What’s Wrong With Routines

More and more women every day are noticing differences in their hair. Whether it be the texture, the color or the amount they have, it isn’t always pleasant. For older women, it can be frustrating to see their once young and luscious hair turn to dead ends with a bad gray color. Of course, there are solutions for this problem but not all women are fans of dying their hair. Sometimes hair dye makes the texture of hair not so fun to mess with. It’s hard to restore already dead/split ends. Although there are these women who are cautious about the future of their hair, there are also women out there who would do anything to look younger- that includes changing their daily routine.

So many people find it hard to believe, but there are women in the world who are seventy years old and refuse to go out without straightening or back combing their hair. What they don’t realize is how fragile their hair is and how dangerous all of this stuff can be. Once women hit a certain period in life, they stop producing certain hormones and their bodies begin to change. One of those type of hormones includes those that help create the kind of protein to keep hair strong. This means that their hair will begin to break down slowly each day. This already is bad news bears but when they continue to use hair straighteners or hair dye, they are only making it worse.

A typical day of a woman at the age of seventy should include something simple like waking up, drinking a cup of coffee, and bathing before a nice luncheon with other elderly women. However, it becomes damaging and dangerous when women decide to wake up and shower, blow dry, straighten, sit in the sun and then touch up their roots at night before bed. This is a dangerous process for any age girl but especially for those who have hair that is done growing any body or silky texture. Bad hair starts with the daily procedure you put the ends through.

If you decide at an older age that you want to keep it healthy and beautiful for life, its a good decision to leave it be and let it do its thing. Trying to hard actually ends up making hair look duller and uglier depending on all you do with it. Not to say that straightening hair every other week for a special event is a bad thing. It becomes a problem after repeatedly doing so each and every day. With lots of heat and light exposure, the cuticle of the hair breaks down twice as fast for older women. If using any type of heat source, use it in increments. This means you shouldn’t use both a straightener and a blow drier in the same day. Keep a good variety and don’t overuse any of the sources.

What People Do To Save Hair

Walking down the street, you might see people who are expressing their own “style”. Included in this look of style, you may find a few people who have hair that doesn’t exactly look the healthiest. For example, you may walk past someone with a little grease in the roots of their hair. Although this doesn’t look healthy, you may be surprised at how healthy this person’s hair actually is behind its “mask.” The things people do to protect their hair from getting too dry or damaged is shocking to many people.

Let’s all step forward and admit the truth now; we’ve all gone at least two days without showering before. If you haven’t ever gone more than one day without a shower, you are abnormal. Between late nights of studying and just going out with friends, you don’t really have time to shower at night. And maybe the next morning you have to wake up early and don’t have time to shower before a morning event. These may not be the only reasons you don’t shower, though.

Sometimes if I shower one morning and then straighten my hair afterward, I will keep my hair straight the next day. As long as I haven’t sweat or done anything too damaging to my hair, I figure it’s okay to leave it for the next day to save from over damaging my ends. This really does do less damage than to shower, blow dry, and use your straightener all over again when hair doesn’t look too bad from the day before.

Another type of damage that can be done to people’s hair is caused by too much dying. If a person dyes their hair too often, the ends get so worn down by the chemicals in the dye and can’t withstand any kind of styling for long. After people hear consequences of dying hair too often, they become a bit frightened and decide to stop dying their hair altogether. The look they get in their hair eventually will look dull and may even look a little gross too. This is because after that person decides to quit dying her hair, her roots begin to grow out and the actual color of her hair is revealed after so long.

Times where this is bad to look at would be if a brunette died her hair blonde and then decided to stop touching up the roots. Then her brunette roots begin to grow out and make the blonde hair look greasy and sloppy. The truth is, girls who decide to quite dying and to let their roots grow out end up having healthier hair even though it looks greasy and damaged. If it becomes unbearable for girls to watch their roots grow out, they may need to dye it one last time back to their original color just to get it back to square one.

Whether it is stopping hair dye or skipping showers, people really will go to extents to save their hair from damage. When you get a haircut, ask your hair dresser what she/he does to preserve a little of their hair. To prevent too much damage, try a few of the solutions above. You’d be surprised at how fast you can get your hair to preserve a little moisture just by using a few of these tricks.

The Life Of A Straight Girl

People often ask me what my natural hair looks like. Recently, I have been lazy about styling my hair each day and just have had no time to do anything besides shower and let it hang the whole day. Of course it dries as the day goes on but so many people ask if I straighten my hair after it dries because it looks pin straight, draping down my shoulders. The truth is, I probably have the straightest hair known to mankind. Having naturally straight hair does have its perks at times but it definitely is not as fun as having wavy hair.

When I wake up in the morning and begin styling my hair, I realize how straight my hair already is and instantly, I know that my routine will not take as long as most girls my age. Since my hair is so naturally straight, I can cut about twenty minutes off of  my “getting ready for the day” time each morning. I either let it go for the day, only running a brush through the ends or I throw it up in a ponytail. This is a benefit of having straight hair because it allows me to focus on eating a bigger breakfast, doing my makeup better, or picking out a prettier outfit. But there are some cons to having straight hair too.

Each time that I look in my hair in the mirror, I am reminded how dull and boring it is. I wish that somedays it would hold a little bounce in the roots. I can barely even tease my hair because it’s so thin and fine and straight. Thicker, curlier hair tends to hold volume much easier. It’s also not fun having straight hair because you can’t really mix up your style each day. It gets boring wearing my hair straight day after day while other girls can scrunch their hair with gel some days and show off their natural waves.

I do use hair straighteners, but not as often as most people my age. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. It saves me some time and damage to my ends but it also limits what else I can do to style my hair each morning, especially if I don’t have time to do something fun like curl it to be bouncy. There may be others in the world with the same problem that I have, but I must say, my hair has got to be one of the straightest out there.

Using A Hair Straightener For More Volume In Your Hair

When most women purchase their hair straightening iron they do so with the intentions of using the hair styling tool to remove the curl and frizz from their hair. Of course these professional styling tools are designed to do just that and they get the job done perfectly. But a straightener can also be used to put volume and even curl into a hair as well when used just right.

To add volume with a hair straightener it is simply a matter of which direct you will hold your hair and run the iron to encourage volume. When you want more body and no curl in your hair after washing and completely drying your hair divide your locks into many small sections that can easily fit into the plates of the hair straightener. Then on each section you will start as close to the scalp as possible and run the hair iron over your hair slowly while pulling the section you are working on directly upwards.

Once you have done each section this way flip your hair forwards and apply some hair spray to the roots to hold the volume you just put in place. Once you get used to using a hair straightener for more than just smoothing out hair you will begin to use it almost exclusively for all of your styling needs.

Getting Straight Hair That Has Volume With A Hair Iron

When many women use a hair iron to get those sleek straight hairstyles that are so popular right now they are unhappy with the results they are getting and are not sure why. One big problem many women have is the hair is straight but has no volume at all. This leaves their hair lifeless looking and does not achieve the look that they want so badly.

Getting more volume into your hair when using a hair straightening iron is actually as simple as holding the styling tool slightly different from how you are holding it now. Those who are getting the flat hair are holding the hair iron and the hair that is inside it at a downward angle when they are starting near the root. This is not correct and encourages the hair to be flat at the roots where volume is the most important.
The hair should be pulled straight out from the head and the iron placed on it at the root to encourage the locks to stand out some from the head. How you take the hair iron from here will determine if there is a slight wave or the hair just comes down. These are techniques that should be practiced to get the best results as the more you straightener your hair the better you will get.

Getting Flips In The Tips of Your Straight Hair

You do not have to make your hair totally flat when you are using a hair straightening iron on you hair. You can create a look that is fairly flat but with either a flip on the ends of your hair that either flips up or flips under. To get this great look you do not have to use a straightening iron and a curling iron separately you can get the complete look with your hair straightening iron making it simple and fast to create.

To get the flip in the ends of your hair simply use your hair iron as usual working from the roots to the tips of your hair. This will create the smooth flat hair on the upper part of your hair do but when you get to within two inches of the ends of your hair you will need to create a slight curl in the ends. Depending on whether you want the ends to flip out or flip under will depend on which way you curl but once you decide wrap the last couple of inches of your hair in the flat iron and give a small twist to create the flip. This is a fun look that is simple to create and will look great for most any occasion.

Using Your Hair Dryer To Style Your Hair

Many women feel that their hair dryer is strictly for drying their hair, and forget that it can be a primary styling tool as well. Once your hair is dry a soft bristled round brush and an ionic hair dryer can make a great duo for creating volume in your hair. You can easily use the dryer and the brush to comb to flip the ends of your hair and add some bounce and spring to your hairstyle. Also applying the heat from the dryer while combing by your roots will create more lift and volume to your tresses than you may have had before. Do not be afraid to play around and see what kind of looks you can get with your hair dryer.

Big Hair Is Coming Back

It seems big hair is making a comeback in the world of high fashion, and this trend is being fueled by the great new styling tools and products that are now available. New styling tools such as ionic hair dryers are perfect for blowing your hair dry especially at the roots upside down so that the roots are lifted to their maximum height. Then with the new styling products that are now available it is now possible to get big lift on your hair and yet it is still touchable and soft unlike the sticky harsh mess in the past. Jump on the style bandwagon and go big with your hair.

Get This Look using a Hairstraightener

A Chignon sits lower on the head than a basic bun so be sure to focus on the nape of your neck as you style.

1. Towel-dry your hair and apply a loonie-sixed dollop of mousse evenly throughout to add texture and volume.
2. Blow-dry with a round brush to add bounce and then set with hot rollers or a curling iron. Concentrate curls on the bottom half of your hair,-keep the roots and crown smooth and use a hair straightener for your bang area.
3. Let hair cool and professional hair brush to bring out the shine.
4. Secure hair in a low ponytail at the nape of the neck, swept off to one side. Leave a one-inch-wide piece stray and wrap it around the hair elastic to conceal it. Secure with a bobby pin.
5. To add more texture, backcomb the ponytail. Don’t be afraid of your bun being too messy, this will be the beauty of it-it doesn’t have to look perfect.
6. Pin the hair under in small sections to create the chignon. Don’t go crazy with the hairspray. Instead, make sure it will stay put by anchoring the base with enough bobby pins.

Till Next time Good Luck,

Niki

Aging Hair

Not like we don’t have to worry enough already about our aging skin, we now have anti-aging shampoos and conditioners? Seems lately I find myself writing a lot about aging and your skin and hair, but these are the two most worrisome factors when aging. I asked women what they wanted to know about most and this is what they said,”Tell me how to get my hair and skin back!”

Well, heaven knows I would love to, believe me. I am not taking to kindly to the thought of turning…well, the age that I will be turning soon! And yes, if I had an abundance of money you can bet your last dollar I would spend some, lots, okay, a substantial amount on some “younger” looking methods, ie: face lift? maybe a little nip & tuck, just pull everything up. Don’t get me wrong, I am most of the time happy with my appearance but my mother was right, time goes by way too fast.

With all the styling we do, hair straightening, chemical treatments, and such just to look beautiful all day it’s no wonder we have time to eat and sleep. Did you know that after 30 most women’s hair will start to thin out? I almost cried when I heard this, I mean I only have a few strands left, am I going to be nearing the age of 80 taking the local bus down to my hairstylist only to find out she doesn’t have my color in hair extensions? Trust me this is a scary thought for our fine & thin haired people out there.

Well, as already discussed in the last blog post, vitamins and all the other suggestions made for hair and skin are essential to the health of our hair. But, did you know that you can now purchase Age Defying shampoo and Younger Looking conditioner? This is a tremendous break through!

Dr. Reed, a New York City Dermatologist says “Chemically treat your hair as infrequently as possible, and avoid anything that pulls on hair, such as tight rollers, ponytails, weaves, and braids. “Not only can they cause breakage, but they can destroy your roots permanently, rendering them unable to produce hair,”

Hair Extensions are a great way to add volume and length. clip-in hair extensions are a good way to add it when you want and avoid the above mentioned damage. Hair weaving is different than hair extensions, hair extensions are done in a much less hurtful, damaging way. (depending on the stylist and method she uses!)

Take 5,000 micrograms of biotin (a B vitamin) daily and use protein-laced styling products. As your hair thins, it gets weaker and less able to support its own weight, leading to breakage and loss. Protein fortifies the hair shaft. It can actually stick itself into hair and pull splitting sections together. Isn’t that amazing? Your split ends can be brought back together by protein!

For use in our forever aging hair I suggest using Nexxus Y Serum Younger Looking Hair shampoo and conditioner or Nature’s Gate Stayin’ Alive Anti-aging shampoo and conditioner.

Y Serum younger looking hair system transforms aged, abused hair into youthful, radiant, and healthy hair… reversing the multiple signs of aging in just days. This revolutionary, 3-step program delivers abundant doses of youth-enhancing ingredients at each stage of the daily hair care regimen.

Y Serum Shampoo gets rid of impurities without disturbing hair’s delicate structure. This mild and nurturing formulation bathes hair in rare and anti-aging ingredients.

Y Serum Conditioner formulation reverses the signs of aging hair, transforming mature, coarse, dull, and brittle hair into youthful, radiant, silky soft, and healthier hair. You are looking to spend about      $60.00 for the package of 3 or get it cheaper online.

Natures Gate- Stayin’ Alive Anti-Aging Shampoo Gently cleanses hair while helping protect against environmental damage, the effects of UV radiation and the stress of daily blow drying and styling.
Hair looks and feels revived and young! Retail $ 14.99, but I found it for just over $ 10.00 on line. Price is same for conditioner.

Natures Gate-Conditioner: Help hair look younger, feel softer and rejuvenated! This conditioner gives hair a new lease on life, without weighing it down. Infused with certified organic botanicals and a proprietary blend of proteins, its never too early to start an anti-aging program for your tresses.

I am going to try the Nexxus line and am quite excited about starting the Vegetal Silica/Nexxus hair plan. I hope you will join me and in three months from now I’d like to hear all comments, see photos and have a final blog on the use of the Nexxus product or the Nature’s Gate along with the Vegetal Silica/Horsetail plan.  We can see and share final results if enough of us do this together. Till next time, Good Luck,

Niki

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