Hair Addiction

Whats up with these SMOOTHING AND KERATIN TREATMENTS?

2011-11-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Every where you look now you see all of these different types of permanent and semi permanent hair smoothing/ straightening systems or thermal hair straightening. WARNING, there are a lot of these treatments out on the market professional grade and consumer grade that have harmful chemicals in them such as formaldehyde, aldehydes, and other chemicals that are not good for you as a whole not only your hair. Formaldehyde is a chemical used in embalming fluids, that is a carcinogenic. Such products are Keratin Complex and Brazilian Blow out, these two are the most popular in the salon as well as on the news and in the media for their formaldehyde content.

Now not all of the smoothing treatments are harmful to you and your hair, I use one that is completely 100% vegan myself that I love. In this case you will need to seek out a knowledgeable stylist that will do or has done the research on the products ingredients, and most of all don't be afraid to ask questions, like what is the main active ingredient? and does it give off an odor? and do I have to keep getting the treatment? and so on. Only half of the treatment is the actual product the other half is the skill and understanding of your stylist, a lot of damage can be done with the flat iron alone.

I will go in to the basic procedure of most of the smoothing treatments. It normally takes 3-5 hours and cost between $200-$600 for the semi permanent, and for some permanent treatments can increase in time and price. All procedure should begin with a consultation where the stylist analyzes you hair and scalp. Most treatments begin with some sort of clarifying shampoo to remove all of the impurities, products, and silicones from the hair, then the active solution is applied (some treatments on wet hair and some on dry), once the solution is dried into the hair in a smoothing motion then it is technically flat ironed to seal the product into the hair. When I say technically flat ironed I mean it has to not only be flat ironed straight but sealed and polished with the flat iron, which takes several passes slow and fast ( this is where the skill and expertise of your stylist comes in). Some treatments require the client to go home and shampoo in 12-48 hrs with the required shampoo, and others have an extra step of rinsing and conditioning the hair then styling.

The end results promise to be frizz free, easier to manage, offer quicker drying time and less responsive to humidity without losing your body which should last 2-4 months for the semi permanent formulas. This can be a great treatment for many people and it also can be a really bad experience in the long run if proper care and research isn't in the equation.

Hope this helped many, please leave your comments and questions.

Making That Natural Decision....

2011-11-07T09:24:00.001-08:00

Lots of women and children are inquiring more and more about going natural for many different reasons. Some may have realized that they relaxed their child's hair too early, some may be experiencing some damage from relaxers, or some just want to be free from the relaxer.

Either way it goes we are talking about a serious change to your hair and scalp that is definitely a process physically and emotionally that you have to be ready for. I have seen lots of people just stop relaxing their hair and realize that its not what they expected and put the relaxer back in - that is the worst thing you can do because you are shocking your hair.

When going natural you should go to you hair care professional for a consultation (most are free), tell them that you are thinking of going natural. They should analyze your hair and scalp, take note of your natural curl pattern, determine your hair texture, density, and elasticity. All of these factors determines the details of YOUR process. Everyones process will be similar but different just as their hair. Not everyone will be able to just stop relaxing their hair they may need pretreatments especially if the hair is severely damaged, some may need to slowly back away from the relaxer by not getting it as straight as normal and just break down the curl before they can completely relieve themselves of the relaxer. I will explain why.

The general process the hair goes through as it is growing out the relaxers begins with moisture treatments in all instances as you are no longer relaxing you need to make sure that you hair is ready for the change. You will notice that you have a cushion of new growth and your relaxed hair will begin to look thinner compared to your natural. The point where your new growth meets your previously relaxed hair will be THE MOST FRAGILE part of your hair strand because of the difference in texture, its called the line of demarcation. This is where you will notice the breakage during your process as you natural hair begins to release itself of the relaxed hair. Thats is why the moisture treatments are so important in this process because it will keep the hair from getting brittle which will cause it to break of quicker. We want to keep that hair on as long as possible (strictly for cosmetic purposed of course). At this point is where your stylist will begin to take deeper trims (normally about 2-4 months after the last relaxer) of about 1/2” - 1” depending on the hair. This will keep your hair from looking stringy and allow it to still be able to hold curl and body.

I know you are thinking : What about style? Well I recommend 2 different types of styles that are ideal for this process. Before I go into them keep in mind that the main object in styling is to try to make the texture appear as consistent as possible for a few reasons. One being you don't want to always look like you need a relaxer (cosmetic), and if you keep the texture consistent and decrease the intensity of that line of demarcation it will decrease the breakage during styling and even daily combing and brushing. So with that being said I recommend a flat iron style professionally done because you will need to use different temperature pressures between the new growth and the previously relaxed hair. The other style category would have to be just the opposite to try to make the relaxed hair mimic the natural texture with twist sets, straw sets, braid sets, twist outs, china knots, rod sets, and other style similar where its a wet set that will not have to be combed to style just finger with a moisturizing product. These style are better if done at the salon but are safe to do at home if you are looking for something that you can do yourself, you can ask your stylist about some products that she would recommend. I know I sell product packages to my clients for them to use at home when they can’t get to me.

Remember you DO NOT have to cut all your hair off to go natural, with regular visits to your stylist and increased moisture treatments, and regular deep trims, it can be a pretty good experience. At least you have an idea of what the process consist of, now you have to decide if you are ready for it.

Contact your local stylist if you are ready to go through your process, or reply here if you have any questions for me.

Your Online Hair Care Professional

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The process of growing out your relaxer

2010-11-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Those of you who are considering going back natural, understand that it is a process that you have to be ready for. First and formost I ask all my clients that think they want to go natural, what made them come to this decision. Most of the reasons are summed up by the following:

1. Relaxers are breaking my hair and/or I always burn

2. I can’t afford to go to the salon as often

3. I just want to be natural, and rid myself of all chemicals

4. I like the look of natural styles

Out of these reasons only 2 are valid reasons to change your routine and go natural.

1. Relaxers can’t damage your hair, now you can use the wrong relaxer for your hair and it will have damaging resluts if its too strong for your hair, not a professional product, or not the right formula for your hair. This is your stylist job to analyze your hair and scalp to use the proper chemical on your hair. If you suffer from a sensitive scalp, there are formulas for that, and you also have to be careful not to irritate your scalp prior to being serviced.

2. If you can’t afford to go to the salon for just your relaxers, then you wont be able to afford to change your hair routine unless you cut your hair low enough for you to be able to shampoo it care for it yourself. It will still cost you because you will have to replace your products for relaxed hair with natural hair care products. If you don’t want to cut it low, then you will still have to come to the shop for treatments and maintenance so that you can still look decent during the process. Or you will have to get braids for a while which will still cost you.

If your reason is one of the first 2, i would reconsider after reading this. Statistics show that people tend to go back to the relaxer because they are not ready for the change, or their situation will change and they can afford the relaxer, or they realize that is not really saving them money, or they will get fed up with dealing with the regrowth and relax again.

Now the problem with starting and not finishing is that your hair is basically being shocked and confused. Read below and it will explain why you hair will go through a confused state of shock and you will have to still get a deep trim and a few treatments to get it back to good health.

3 & 4 – These are the reasons that are the most valid and have a low turnover rate (meaning the likelihood of finishing the process is a lot better). People are more likely to continue something that is in their heart as apposed to quick fixes to a problem. This can not be a quick fix it is literally a process that can take 6 months to a year until you are completely natural, so you have to be mentally ready. The people that are going natural for these reasons normally are more successful and happy with the end result.

The Process

It is not as simple as just not retouching your relaxer, by the time your hair is ready for a retouch, you will need to make sure that your hair is properly moisturized to postpone the breaking off of the relaxed ends. The line of demarcation is the point where your new growth and relaxed hair meet, this is the most fragile point off your hair shaft. This is the part where your hair will break, so it needs to be treated and conditioned more often. Another way to control the automatic shedding due to inconsistancy of texture is to try to make the texture as consistant as possible. I recommend twist sets, spiral set, straw sets because this is a set so its healthy, and it gives you a natural look without being compleetely natural. The other style that I will recommend is professional flat ironing in moderation, in conjuction with the moisture treatments, because this will straighten your regrowth to make the texture consistant as well.

The next portion of your growing out process, you will notice the ends beginning to thin, but that is normal, your hair is ridding itself of the relaxed hair so eventually all of the relaxed hair will break off, if you don’t cut it. I recommend to trim about an inch every month, depending on what you can handle emotionally. The more you cut off the better you will be able to style your hair with it looking healthy and not stringy at the ends. If your ends are stringy, that means that you are in need of a deep trim.

Thats the basic process that you will have to go through to grow out of your relaxer into natural hair again. You will need to make sure that your hair care professional that will be taking you through this process is aware of your goals for your hair and the process will be a smooth one for you .

Your online hair care professional

Wanna go lighter, make sure your hair is ready

2010-11-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Lots of people decide that they want to change their hair color, some more often than others. When you decide to make a change like this it is important to plan it out properly. If you want to change to a darker color than you already have, then a semi permanent color will be sufficient enough in most cases. This way will be more conditioning and less stress to your hair.

Now lets talk about going lighter, whether it be highlights, or a full color, there are some preliminaries that you have to consider.

1. Do you have any chemicals or colors in your hair? This is important because you dont want to lighten your hair right after a relaxer, perm, or straightener. That will most likely overprocess your hair and it wont be pretty. Also if you have had a “rinse”, semipermanent color or demipermanent color (see my blog about color classifications) done you will have to consider the color when lifting or lightening your hair. For example, if you had a black semi permanent color (depending on the length of your hair, up to about 6 months ago) it will have an effect on your color results depending on the base color of the black that was used, you may end up with green hair if your looking for blonde. If you had red it may result in and brassy orange color if your looking for blonde.This happens because that is another contributing color to your own that must be considered in the formula for the color desired.

2. Is your hair healthy enough to be lifted/ lightened? This is very important, because if you get relaxers on the regular basis, use permanent color, and or use excessive heat or daily flat ironing, you may have to go through some post lightening treatments to make sure that your hair is strong enough to handle the lighter color with out it looking dry and over processed. If you are already having trouble with breakage and dry brittle hair, you may need a series of treatments before you lighten your hair, so that you can keep your hair.

3. This is the most important step, CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL COSMETOLOGIST. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LIGHTEN YOUR HAIR YOURSELF.

If you go to a professional that doesn’t consider these things, find another one that knows what he/she is doing. Inform them on your chemical history, and your regular routine so that they can consider all factors before you receive the service.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to leave all chemical services to professionals, no matter what you see on television, in store do it your self color, etc. (thats all marketing). I have seen too many clients come in embarrassed because they have multi colored or odd color hair because they wanted to save money and do it them selves just because the box said it will give them what they want, and they end up paying more than they would have in the first place, and their hair is not going to be as healthy because they put crap in it.

All in all, make sure you and your hair are ready for a lighter color.

Your online hair care professional

Hey Im back! All About Hair - your online hair care professional

2009-08-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey I have been inactive on my blog for a while, but now Im back to inform you on all the do's and don'ts when it comes to your hair. Stay tunes to learn about your hair and make it your friens and not your enemy, understand your hair. I have some exciting topics for the next few blogs, if you have anything that you would like me to talk about please comment below. I am so excited to talk to you guys again.

Upcoming Blog Topics:

Forget Healthy, I want Pretty.....
Don't believe the hype..... cheap do it yourself moves are trouble
The Salon Experience- get your monies worth
Let baby hair be baby hair
Cosmetologist vs. Gynocologist

Dont miss these topics subscribe to RSS now and look forward to these amazing topics that will enhance your knowledge about your hair and what to expect from a hair care professional.

Dont forget to visit www.hairaddictionllc.com and www.maneattraction.ning.com to stay connected/ and or book an appoitmtent.

The Magic of Wet Setting

2008-03-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have this notion that the Dominicans will make your hair grow. Now I am from Brooklyn NY, and about 15 years ago the Dominicans became popular salons to go to because they had $10 shampoo roller sets. Everybody was getting these shampoo sets, what we called dubees. I have studied there process and technique, because every ones hair was healthy, lengthy, and full of body, styled kind of like a flat wrap with extra body, beautiful. People started getting shampoo sets weekly like clock work it was cheap and appeared to make their hair grow, was it the Dominicans really?

What these Dominican stylist would do is shampoo your hair, condition your hair (for an additional charge), then set your hair on large rollers, once you were dry they would rub a little hair dress creme through your hair and wrap it holding the wrap up with large roller pins. That was it, nothing special, you would leave the salon wrapped up and most people would comb it down the next morning and have a beautiful wrap full of body. They also gave the option of what they called a blow out, where you use a round brush to apply heat to the roots and relax the curl a little for a straighter less bouncy wrap, of course this was an additional charge too. Besides the blow out there was no direct heat to the hair (less damage).

I also looked at the products that was being used and it wasn't anything of high quality, so I came to the conclusion that its not the Dominicans its the technique of healthy hair, its simple, the less you do to your hair ( less stress) the healthier it will be, if your hair is healthy it won't break from damage as much and you will be able to keep the hair on your head so you can see the growth instead of having to cut more off during a trim because of damage or watch it fall all over your bathroom floor.

A lot of people buy into the marketing plots of beauty suppliers and products, spending money to suffocate their hair with these at home magic grow products that don't do what they say they do.

If you get a professional shampoo set weekly, keep up with your relaxers, treatments and deep conditioners as advised by your cosmetologist and cut out all the at home unnecessary extras you will see a huge difference and less stress in your hair. Make sure that your cosmetologist is educated and uses good products for your hair, and eat well. This will bring remarkable results for your hair.

This is Hair Addiction LLC bringing you food for thought and your hair.
I'm very interested in getting feedback, I need to hear what you think, and any questions that you may want me to address in my blogs.

Clarity in Hair Colour

2007-11-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Today I will bring clarity and basic understanding of hair colour. There are different ways to deposit hair color professionally, and then there is the process of professional hair lightening.

Depositing hair color is the process of adding pigment to your own hair color to cause a visual change in color. The types of deposit color are respectfully: rinse, temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent.

A rinse is the mildest color you can get, it gives the lowest level of deposit, durability, and strength. It is a liquid form that is applied after shampooing and conditioning, it is not rinsed out, it is then styled as desired.

A temporary color is the next level of deposit which requires a 10- 20 minute processing time. It is applied after shampooing, rinsed, then the hair is conditioned then styled.

A semi- permanent color process actually requires heat in most cases to swell the outer layer (cuticle layer) of the hair shaft for a deeper deposit and longevity of color. It is applied just like the temporary color, the semi-permanent color processing time of 20 -30 minutes is done mostly with heat then a cooling down period is allowed.

A permanent color is the most penetrating because its formula is a chemical that swells and expands the hair shaft for deeper penetration of the cuticle layer and allows color molecules to deposit in the middle layer (cortex) of the hair shaft as well. It is applied prior to shampooing and conditioning, and requires a 30-45 minute processing time without heat most of the time. A permanent color can also lighten the hair up to 3-4 levels.

Hair lightener, commonly refferred to as hair bleach, is the process of stripping the hair of its natural pigment producing lightening stages from natural black to pale blond. I don’t like to use the word hair bleach because it makes it sound so harsh, bleach is a chemical used for clothes, I prefer the word lightener. Bleach has a bad reputation of damaging your hair, mainly when done without adequate knowlege and experience. Lighteners are done by professionals producing professional results.

Remember hair coloring is a process that requires knowlege of hair chemistry, and experience. It is the service that produces optimal effects when done properly.

Please feel free to leave a comment, I would like to know what you think, and what you would like to hear about.

Who is the Hair Addiction Blogger

2007-11-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hair Addiction LLC is one of the quality beauty voices of the world, with answers to common misconceptions of health and beauty. Hair Addiction is here to educate the common person without the professional knowlege of the industry. I will answer all your questions in depth from a professional point of view, all the "Why's..... How's,.. and What's you have. Add me to your blogroll to stay updated on your hair, health and beauty in 2008 and on. Post any questions you may have as a comment and it will be answered.

Love your hair, acknowlege your beauty and understand it!!

Common Misconceptions "Perm vs Relaxer"

2007-11-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

I am here to clear up the common misconceptions in the beauty and hair industry, and to inform people about things they should know about their hair.

Lets begin with the proper terminology for common services. The top 2 words we tend to use incorrectly: Perm & Rinse.

A Perm, a service normally geared to caucasians or people with straight hair wanting to go curly. A the perming process includes roding the hair with perm rods, and applying a perm solution(not pleasently scented), which softens and swells the hair shaft. That sits and processes for about 20 min (time may vary per individual),then the rods are thoroughly rinsed and patted dry. Then the neutralizing solution, which contracts the hair shaft to lock in the curl in to permanently mimic the shape of the rod that it is wrapped around, is applied and allowed about 5-10 min to process. The rods are removed and rinsed and you are left with a beautiful curly hair pattern. That is a perm.

A Relaxer is the correct term for chemically straightening the hair. This is the process of applying a creme based chemical (the relaxer) to the hair roots (if retouch) or entire shaft of hair (virgin relaxer). As the relaxer is being worked through (smoothed) the chemical begins to break down the textured structure of the hair, similar to a perm by softening and swelling the hair shaft, straightening the hair. When it is thoroughly rinsed it is then shampood with a neutralizing shampoo which contracts the hair to maintain the staightness, as well as seize the processing of the relaxer.
So when you go to recieve services from your hair care professional, you know the difference between a Perm and a Relaxer and the basics of the procedure. Remember these are chemical services that should be done by a professional. I just feel like clients should know what to expect from a beauty professional, how to ask for it properly and know what it is doing to their hair.

I will talk next time about the difference between a rinse, temporary, semi-permanant, demi-permanant, and permanant colors.

If there is a particular topic you would like me to address just leave a comment.

Your online Hair Care Professional