.” - P. G. Wodehouse
Baldness
“A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.” - Oliver Herford
“I am not the archetypal leading man. This is mainly for one reason: as you may have noticed, I have no hair.” - Patrick Stewart
“It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.” - Cicero
“I don’t care if they call me “baldie” or “chrome dome.” God took an eraser and brushed my head clean. I’d rather be bald on top than bald inside.” - Joe Garagiola
” >Babies haven’t any hair:
Old men’s heads are just as bare;
From the cradle to the grave
Lies a haircut and a shave.”
- Samuel Goodman Hoffenstein
Tags: baldness, beauty, gray hair, hair, hair loss, hair quotes, history, identity, inspirations, quotes, self-esteem
Posted in Natural Hair Growth, Vitamins | 3 Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Three hundred years ago, more people young and old were bald because of poor hygiene, lack of attention to hair grooming, and the prevalence of numerous viruses and bacteria in our living environment.
Children were more likely to have ringworm. Head lice were common. People lost hair permanently and temporarily due to illnesses like measles, scarlet fever and other outbreaks that ravaged the unprotected public. Penicillin, the polio vaccine and DPT immunizations have allowed most countries to leave these health and hair threats behind during the last 100 years. Yet baldness is on the rampage in developed countries of the Western world. In addition, the victims of baldness seem to be stricken at a younger age every year.
Male and female pattern baldness together account for the same percentages of partial and total hair loss that they did 100 years ago. The incidence would not increase without some major deviation in the human gene pool. The age at which men and women are affected by genetically linked hair loss should not abruptly change either, barring a significant biological shift.
What then are the likely causes of increased hair loss in our civilization? Who are the most likely suspects? To paraphrase a character from the old Pogo cartoons – “We have met the enemy and it is us!” The criminals robbing us of our precious hair are inside our homes and staring back at us in the mirror.
The nutritional values of the normal diet in the Western world rose steadily until the middle of the 20th century. Scurvy and rickets passed into oblivion as the majority of the urban and rural population began to have regular access to adequate vitamins, minerals and protein for good health. The popularity of fast food and processed food that now holds sway in the West leaves children and adults without sufficient minerals and vitamins to maintain healthy systems.
Snack foods, convenience foods and even school cafeterias push fats, salt, sugar and unpronounceable chemical preservatives down our throats daily. Obesity in children and adults is a national epidemic. The American Medical Association and the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association and others warn us constantly that our eating habits must change.
Our nation’s risky eating behaviors are robbing us of vitality, longevity, AND possibly our hair. Despite enormous progress in medical and scientific over the past three hundred years, the greatest threat to your hair may be your knife and fork, instead of genetics and disease.
Tags: Diet, hair loss, hair threats, lice, minerals, pattern baldness, protein, ringworm, risky eating behaviors, Vitamins
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | 1 Comment »
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 | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Human beings share many common traits with our animal cousins. Although this is not the place for the debate about evolution, we do know that many animals also have hair on their bodies and their heads. Some of these are familiar to us because we have seen them in textbooks or at the local zoo. Mammals are the only species in nature that have been blessed with hair.
Many mammals like dogs, cats and other domesticated farm animals shed their hair according to the seasons. Some shed hair continuously. Since our pets and farm animals don’t have prehensile grip, they don’t find their dead hair in a comb or brush like we do. And apparently, this daily or seasonal hair loss doesn’t seem to bother them as much as it does humans. Hair loss is of little concern, except in harsh climates, where being bald makes it harder to retain body heat. For the majority of mammals, hair is functional.
If you are losing your hair, this observation might not be very comforting to you. On the other hand, you can take heart that humans are not one of the species of mammals that don’t have any hair at all. If the bald eagle comes to mind, you’re warm. Birds aren’t mammals and they have feathers, instead of hair. Yet, there are many species of mammals that enter and leave the world without ever having any hair to fret about.
Aquatic mammals like dolphins, whales and sharks don’t have hair because it would increase drag and resistance in the water. Elephants usually don’t have hair either; nor do hippopotamuses and rhinoceros. Of course, they have pretty thick skin, so hair might be functionally redundant for these species. There is also a hairless rat, hairless moles, hairless pigs and the hairless sphynx cat. You may find hair around their noses, ears or tails, but not much.
The main purpose of hair is to protect your skin from the elements of nature. Except for some naturally hairless mammals, humans have the least amount of skin covered with hair of all the mammals on the planet. Take comfort in knowing that your hair can do its job with little interference from you. All the same, it’s a good idea to protect your hair, so you can leave with the hair that you came into the world with.
Tags: animals, bald, body, body heat, dead hair, elements. skin, hair, hair loss, hairless, head, human beings, Mammals, purpose
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | No 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 »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Hair often plays a starring role in literature and theater productions worldwide. We can find hair loss tales everywhere from Greek mythology to Broadway and the silver screen. No doubt, human beings have a reverence for their hair. Our literature contains many details and clues about the role that plays in our relationships. Quite a few hair tales feature women’s hair. These are often love stories, featuring long hair!
Remember the fairy tale about Rapunzel who was forbidden to see the prince who had captured her heart? Well, these kids devised an ingenious plot that involved Rapunzel letting down her long “golden hair” to make their trysts possible. They were soon discovered and Rapunzel was given a haircut. However, the story has a happy ending when the two are reunited in the future and they live happily ever after.
William Sydney Porter (also known as O. Henry) was a prolific author of the early 20th century. His tale, “The Gift of the Magi” is a poignant Christmas story about hair. It captured his readers’ hearts and helped to make him famous.
Two lovers who live in abject poverty search for ways to get each other a present for the holidays. She spots a beautiful chain that she wants to give him to put on his pocket watch. He finds a set of tortoise shell combs that he wants her to have to put in her knee-length hair. So, he sells his watch in order to buy the combs for her. Meanwhile she sells her hair to a wigmaker so she can buy the watch chain! Both were shocked on Christmas day, but as the story goes, they were so madly in love that they were thrilled by the sacrifice that each of them had made. Besides, eventually her hair grew back. But the story ends without him getting a new watch for the chain.
Long hair has been fashionable for women throughout history. The theme of the lure of a woman with long hair is timeless. It is usually paired with attractiveness and love. That is just one of the reasons that hair loss for women can be more traumatic than many realize.
Tags: attractiveness, hair loss, haircut, literature, long hair, love, mythology, O. Henry, Rapunzel, womens hair loss
Posted in Natural Hair Growth | No Comments »
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