Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Benefits of Hair Masks and Deep Conditioners


Not everyone has the time necessary to provide good maintenance to their hair. If you are a busy person who prefers to wear a wash and go style, the more power to you! Air drying is an excellent way to maintain excellent hair health, as you will never need to worry about the detrimental effects that heat can have on your hair. However, as much as you believe that your maintenance-free hairstyle is healthy, there may be some steps that you’re missing. Even without the negative effects of styling products and hot tools Hot Styling Tools for Your Hair, you could lose some life and shine to your hair.

There are a few things you can do to boost the shine again without needing to spend a lot of time on maintenance. In fact, some of the choices available to you will allow you to continue on with life as they go to work on repairing the damage to your hair. Intensive conditioners and hair masks are the perfect solution to your busy life. You can apply them once per week or even every other week and then sit back and enjoy the results.

It’s really not hard to find some great products out there, either. Your hairdresser will have some excellent suggestions for you. Many of these products are perfect for any processing you’ve had done, such as coloring or perms. Even if your hair is completely natural, it will benefit from some of the excellent salon brands available. Some of the very best products available can be purchased in your local salon, but you might also find them in wholesale stores for lower prices. Just remember to be wary of store brands. Some can do wonderful things for your hair, but others contain harsh and inexpensive chemicals that do well for a short time, but then begin to degrade your hair.

The steps for using a hair mask or a deep conditioner are quite simple. Once per week, after you have washed your hair, you will apply the product liberally. You can wrap your hair in aluminum foil and then hold a hair dryer on the lowest setting over the foil. The heat helps to seal in the product. Wrapping your hair in a towel after the application is another excellent idea, though you might not get the same benefits that heat can offer. After the allotted time, you will only need to rinse and then style your hair as you always do.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Why to Avoid Home Trims


It is extremely inviting to consider cutting your own hair at home. After all, the local department store carries special scissors just for hair, and that’s all it will cost you. If you get pretty good, there’s a chance you’ll even end up cutting your sister’s hair, your husband’s hair, and even your kid’s hair. With all that money you’re saving, how could it be wrong to take the initiative and cut out the expensive salons? The truth is that you may be doing more damage than you know, and it’s not something that you can fix with another haircut.

Nearly everyone has a horror story about a haircut at home gone bad. Perhaps you learned from past mistakes and think you have the right style down pat now, so nothing else bad can happen. Those scissors you use are pretty sharp, and they even look professional. What could possibly go wrong? Well, what you’re doing to your own hair is crimping the ends with scissors that are just too dull. No matter how often you sharpen those scissors you got at the department store, you’ll never be able to achieve the blade that professionals use. The truth is that those hair scissors you bought just aren’t cut out to hold a sharp blade at all. And the more you sharpen them, the faster you grind away whatever blade you do have.

Professionals have access to scissors and shears that cost hundreds of dollars per pair. You read that correctly. The reason they’re so expensive is that they are specially engineered to hold a sharper blade for a longer amount of time. The scissors and shears used by professionals are also created to provide the exact amount of tension, which also reduces the amount of friction applied to your hair during the cut. It doesn’t seem like it would make that much difference, but you would be surprised. When holding two separate strands up to a magnifier, the difference is immediately spotted.

While it’s super tempting to save that money, you will quickly see that split ends are a regular thing when you trim your hair at home. It’s honestly not your technique, though good technique can make an even bigger difference for you. The shears and scissors are to blame, and they won’t get any better. Seek out a stylist that you can trust, and you won’t ever regret the money you pay when you see just how quickly you can cultivate healthy hair and return to a natural state.