In Our Heads About Our Hair

28 February 2012

When products no longer work...

One thing that I think we can all attest to is finding a product
that you like a lot but after only a few months the product
changes. Your hair no longer responds to the product as it first
did. Many of you complain about this and I know I have.



One reason your hair may be acting up and simply not responding
to the product anymore is that your hair may need a break. Often
times a product may have so many ingredients. Quite a few of
those ingredients may create a seal on the strand. This seal or
coating blocks out moisture from entering the hair causing the
hair to become frizzy and unresponsive to other hair care
methods.


Give even your favorite products a bit of a break from time to
time. Find an alternate product to use even for a bit. Also
rebalance the strands by doing an apple cider and water rinse to
remove the excess product build up.

http://www.growitlong.info

23 February 2012

Natural products and Natural Foods

Hair Growth


Hair is an important aspect in one’s physical appearance and plays a vital role in keeping one’s morale and self-confidence. Therefore, there is no doubt as to why the hair growth product market is such a lucrative one. Millions are spent by people all over the world for hair growth products. However, it is best to use natural hair growth products such as herbs, roots, and seeds.
Hair growth could become a major concern if you are losing a lot of hair or exhibit visible thinning or balding hair. However, there are plenty of natural products which you can get in the market to promote fast hair growth. Besides these products, you could also make your own herbal hair growth remedies at home.


Hair Growth Vitamins


Hair growth is facilitated when you consume adequate amounts of vitamins such as vitamins A, C, and D. The other vitamins that are beneficial for natural hair growth include vitamins B1, B2, B6, B 12, biotin, folic acid, inositol, and pantothenic acid. Natural hair growth vitamins can be obtained by consuming green vegetables, soy beans, almonds, dairy products, eggs, and omega 3 fatty acids from fish. These will supply the nutrients needed for fast hair growth. Remember to drink enough water to keep the body well hydrated. Coffee, tea, and alcohol tend to dehydrate the body.


Hair Growth Tips


Drinking green tea is an effective hair growth treatment as it contains antioxidants which help clear toxins and improve blood circulation. Get enough sleep as your body requires sufficient rest for optimal functioning. Sleep deprivation over long periods will show on your health and eventually on your hair. Massage the scalp with coconut, almond, or olive oil boiled with herbs like rosemary, basil, or henna leaves. Cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, peppercorns, or lemon peels can also be added. These will relax you and also stimulate hair growth. Egg white could be used as hair conditioner. You can also rinse your hair with warm vinegar after washing it.


Hair Growth Remedies


Avoid using harmful hair care products. Always use good shampoos and do not wash hair too often as they strip the hair of natural oils. After a bath, wrap your hair with a towel that has been dipped in hot water and squeezed dry. Trim your hair once every few months to avoid split ends. This is an effective hair growth remedy.
Take brisk walks at least thrice a week and exercise well to maintain a balanced life style and to keep healthy. Try and also reduce your everyday stress by using aromatherapy to refresh and relax.

22 February 2012

Should You Trim Your Hair Every 6 to 8 Weeks?

A trim is defined as, "To put into a neat or orderly condition by clipping, paring, pruning, etc." A trim is also defined as, "A haircut that restores the previous cut to neatness without changing the hairstyle." Now that we have a common definition of what a trim is, should you trim your hair every 6 to 8 weeks? Let's talk about it.



Trimming your hair based on a time frame, such as every 6 weeks or 8 weeks is not a method to make your hair grow faster. Trimming does not make hair grow. For most of us, trimming the hair this frequently is a way to MAINTAIN our current length.



For some of us, it is way to keep our hair ends neat as the hair gains length, slowly. For almost all of us, trimming the hair based solely on a timetable of 6 to 8 weeks is not the fastest way to gain length.


•Why not? This is because hair, especially afro textured hair, grows in whorls.


•Think of hair used for weaving. It is all the same length. If you take that hair and wrap it around someone's head, around and around, that's a kind of whorl.


•Although that weaved hair is the same length, once you start wrapping it around a head, some of it seems longer or shorter. This is due to the location of the weaved hair on the head. Think of a sea shell. The shell goes around and around, in whorls.


•Our natural hair grows the same way as that wrapped piece of weaving hair and that shell. These are all examples of whorls.



My suggestion is to trim your hair on a time based schedule only when your goal is to neaten up the ends of a style you wish to maintain, at your hair's current length. A trim is for maintenance. A cut is used to CHANGE the hair. A cut is used to give yourself a new style, to completely remove split or damaged ends or to shorten the current length.



If you are trying to gain length, a trim can be useful for your purpose. The caveat or catch is that the trim should not be time based. The trim should be length based.

17 February 2012

Opulence Inc.

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Opulence Inc. Hair Extensions, the leader in the human hair extensions industry, is dedicated to providing the professional beauty industry with excellent service and unparalleled products, including their top-of-the-line remy hair extensions, now available in 36 different color choices.

Remy means that the hair cuticle all lies in the same direction, which prevents tangling and offers a more natural, shinier look. Available in both straight and wavy options, the quality of Opulence human hair extensions can't be beat.

"Next to the hair on your own head, Opulence Inc. hair extensions are the highest quality human hair available," said an Opulence representative. "We have the highest quality of hair without the extreme prices of the competitors; yet, Opulence doesn't sacrifice its quality."

Opulence hair extensions come from parts of India where the hair is cut ceremonially. It is then sent to their factory and carefully cleaned, inspected, and processed to the finished product. Because it is 100% human hair it can be curled, straightened, and styled just like the hair on your head.

Opulence offers 36 color choices in their 18" straight selection and 34 color choices in their 22" straight selection and 20" wavy hair selection. Their colors range from natural black, blonde, red, and brunette, to fun and funky colors like pink, purple, and blue.

Opulence fusion hair extensions tend to be the most discreet, however they are also the most time consuming to apply. If you don't want to commit to the time or price of fusion hair extensions, clip-in extensions are a great alternative to other hair extension methods.Their synthetic clip-in hair extensions come in 13 color options.

Opulence Inc. is dedicated to providing the very best in customer service, and offers training classes in Salt Lake City where hair professionals are trained and educated on everything from secrets that clients need to know to hands-on training for the salon.

For more information, or to view the wide variety of hair extensions from Opulence, visit http://www-hair-extensions.com .

Full press release available here: http://www-hair-extensions.com/press-release-opulence-hair-extensions-reveals-hair-extensions-for-every-type-of-hair

About Opulence Inc.:

Opulence provides the best products and services available in the marketplace today - thus enabling the stylist and the end user to benefit from their services, not only by the way you look, but also by the way you feel.

SOURCE Opulence Inc.

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

02 February 2012

A new kind of hair care...

A pioneer in the Black hair care industry, Madam C. J. Walker worked her way out of poverty and on to become the first woman millionaire in the 19th century. The self-made entrepreneur founded her own business and began selling her products door to door. At the time of her death, Madam Walker’s estate had an estimated value of $600,000 to $700,000 (now equivalent to over $6 million).

In the years after Walker’s successes, Black-owned hair care businesses flourished. Today, Koreans, as well as international big names like L’Oreal Paris (manufacturer of products such as Soft Sheen Carson and Dark & Lovely), dominate the Black hair care industry.

Although Black women make up less than 10% of the U.S. population, they buy 70% of the wigs and extensions purchased in this country. And the vast majority of these dollars do not go back into our communities, or to support our Black businesses. Instead, billions of dollars in revenue is pumped out of our pockets and into the bank accounts of other ethnic groups that, in return, blacklist Black-owned businesses. Koreans control an estimated 80% of the retail and wholesale distribution of Black hair care products, especially professional products that are sold in beauty supply stores only.

In 2006, filmmaker Aron Ranen explored this phenomenon in the documentary, “Black Hair.” He found that one of the ways these merchants ensure the domination of the market is by publishing publications for Black beauty storeowners solely in Korean. Another method is by creating their own line of products, or buying out existing Black-owned companies. Kizure Products, a Black-owned company that specializes in curling irons, was blacklisted by Koreans and told that their products were no longer in demand, when that was far from the truth. “I don’t see a reversal of this at all. It’s just getting deeper and deeper,” Dr. Edward Tony Lloneau, a hair and scalp specialist, told Ranen.

Perhaps Lloneau is right. Perhaps a reversal is unconceivable. But that doesn’t make this a lost cause. Where did we go wrong since the days of Madam Walker, and where do we go now? Many in the “Black Hair” documentary cited the root of the problem as being the lack of Black unity. It’s common for Koreans to band together to help each other build businesses and then exclusively support one another. Others cite the lack of financial education in the Black community.

Whatever the true cause(s), there is no use in pointing fingers. The most we can do is educate ourselves and spread new knowledge to our sisters, mothers and friends. We can finally realize that there is power in numbers. If we each take tiny steps to support Black-owned brands and businesses, our immense buying power will thwart the efforts of others who seek to eradicate what’s left of Black businesses.

The next time you’re in need of a new bottle of conditioner or moisturizer, visit the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association (BOBSA), an organization that promotes and assists entrepreneurs in their goal of owning and operating Black-owned beauty businesses. They have a national directory of Black-owned beauty supply stores.

If you end up making an impromptu trip to the pharmacy or beauty supply store, or even shop online, purchase products by the handful of Black-owned hair companies that continue to thrive including, Johnson Products, Luster Products, Dudley Products Inc., Namaste Laboratories LLC (manufacturer of Organic Root Stimulator), Clintex Laboratories and Kizure.

I’m not suggesting you boycott Korean-owned stores or stop buying your favorite products. But consider looking beyond the price tag, familiarity, and convenience. This is bigger than us. This is bigger than hair. It’s time we start caring and taking action.

-Audra E. Lord