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If the amount of money consumers spend on hair care products annually is any indication, most people are concerned about the appearance of their hair and strive to attain beautiful, healthy and stylish locks. In fact, most will go to any lengths to achieve their desired look. From professional salon treatments to over-the-counter serums, hair care is a big business.

The only problem is that while many people are buying the right hair care products for their hair, they forget to follow basic hair care regimens that will guarantee the health and beauty of their tresses. Additionally, many are also causing needless damage to their hair by participating in unhealthy hair care behavior.

So, what should you do to make sure that your hair stays healthy, shiny and strong?

To avoid all hair care disasters, follow these 10 absolute don’ts of great hair care.

Hair care don’ts

1. Avoid unprofessional and over-the-counter hair care products whenever you can. Many of these only offer false hopes and promises.
2. Do not cut your own bangs. Leave all of your cutting needs, even bangs, to your hair care professional.
3. Avoid excessive sun, chlorine and salt water during the summer months. Excessive exposure can cause severe damage that is irreversible even if you use the best hair care products.
4. Do not use clarifying hair care products on your tresses more than one time per week. They can strip hair of moisture and essential oils.
5. Do not visit a hair care salon without first getting a referral from someone you can trust. Choosing a salon based on an advertisement or sale alone is very risky.
6. Do not purchase hair color that comes in a box.
7. Never stick with an outdated look because you are afraid of looking different. Styles change for a reason. Ask your hair care professional to bring you into this decade with a new style.
8. Do not straighten your hair with a clothes iron. C’mon, this was so over in the 70s. We have straightening irons that won’t damage your hair for this now. Look in the hair care isle.
9. Don’t brush your hair or put too much tension on it while it is still wet. This will cause breakage. Also, do not wear tight styles such as corn rows for extended periods of time unless you have ethnic hair.
10. Never use sun-lightening products such as lemon juice or over-the-counter hair care products designed to lighten hair with the sun unless you want a very short hair cut in the future.

In the end, hair care is a very individualized and personal thing. Feel free to add your own flair and style to your hair care routine, but remember to include hair care principles that will benefit your hair and avoid those that damage it.

Michael Barrows’ website gives great advice for good hair. Get your free ebook packed with hair style and hair care tips and advice, visit great-hairstyles.com.

A receding hairline is the most obvious sign of aging, being on the most prominent location. It is like falling leaves when autumn comes. That’s why most of the middle and advanced aged people suffer from thinning hair. And, to their constant chagrin, most male suffer from this misfortune.

Caring for your hair doesn’t stop with washing and shampooing it. You have to pay equal attention to it in the same manner as you pay to other parts of your body. The hair needs nourishment just like the rest of your system to keep them in place and keep them from moving to your bathroom shower drain.

In your campaign for a healthier body most of the time the hair is not included. You work out every inch of your body, but not the hair. There are no exercises for it anyway, you might think. But decades ago, Sanford Bennett, became a celebrity for experiments that led to his physical rejuvenation at 70. Besides all the exercises he devised to make his face younger and his bodily muscles more robust, he also devised an exercise for a healthier and stronger scalp that could trigger the thicker growth of the hair. To Bennett, the scalp, just like any other part of the body if exercised, would increase in strength and elasticity. This is because there are microscopic glands and muscles in the scalp. The law that applies in exercising the major muscles of the body also applies to those.

So how does it go? Alternately pull your hair in all directions and massage the scalp with the pads of your fingers while you lie in bed. This will improve the blood circulation and eventually feed the roots of the hair with the nutrients it needed. It also exercises the muscles in the scalp making the muscles stronger, which will logically hold the hair more strongly. And since the blood is pumped through the microscopic glands and muscles in the scalp, they are sure to increase in size, strength and elasticity. This naturally results in much fewer hair falling and healthier-looking hair.

One of the best refreshers for the hair ad the scalp is the alternate washing of hot and cold water. It also accelerates the blood circulation there. Wash the hair first with hot water, as hot as you can bear it. Then follow up with very cold water (but without using ice). Applying hot and cold towels alternately can be a good substitute. This procedure should be repeated at least five or six times.

The writer, Ismael D. Tabije, runs the websites http://www.growyounger.e-mart4all.com, http://www.fitness.e-mart4all.com, http://www.1001beautytips1.e-mart4all.com, where you can find a wide collection of fitness, health and beauty tips e-books by world-renowned experts.

I am sure you have wondered what the truth is about the prices of wigs made from European human hair. From shop to shop you will find a huge variation in prices - anywhere from $300 USD to as high as $10,000 USD (!). So let me take you through each step of the process of producing high quality handmade wigs, and show the real costs.

Firstly, take the acquisition of hair. The cost of hair for one wig (0,2 to 0,4 kg) varies from 30 to 40 USD throughout most Eastern European countries. There is little variation there, but an important additional cost is incurred by high-quality wig-makers who collect hair in an appropriate and well-controlled way. The best wig-makers visit hairdressers and care for the hair themselves, using no middleman. They do not buy hair from wholesalers because wholesalers blend hair, because it is so time-consuming to acquire really good hair. One simply has to find a girl among hairdresser’s clients that has beautiful, healthy hair and who wants it cut. The hairdresser can offer a free service to such a girl and actually pay her for her hair - and clearly both sides benefit from such a transaction. But this shows that, by its very nature, acquisition of good-quality hair cannot be a simple large-scale automatic process. That explains why outside of Eastern Europe the price of acquiring good quality hair is skyrocketing - not because the hair in itself is expensive, but because of its rarity. It is difficult to imagine a large-scale cheap process of acquiring high quality human hair in European countries.

Second, take the other materials used in making wigs. These are not expensive and their costs do not exceed 50 USD for a typical wig. These are the materials used to produce a cap. More and more wig-makers are now buying ready-made caps, so called “monofilament”, which are gaining popularity and their cost is not very high.

Third, take the labor involved in making high quality handmade wigs. This is the main cost factor. Handmade wig needs at least a week to be produced by an experienced expert worker. It takes a week of hard work, with each hair being knitted to the cap with a very small crochet-needle or glued with a special glue. In the case of long hair, the production time could be two to three weeks. Reliable wig-makers knit hair with a double-knot which makes the construction much more durable but needs some extra work-time. Depending on the type of wig, length of hair and type of cap the cost of labor is from $150 to $300 USD.

Finally, you cannot forget other typical business costs - investment’s amortization, management costs, taxes, insurances, rent, and profit. Altogether, the price of a handmade human hair wig made from European hair cannot be lower than $500-$600 USD even for the shortest hair. There is no upper limit and it only depends on how much a customer is willing to pay, but before you pay $1,000 USD or more for your wig remember the real costs of its creation.

And now for a real mystery. Why are European human hair wigs not made in China where labor costs are much lower than in Poland, Russia, or the Czech Republic? The main reason is no good quality European human hair available in large enough quantities to make profitable large-scale production in China possible. This is because wig-makers in Eastern European countries are buying all of the available hair for their own production. Surprising? - but that is how it is. And that is why most of wigs produced in China are made of Asian hair or blended hair widely available on a wholesale market.

Franek Migaszewski is co-founder and manager of Wiggywigs.com site, the first wig vendor from Eastern Europe selling human hair wigs directly to the western markets on the Internet.

The prom is perhaps the most important event for teenagers during their high school careers. Only when put next to graduation does the prom take a backseat as one of the most memorable times during a teenager’s life. That is why it is so important to find the perfect prom hair style to complete your look on this special night. And with so much thought and planning put into finding the perfect dress and gathering all of the right accessories, why not also take a little time before hand to choose and practice your prom hair style?

While the prom hair style does not necessarily have to be formal and intricate, there are some prom hair styles that require a bit of practice before the big night. Even it you are having your hair done by a professional, he or she will appreciate talking with you and helping you choose your prom hair style in advance of the dance. Doing so will eliminate any miscommunications and ensure that you are happy with your hair on the night of the prom.

But before you begin practicing your prom hair style or talking to your stylist about it, you need to first find a few different prom hair styles that you would love to wear to your prom. One of the best places to find the perfect prom hair style is right here online. There are literally hundreds of prom hair style photo galleries that can be accessed with a simple keyword search using your favorite search engine (go to my website at http://www.great-hairstyles.com/hair-article-resources.html for details of the best online photo galleries). And once you find the right styles, you can print the photos and take them directly to your stylist or to whoever is fashioning your prom hair style.

When looking through the prom hair style galleries, keep in mind the style and cut of your dress. Choose styles that will compliment both your personality and your dress while at the same time choose ones that will also work with your length and texture of hair. For example: If your hair is fine and limp, avoid choosing prom hair styles that are full bodied or intricate. Doing so would likely result in a messy heap of undignified prom hair before the end of the evening. Instead, choose a simple but classic prom hair style such as a French twist, which is easy to achieve and maintain on fine hair.

Once you have found a few different prom hair styles that would be perfect for your big night, you need to practice creating the style on your own tresses to ensure that you achieve the perfect prom hair style on the night of the dance. Having a practice run or two also helps you to eliminate styles that are too hard to create or prom hair styles that you do not really like once you see them on yourself.

It is a great deal easier to decide that you don’t like a particular prom hair style a week before the special night than it is an hour before you’re supposed to walk out the door. As you can imagine, taking a little time to plan can greatly reduce your anxiety level on the day of the prom and help you to avoid prom hair style disasters.

Michael Barrows’ website gives great advice for good hair. Get your free ebook packed with hair style and hair care tips and advice, visit great-hairstyles.com.

Are you a victim of back hair? Does your wife or girlfriend cringe when you take off your shirt? There may be help for you with laser back hair removal.

Laser hair removal is a trend that is sweeping the country. With improvements in laser technology, these procedures are safer and less expensive than ever, and the results are longlasting. Most treatments use a very low level laser that is targets the affected area. The energy of the laser enters the pigment in the hair and causes the shaft to heat up, killing the hair. The follicle is also rendered ineffective, stunting new hair growth. Although the hair follicle deactivated, the surrounding skin is unharmed by the procedure.

Of course, this treatment has many applications for men and women, but one of the most popular is back hair laser removal. Previously, men had to undergo painful waxing, smelly dilapitory chemicals or shaving their backs to eliminate the hair that so many women find distasteful.

Of course, the type and amount of hair will determine how much your procedure costs. Darker or olive skinned patients will require more treatments than natural blondes, and hair thickness and density varies widely. Different lasers are even used to treat different skin color groups, so be sure to ask if your treatment center can handle your needs. Prices typically start at about $200-225, but back hair laser removal can run much higher, due to the larger area being treated. You should also expect to return for several treatments, as hair is removed in certain parts of the growth cycle only.

Although it may seem initially expensive, back hair removal using laser treatments is actually cost effective in the long run. Typically the hair does not regrow, and most centers offer touch ups for the few that do, as part of the package. If your back hair is an embarrassing problem, invest in yourself and try hair laser removal for your back!

Kathlene Capelle is a writer for beauty tips and advice. Her site has information on laser hair removal, permanent hair removal, waxing and other hair removal methods. Please visit Hair-Removal-Central.com.

Even people with thinning hair dream of having lush, thick and healthy locks to set off their complete look. For most people with thinning hair, though, all of their styling endeavors are met with frustration and a resulting style that falls short of the image that they had envisioned.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Thinning hair does not sentence you to a life of dull and unstylish tresses. In fact, there are several things that you can do to make your thinning hair look stunning. And the best part is that these thinning hair options won’t take a great deal of your time or money either.

The first thing that you need to do to make your thinning hair look fabulous is to find the right stylist. Search for a stylist who has other clients with thinning hair and is fluent in all of the right styles and techniques to both protect thinning hair and make it look thicker than it really is. You can do this by asking for referrals from friends who also have thinning hair but always seem to look like they have just left the salon.

Once you have found the right stylist, together you can begin to examine your options for making your thinning hair appear thick again. Since there are many different ways to thicken up your locks, it is very important for you and your stylist to talk about each thinning hair option together so that you pick the right techniques that are perfect for you and your thinning hair.

Here are just a few of the ways that you can make your thinning hair appear lush and thick:

• Cut and texture. One of the best ways to conceal your thinning hair is to find a cut that adds a lot of texture and movement to your style while at the same time makes your hair appear thicker. Since long hair tends to draw the eye to the reality of thinning hair, shorter hairstyles are often your better bet. Choose styles with a lot of layers and textures ends that will create movement and interest to your thinning hair style. Adding texture through soft curl can also be a great way to make your thinning hair look its best.
• Color. Not only does color add more body and thickness to your thinning hair, it can also be used to draw the eye away from particularly thin spots. Using a combination of low-lights, high-lights and color accents, your stylist can do wonders for your thinning hair with a color brush.
• Products. There are a wide variety of products on the market that can be used to conceal thinning hair. Products such as thickening shampoos and conditioners can do a lot for thinning hair. Also be conscious of what types of styling products that you use on your thinning hair. Use lighter products such as mousses and pomades over heavy products like gel and spritzs.

As you can see, none of these thinning hair remedies are complicated or expensive. Simply by learning how to best style your thinning hair and learning to use the right products can do a great deal to make your hair look like it is both chic and thick.

Michael Barrows’ website gives great advice for good hair. Get your free ebook packed with hair style and hair care tips and advice, visit great-hairstyles.com.

There is perhaps never a better time when you can pull off the very trendy and funky hair styles as when you are a teenager. The teen hair style, while always evolving and reflecting the tastes of the generation, always tends to be a trendy hair style that is hard for older people to imitate and still look great. From a ton of texture to funky and fresh color techniques, the teen hair style is always at the cutting edge of fashion.

The funky teen hair style always looks like it has been taken straight off the runway. Infused with rich, trendy color, the teen hair style does a lot to capture an era of style completely. Just think about all of the famous teen hair styles, of the past. Complete generations have been defined by the trendy hair styles worn by the teenagers of that time.

Today, top teen hair styles are trendier than ever and cover a wide range of styles, lengths and textures. Perhaps for the first time, the teen hair style is a reflection of the person within instead of the popular teen hair styles without. I mean just think of how many popular teen hair styles there are to choose from. We are no longer like the cookie-cutter generations that came before.

While there are a great deal of teen hair styles to choose from and numerous variations of each, it can be hard to find the perfect teen hair style to reflect your personality and tastes. So, here are a few ideas for your next teen hair style.

The short teen hair style

The teen hair style has never been shorter. In fact, many teenage girls are now wearing their hair shorter than the boys. But one thing is always sure; the short teen hair style is always a trendy hair style. Full of texture and interest, the short teen hair style is never dull.

Probably the most popular short teen hair style of today is a variation on the pixie cut. Only about 1″ to 1 ½” in length throughout, this teen hair style is heavily textured and can be worn in several different ways. From rigid spikes and soft funk to close-to-the-head tresses, this teen hair style accommodates a wide range of tastes.

The textured teen hair style

No matter what length your locks are, texture is needed to pull off a trendy hair style. This texture can be created through cutting and razoring techniques, it can be natural as in the case of natural curl, and it can be created chemically through perms and relaxers or thermal styling tools.

As mentioned before, today’s teen hair style is never boring. Not only does texture liven up your teen hair style, it can also take a popular style and make it uniquely your own. Take for instance a simple layered teen hair style. Falling about shoulder length, this teen hair style would be dull if left to hang straight. But if you take the same cut and add pomade to texturize the ends or add spiral curl to this teen hair style with tube rollers, you could really have a different teen hair style each and every day.

The teen hair style and color

Every trendy hair style needs color, and the same is true for the teen hair style. Adding color can be as simple as a few highlights or lowlights or it can come in the form of dramatic changes such as dark colors for the Gothic look. Color for the teen hair style can also be a statement of itself. Just look at the colors worn by Pink and Christina Aguilera. Their most popular teen hair style cuts were not really anything that unique, it was their color that set their teen hair style apart from others.

When choosing color for your teen hair style do not be afraid to try something funky and unique. This may be the only time in your life that you can get by with blue highlights. Also, do not become wrapped up in choosing the same color for your teen hair style that you have seen worn by other people. Stay unique, venture out, be brave and you will always have a teen hair style worthy of envy.

Michael Barrows’ website gives great advice for good hair. Get your free ebook packed with hair style and hair care tips and advice, visit great-hairstyles.com.

The quest for beautiful skin and hair is prevalent among women. You can make inexpensive, natural beauty and hair treatments from ingredients you have in your home that will perform just as well or better than products you purchase in the store.

If you only have one natural beauty remedy in your pantry, make it Olive Oil. It’s extremely versatile and can be used on every part of your body.

Olive oil is excellent for removing mascara. It’s much better than petroleum jelly or baby oil and is beneficial to the skin around your eyes.

Use a few drops of olive oil in warm water for a wonderful at-home manicure. Apply your favorite lotion afterwards to lock in the moisture.

Beeswax and olive oil melted and poured into a small tin makes wonderful lip balm that will keep your lips soft and smooth.

Dry feet can be healed after one night of this treatment. Before bed, rub olive oil into your dry, cracked feet. Do not rinse. Then, put a cozy pair of socks on and go to sleep. Your feet will drink in the moisture and feel much better by morning.

Add a few drops of olive oil to your bath water for the best skin softener you can imagine. And, if you’re feeling extra decadent, then add a few drops of essential oil for a natural aromatherapy bath.

A very small amount of olive oil applied to dry hair will condition and get rid of frizz. This is a great leave-in conditioner.

Olive oil can also work as a shaving cream for men with sensitive skin.

Don’t buy those expensive Sea Salt Scrubs. Make your own. Just add sea salt to olive oil and you’ve got a sea salt scrub that will feel like heaven. Add a drop of essential oils if you’d like your scrub scented.

Please use caution when using olive oil in your bathtub as it will get quite slippery and you don’t want to fall.

It is not necessary to pay a lot of money for beauty treatment products. The things you have in your very own kitchen can often be the best beauty products available.

Melissa B. Rayn loves to experiment with different homemade bath and body recipes. Her passion for creating beauty and spa recipes inspired her to share them with others at her website mybeautyrecipes.com.

At first sight the answer seems very obvious – they are cheaper. And of course that is true. But in fact Eastern European hair is not that much more expensive – the amount necessary to make a good wig is about 30-50 USD in Poland or Czech Republic. That is not a fortune if you are going to spend a few hundred dollars on a wig. So what is the catch?

The problem is on the supply side. There are over 2 billion people in Asia and only 200 million in Eastern Europe. Most of people in Eastern Europe have no need to sell their hair for economic reasons. Moreover, I don’t have to emphasize how rare it is in rich Western European countries to sell one’s hair. That is what makes European hair rare and explains why local wig-makers purchase only the amount necessary for their own production. Outside of Eastern Europe, due to its rarity, the price of the best European hair (so called “raw virgin hair”) is skyrocketing.

Hence 99% of human hair wigs are made of Asian hair. This hair is marked by such trade names as “human hair” or “remy hair”. If the producer or a sales person does not state directly that the hair is exclusively European, you can be 100% sure that you are dealing with Asian hair.

Asian hair is by nature very dark (black), very straight and thicker than European hair. Subject to a complicated process of a pigmentation removal, the hair looses its natural shine and resilience. Before it finally gets to you it will be dyed several times using synthetic chemical products, which no one would use to dye their own hair. Such a hair has a tendency to show a ting of a dark or red color. This is why it has to be dyed several times and go through a bleaching process. That way any color can be obtained, but hair structure gets damaged during the process. It is not pleasant to the touch anymore and even after as little as twenty weeks it will loose its shine and become dull.

Another issue concerns the manner in which the hair is obtained. It is not planned from the start with the thought of creating wigs. Hair is cut in random hair salons. Part of the hair also comes from ritual ceremonies of cutting of the hair as a sign of entering into adulthood. Such hair in the fervor of the ceremony falls to the floor and is gathered from there and placed in a great pile. In the process the hair is turned against and opposite to each of its strands and not layered in the same direction. Although it may not seem so at first, this does change the fundamental significance in the quality of your wig.

Every strand of hair has a coarse cuticle, which clings to the cuticle of the neighboring hair if they are layered in the opposite direction. In effect hair is twisting and intertwining into a hair clump so difficult to comb out. The only method for solving this problem is to completely remove the natural cuticle, which is then replaced with a silicon one that gives the hair its shine. It is a brutal and destructive process – such a wig will maintain its sheen no longer than for a period of 4 to 12 weeks. After that time hair becomes dull and unattractive.

The best Asian hair comes from India and Pakistan. In reality, it is not much better than hair described above. The advantage is that this hair is less stiff and may have a natural tendency to from slight waves. For that reason, many producers claim that it has the same qualities as European hair, which is not true.

If only there were more Eastern Europeans, life of wig-makers and their clients would be simpler, heh?

Franek Migaszewski is co-founder and manager of wiggywigs.com site, the first wig vendor from Eastern Europe selling human hair wigs directly to the western markets on the Internet.

Medical hair restoration in the literal sense includes the hair loss treatment which depends upon the use of medicines. Unusual hair loss both in men and women is caused by the alterations in the androgen metabolism. The metabolism of androgen involves an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase which combines with the hormone androgen (testosterone) to form the DHT (Dihydro-testosterone). DHT is a natural metabolite of our body which is the root cause of hair loss.

DHT gets into the hair follicles and roots (dermal papilla), it prevents necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals from providing nourishment for hair follicles. This shortens their growing stage (anagen phase) and lengthens their resting stage (telogen phase) of the follicle. DHT is responsible for 95% of hair loss.

Some individuals both men and women are genetically pre-disposed to produce more DHT than the normal individuals. DHT also creates a wax-like substance around the hair roots. DHT accumulation inside the hair follicles and roots is one of the primary causes of male and female pattern hair loss.

Blocking the synthesis of DHT at molecular level forms the basis for the treatment of MPHL (male pattern hair loss) and FPHL (female pattern hair loss). There are many natural DHT blockers and a number of drugs which are used for medical hair restoration. Let’s see.

Minoxidil

Minoxidil has the distinction of the first drug being used for promoting the hair restoration. Minoxidil was then approved as medical hair restoration treatment drug for men by the FDA, USA in 1988 as a 2% solution, followed by 5% solution in 1997. For women, the 2% solution was approved in 1991. Though 5% solution is not approved for women, it is used as a medical hair restoration treatment by many dermatologists worldwide.

Mechanism of action

Minoxidil is thought to have a direct mitogenic effect on epidermal cells. Calcium normally enhances epidermal growth factors to inhibit hair growth. Minoxidil by getting converted to minoxidil sulfate enhances potassium ion permeability to prevent calcium ions from entering into cells. It takes about few months time for the results to be evident since it is the time which is necessary for restoring the normal growth cycle of hair fibers.

Though minoxidil does not have any effect on blood pressure, it should be used with caution in patient with cardiovascular diseases. It is also contraindicated in pregnant and nursing mothers.

Finasteride

The drug finasteride was earlier used as treatment for prostate enlargement, under the medical name Proscar. But in 1998, it was approved by FDA for the Medical hair loss restoration in MPHL.

Mechanism of Action

Medical hair restoration treatments with Finasteride depends upon its specific action as an inhibitor of type II 5α-reductase, the intracellular enzyme that converts male hormone androgen into DHT (Dihydro Testosterone). Its action results in significant decrease in serum and tissue DHT levels in even in concentration as low as 0.2mg. Finasteride stabilizes hair loss in 80% of patient with Vertex hair loss and in 70% of patients with frontal hair loss. The peculiar thing about Propecia is that its effect is more pronounced in crown area than in the front.

Many hair restoration surgeons find Propecia (finasteride) to act as an excellent adjunct to the surgical hair restoration.

Combination Therapy

There are reports which say that use of finasteride and topical minoxidil combination therapy as a Medical hair restoration treatment is of more advantage in cases of mild to moderate MPHL. Many hair restoration doctors have already started the use of combination therapy in order to obtain better hair growth.

Anti Androgen Therapy

For women with hyperandrogonism(with increased levels of androgen) who do not respond well to minoxidil, antiandrogen therapy is another option of medical hair restoration. In UK the most commonly used anti-androgen for women is CPA (cyproterone acetate), which is used in combination with ethinyl-estradiol.

In United States CPA is not available, the aldosterone antagonist spironolactone is the alternative choice of hair restoration doctors.

Flutamide

Medical hair restoration with flutamide has shown improvement as hair loss restoration treatment in women with hirsutism. For hyperandrogenic premenopausal women, flutamide is a better medical hair restoration agent than both the CPA or finestride.

Hair loss restoration management is a structured process. For more details on the topic you can refer to section medical hair restoration or article on male pattern hair loss or female pattern hair loss at our site hairtransplantadvice.com.

The author Steve Harris is an expert in female pattern hair loss and medical hair restoration. Please visit hairtransplantadvice.com.