Archive for the ‘Healthy’ category

Women Over 50: Tips For Healthy Hair

September 24th, 2011

Women Over 50: Tips For Healthy Hair

Women over 50 have a lot of changes going on in their lives. If we’ve raised a family, our kids are grown and starting their own lives. We’re thinking about retiring into our second lives and wondering what to do with the longer lifespan we can expect to have.

But being over 50 also means that our bodies are changing. Now, some of those changes aren’t obvious to anyone but us, and generally we’re grateful for that! But one change that can be pretty evident and obvious is the change to our hair.

When women start reaching their 50s, our hair follicles stop producing as much hair. Our hair can become thinner, with the hair that does grow in becoming fragile and brittle. The new hair gets damaged more easily, too.

The good news, though, is that women over 50 can still have beautiful, full heads of hair – we just need to be mindful of how we’re treating our overall health generally and our hair specifically.

Here are some tips to keep your hair healthy and beautiful not only when you hit 50 but for the rest of your life, too.

· First, forget the harsh chemicals, and that includes dyes. They damage hair even when we’re younger-when we’re over 50 that damage mounts up fast.

· Be gentle with your hair. It can be easy to jump out of the shower and just drag a brush through when we’re busy-but our hair is especially vulnerable when it’s wet!

· Pay attention to your diet. The amino acid L-Lysine is essential for growing healthy hair and so is eating a diet with unprocessed carbohydrates. Good-hair foods include legumes, green leafy vegetables, yellow and orange fruit, and other whole foods.

· If you’re not ready to have gray hair yet, women over 50 can reverse the gray by eating foods that are rich in zinc and copper like soybeans, barley, peanuts, legumes, and whole grains. Eat as many of your foods raw as you can to get the most nutritional value from them. And while you can take supplements of these two minerals, you have to be very careful-it’s easy to take too much, so you’re much better off getting your minerals from food!

· Believe it or not, exercise is also good for our hair when we’re over 50. Exercise keeps our blood flowing, and good circulation is really helpful for our scalp and hair!

· In addition to being gentle when you brush your hair, it’s also important to be careful in styling it. Pulling our hair into tight braids or other styles can damage it. So can using a hair dryer too often. When you can, rely on soft curlers and letting your hair dry naturally.

· Finally, if you’re doing great with diet and exercise and are still having trouble with thinning hair, there are two products you can use to make your hair thicker again-Minoxidil, which you can get at most large discount stores, and Procyanidin, a fruit extract that’s found in capsules-check for it at your local health food store.

Women over 50 don’t have to resign ourselves to having tightly-curled, short helmets of hair dyed that terrifying blue shade of white! We’ve come a long way from the hair that our grandmothers and maybe our mothers have put up with.

On the other hand, women over 50 do need to pay more attention to our hair than we did when we were younger. For most of us, beautiful hair isn’t going to be a freebie anymore! But with the right nutrition and care, we can still enjoy the same beautiful, full heads of hair that will stay that way for the rest of our lives.

By Joyce Becker

Healthy Hair Loss Tips

September 24th, 2011

Healthy Hair Loss Tips

Hair is an important aspect of the personality of a person. People who go bald with age know this first hand. Long beautiful hair is usually a sign of beauty in women, and it is a great weapon for attracting men.

These days commercial hair dyes are used by millions, however these chemicals, when used, need to be used properly in order to prevent any hair loss. Here are a few tips that can help:

Only use them if all else fails!
Hair dyes have become an essential fashion update these days. Hair colors come and go like the latest trends in clothing styles. If brown is ‘in’ today, burgundy will be the shade for summers, etc. So with such frequent hair dying, the natural texture of your mane gets damaged. All those people who use color to cover their white hair that grow due to aging should also be careful in using the best brand available so that it causes lesser damage.

Use a good shampoo!
Always shampoo your hair 2-3 times a week. Washing your hair regularly keeps it clean and healthy. Using different hair growth tips is not the ultimate thing you need to keep your hair clean from debris and lice and this is possible only if you wash it regularly as these things make a good hide out in dirty hair.

Importance of Conditioner:
Many different conditioners are available for personal use. They claim to keep your hair healthy and shiny which is true to an extent. It’s true to an extent because if you do not use a conditioner in the proper way you will loose your hair instead of making it healthy. Conditioners should not be applied on your scalp, just the hair that’s longer so they are not at all good for men.

Use small home made remedies:
Hair growth tips are given in different television programs, or you might have heard an old wives tale from your grandmother about how to keep your hair healthy. Using products like egg, yogurt, etc can be an effective tip for the growth of your hair. But make sure you get the right quantity and the correct way of using these things. Drinking a lot of water is also a great tip for good growth of your hair.

Oiling is very important:
Oiling is an essential thing, but who carry a dry textured hair need to oil their hair regularly. Oiling is also good during winters and dry weather.

Keep your hair healthy with a healthy diet:
Eating healthy food keeps your hair healthy and strong. Lack of protein and too much exposure to any kind of chemical is bad for its health.
Hair growth remedies need to be implemented in order to keep your hair healthy and strong. Now a day, laser hair growth systems can improve the condition of our hair as well, but it’s simpler to just take care at home then to run after these heavier duty systems. So, follow these hair growth tips and the chance of needing costly treatments will be reduced.

By Harry Donovan

Healthy Hair Tips For Mums Looking After Their Hair at Home

September 24th, 2011

Healthy Hair Tips For Mums Looking After Their Hair at Home

Michelle Creates a Hair-Plug In The Bath And Wonders About Foods For Good Hair

This one is for the ladies – Do you remember being pregnant? How lush and thick was your hair during pregnancy? Our pregnancy hormones allow us to hang onto our hair during pregnancy, resulting in thicker and healthy looking locks. Once we have expelled our little lodger from it’s hiding place however, and our bodies start to return to normal, we start to shed hair in what seems like bucket-loads!

Did you know that the average adult human sheds around 100 hairs per day! That’s a lot of hairs left on the pillow, in your comb or hair brush, on the carpet, and down the plughole forming an annoying hair-plug that I always seem to be removing every other day! But it constantly amazes me that no matter how many hairs we shed, we always seem to sport plenty on top of our head that needs our daily care.

With all this constant hair shedding going on, it makes sense to give our bodies the right ingredients for it to keep producing new hair. So lets take a look at what we should be eating to keep our locks looking healthy and lush.

The state of a person’s hair reflects the overall condition of their body. So feed your body well for healthy hair. Some of the most important vitamins that a person needs to have healthy hair include B6, biotin, inositol and folic acid. The best way to ensure you get the right balance of vitamins is to take hair, nails and skin supplements. It is not just vitamins for good hair growth that are needed though as there are a number of minerals that are essential, including magnesium, sulphur, silica and zinc. All these can be found in a good quality formulation specifically designed for hair, nails and skin.

Foods for good hair include protein. Protein is essential for healthy hair. This is because hair itself is essentially made from a protein called keratin. So a diet that is rich in protein foods such as fish, chicken, lean meat, lentils, bean and nuts will give your body enough protein to grow hair.

In the spirit of healthy advice, we have had some top health tips emailed in from our readers:

Sarah Poole emailed in with this tip for a Cleopatra style bath. Sarah said “Although Cleopatra was rumoured to bathe in asses milk to get silky soft skin, we can use powdered milk instead. When my elbows and knees start to feel a little rough, I pour about five tablespoons of powdered milk into a warm bath and relax with a good book for an hour. The results? Soft, smooth skin”.

Here is a top tip for your hair from Lisa Wilks. She tells us that if you want to have shiny hair, after you have finished washing your hair, rinse with cold water.

So here’s to healthy hair for mums and a head full of lush locks!

By M Newbold

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Hair With a Few Easy Steps

September 24th, 2011

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Hair With a Few Easy Steps

Here are a few basic tips in order to rejuvenate your hair if it has become dull and lifeless or damaged due to over styling. By following these steps you can keep your tresses looking and feeling healthier at all times.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your locks is to switch to a healthier lifestyle. Eating poorly, smoking and stress can end up damaging your follicles and preventing the essential nutrients from reaching where they need to get to. A healthy body means healthier hair.

Getting a proper nights rest will help rejuvenate your hair. When you sleep your body uses this time to restore your bodies’ immune systems levels which lead to healthier hair. Sleep deprived people have been proven to have weaker immune systems which can lead to some hair loss conditions so make sure you are getting plenty of rest.

Hair products that are made with alcohol can dry out and damage your hair so if there is not alcohol based product you should use that in order to minimize the drying out of your hair on a repeated basis. You should also try to avoid applying styling products directly to your scalp as they can block your hair follicles and inhibit hair growth.

Using a blow dryer excessively can damage your hair as well by over drying it. Try not to blow dry your hair in one spot for more than a few seconds and instead using a back and forth motion and a comb in order to dry your hair more effectively without damaging one particular spot. If you have the time then you should towel dry your hair to get the excess moisture out of your hair and then run your fingers through your hair to straighten it and then let it air dry. That way you will do the least damage to your hair follicles.

Always comb your hair gently and be careful when combing wet hair as this is when your hair is at its most vulnerable. Try to let your hair almost completely dry before running a comb through it. Try to use combs and brushes that have soft bristles such as ones made from natural animal hair and use combs that have widely spaced bristles to lessen the strain on your hair.

Buy shampoo and conditioners that work best for your hair type so you will receive the maximum benefit from each time you wash it. Use warm water to wash your hair as water that is too hot can damage your hair quite a bit. As to frequency you should wash your hair as often is necessary to keep it clean and healthy looking. If you have oily hair you can wash it daily and if you have dry hair then you can wash it 2-3 times a week as needed. A general rule for any hair is to wash it every other day but you will have to judge for yourself how often your own hair requires washing but every other day is fine for most hair types.

You should wash your hair as often as you feel necessary to keep it clean, but a general rule is for oily hair you should wash it every day or every other day and for dry hair only wash it 2-3 times a week.

When using any styling tools to create your styles make sure they are of good quality so they won’t excessively damage your hair when you use them. Ensure that they have some sort of heat control mechanism and that they don’t get excessively hot.

By Bob Hansford

Hair Treatment

September 24th, 2011

Hair Treatment

These are some things to consider before you get a Chemical Relaxer or a Keratin Treatment.

Relaxers will permanently reconstruct your hair. The chemicals applied are formulated to sink into the inner layer of the hair strand, break down the bond, than re-bond your hair to the straighten position. This usually leaves your hair feeling much dryer from the damage.

Keratin Treatments are not made to break down your hair. Keratin is the protein your hair is made of. The treatment is designed to apply an extra coat of keratin around each strand making your hair lay smoother. You will be able to dry your hair straight or wear it curly. Of course depending on your original texture, you might have to flat iron to remove the remaining wave. Unlike the Relaxer, the Keratin Treatment, will gradually wear off over time.

With the Relaxer you will obtain re-growth while your shaft and ends remain straight. When touching up your roots your stylist must take extreme care not to apply the Relaxer to already straightened hair. If the chemical is over lapped onto previously treated hair, you will have a very good chance of severe breakage.

On the other hand, the Keratin Treatment can continuously be applied to your ends. The more often applied the thicker the protective keratin layer becomes. It is recommended to let the treatment wear completely off before reapplication unless straighter results are desired. It will also apply strength to damaged and brittle hair while Relaxers do not. Not all hair types have the ability to handle the damage from Relaxers.

By Samantha Dale

Healthy Hair Tips – Top Tips For Shiny, Healthy Hair

September 24th, 2011

Healthy Hair Tips – Top Tips For Shiny, Healthy Hair

The tips below are simple… you may already practice some of them. But it all adds up. Everything from your comb to your shampoo can make a difference in the appearance of your hair. Just a small amount of daily attention will pay off in healthy, shiny locks.

Trivia

* The scalp contains approximately 100,000 strands of hair, on average.

* We lose about 100 hairs a day. So don’t panic when you see strands in your brush.

* Hair grows at the rate of 1/2 per month.

* Each strand lasts about 4 1/2 years… all the more reason to take care of your hair!

Shampoo and a Massage

The first tip is to treat your hair gently. Excessive washing and blow drying are harsh. Shampoo often enough to keep clean, but no more. This may be daily for oily hair… less often for dry. For shiny, healthy hair, treat your scalp to a mini-massage before you shampoo. My hairdresser does this and it feels so good!

A scalp massage will:

* Stimulate blood flow

* Nourish hair follicles

* Encourage skin cell renewal

Using your fingertips and thumbs on dry hair, begin the massage at your forehead. Work in a circular motion, pressing the scalp beneath your fingers. Continue massaging, moving on to the crown. Finish at the back of your head.

(Side note: Stressed? Don’t wait for shampoo time. A scalp massage is a great stress reliever anytime.)

Next, rinse with plain water to remove dirt and residual product. Then apply shampoo to the scalp. Work through to ends. Rinse thoroughly. Finish by applying conditioner as needed… again, rinse thoroughly.

To avoid potentially toxic ingredients, choose natural shampoo. The best shampoo is free of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). SLS and SLES are harsh detergents found in most shampoos, shower gels, and liquid soaps. Their job is to make suds. Unfortunately, they may irritate your scalp in the process and may contribute to hair loss.

Be gentle!

Wet hair is especially delicate. Use a wide toothed comb, not a brush, to gently untangle hair. Work from the ends up. Combs and brushes should have round, smooth tips and widely spaced teeth or bristles.

Fun in the Sun and Swimming Pools

Sun, wind, chlorine, and salt water can be harsh. Dry, chemically treated hair is particularly vulnerable. The sun harms hair protein while salt water and chlorine rob moisture from the cuticle.

Minimize exposure when in the sun for extended periods. The best protection is a hat. Alternatively, wear hair up or in a ponytail. And replenish moisture with conditioner after swimming.

Aromatherapy for Hair

Here’s a tip you’ll love. It’s a simple pleasure with dual benefits. It will enhance your hair and your well-being. Rub 2-3 drops of pure essential oil onto your hair brush and gently work through.

Yes… it’s that easy!

Choose an essential oil for your hair type:

* Dry – Rosemary or Sandalwood oil.

* Oily – Eucalyptus, Lemon, Cedarwood, or Sage oil.

* All types – Geranium, Rose, or Lavender oil.

Experiment by mixing two or three of your favorite oils together.

Now that’s a tip you and your hair will both love!

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Product buildup can dull hair. A simple solution is a homemade hair rinse. Apple cider vinegar is ideal as it encourages blood circulation as it corrects the PH balance of your hair.

Healthy Hair Rinse

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

2-4 drops essential oil (optional)

Mix ingredients in a glass or plastic bottle. Shampoo and rinse hair thoroughly. Use the apple cider mixture as a final rinse. Allow to soak into hair for a few seconds. Rinse with cool water.

Voila… soft, shiny hair!

By Jacqui Alarie

Healthy Hair Tips

September 24th, 2011

Healthy Hair Tips

Maintaining and achieving healthy hair is often a priority on most people’s list today, and should be such. The healthy tips we discuss here can help maintaining healthy hair become an easy task, and quickly diminish any thought of healthy hair being impossible these days.

Achieving healthy hair can be done with five simple steps, starting in the shower when washing your hair, ending at the finished style. These steps can when used in a routine improve your hairs look, feeling, and well being.

Step One, Shampooing with thought. When you are shampooing, you don’t have to leave the shampoo in your hair like you do with conditioner, you simply have to get your hair wet, smooth the shampoo from root to tip, and lather into your scalp with your fingertips. Rinse and follow with conditioner. Try limiting yourself to shampooing once every other day at most.

Step Two, Conditioning is key. Never skip the conditioning treatment for your hair, since shampoo can strip your hair of all of the minerals and oils your body naturally produces to keep your hair safe; conditioner was designed to reduce some of the effects of shampooing that can be damaging to your hair. Spread your conditioner from root to tips and leave in for approximately one minute, every once and a while it can be helpful to leave it in a bit longer so that you can deep condition.

Step Three, How to towel dry. Towel drying isn’t as simple as just rubbing a towel through your hair and being done. It is bad for your hair and can cause tangling that leads to breaking when you do it the wrong way. It is important to pat and squeeze your hair dry with the towel, rather than rub or shake. That way you can prevent breakage.

Step Four, Combing for success. When it comes to combing your hair most people use a bristle brush and just brush through their hair, but the best way to do it is to use a wide toothed comb and start at the bottom slowly working out knots. This greatly reduces breakage.

Step Five, Product to save you. When you use things like blow dryers, flat irons, and even curling irons you are burning your hair. So like the skin in the sun, hair needs to be protected. Most hair care brands offer a protective spray or serum that can keep the heat from burning the hair. It is important to apply these products before using heat to style your hair. After this is applied, style your hair the way you please and enjoy your smooth and silky hair.

By Nancy Omritoi