Setting up your Hair

Setting up your Hair
Get Beautiful Hair Braiding Styles and Coloring Techniques

Friday, May 25, 2007

Useful Hair Bleaching Tips

Hair bleaching is a procedure used to ease the normal hair color. Bleaches act on the melanin pigments of hair. Hair generally contains two types of pigments known as phaeomelanin and eumelanin but the quantity of the pigments varies with the hair color. For example; dark black or dark brown hair contains more eumelanin while red hair contains more phaeomelanin.

It is well for bleaching to be performed by experts rather than trying it on your own at home. Hair color experts will often use a variety of modern equipment speeds up the bleaching process and minimize the potential damage to the hair fiber. There are some of the useful instructions.

  • If you prefer to bleach at home, buy a well-known product. While buying bleaching products check for the toll-free consumer help number. You can get some help from this number if required during the application procedure.
  • Always perform a patch test for any allergy, before applying the desired hair bleach to your hair.

Injurious result of Hair Bleaching

The harmful result of bleaching in hair becomes poorer if the hair is back combed or combed when it is wet. So special care need to be taken of the bleached hair and hair that has undergone hair treatments like permanent waving, curling etc.

Using bleaches previous or after shade application enhances the effects of the color provided it is done by experts and the hair is nourished by well hair care products like right shampoos and conditioners.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Tips for Hair Setting

Hair setting is a fashion admired with people cutting across age and society. However, you must remember certain points before going for setting hair. For example, the hair setting must be appropriate for your age, face, ethnicity, features, body structure, make up, etc.

There is a variety of hair setting styles including pressing, curling, chemical relaxing, thermal reconditioning, etc.

Chemical Relaxing

Chemical relaxing is a general method of straightening rigid curly hair. It is largely popular among ethnic groups, especially of African origin. The protection you should take before going through chemical relaxing method include cleansing the hair properly, protecting hair line and ears with the application of petrolatum around them, and applying a neutralizing shampoo or fixing the new straightened shape of the hair and stopping hair swelling or breakage.

Pressing Hair

The procedures of pressing and straightening hair contain shampooing and drying the hair before the pressing, application of a petrolatum-based oil on the dry hair and application of a hot metal comb to pass from roots to ends section by selection until all the hair is straightened.

Thermal Reconditioning

A highly fashionable hair straightening method, thermal reconditioning gives a glossy, smooth, shiny hair texture. One reason why it is so popular is its long lasting effect.

You hair is not appropriate for thermal reconditioning if it is previously lightened or bleached. The hair fiber with greater application of bleaching agents is prone to quicker thermal reconditioning than the other fibers where the bleach application is comparatively less. This early completion of thermal reconditioning in some hair strands makes the overall effect of the hair treatment in the scalp unbalanced.

You must pay special attention to the ends of the hair after thermal reconditioning is over. Roll your hair in a slight curve movement using a round brush.

You should also be careful about the use of shampoos, conditioners and other styling aids after thermal reconditioning. Excess use of chemicals turns the hair dry. So you need to use special cleansing and conditioning system that are effectively formulated for chemically treated hair.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Hair Curling Techniques

You can refer to curling hair as permanent waving or perming. This chemical treatment produces curls in your hair. I have found it to be highly popular among the youths.

The hair is wrapped on rods after applying thioglycolic acid location. The effect of this lotion breaks makes the hair receptive to a new shape. By arranging the chemically treated hair on rods the hair can be moulded into a new curly shape. Then an acid neutralizer lotion will be applied for hair setting, i.e. to fix your hair to the shape of the rod.

I have some safety tips on curling hair. Please keep the lotions and other chemicals away from the skin as much as possible, so that they have least contact with anything other than hair.

By the way, you better do your curling hair by a professional expert, to maximize the chances of chemical rebonding. You know what? An expert is familiar with the appropriate chemical concentration. And yes, avoid cleansing till 48 hours after curling. It is almost a must to apply the shampoos and conditioners that are specially formulated for chemically treated hair.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Tips on Hair Curling & Setting

I have been hearing a whole lot of complaints about the frizzy hair these days. More and more women are coming to me with the problem of curling hair. I think it is due to heavy use of the chemicals or blow drying too much. It could be also due to chlorine in your swimming pools. It could also be due to excessive use of “mousse” products.

Do not use a hair brush. Using a hair brush on thick hair and "frizzy" prone hair will cause split ends. Instead, use a hair picks when your hair is wet, then finger comb when your hair is dry. In the morning when you wake up, if you have "bed" hair, sprinkle your hair with water and finger comb it into place.

You can also use hot iron to prevent hair curling techniques, but I would not suggest that because excess heat is damaging to your hair. Do not rub your hair with a towel when wet. Instead, let your hair set in a towel for 10 minutes, then take the towel off.

If you have natural curly hair they make look frizzy when you expose your hair to a humid environment. Washing your hair with coldest water you can stand after using a shampoo and conditioner is an easy way out to avoid such frizz in your hair.

You cannot avoid blow drying your hair, but you can surely do it methodically. Use a big round brush that will allow you to smooth your hair as you dry. Always blow in a downward motion. Running the dryer over hair up and down causes the cuticle to frizz and split and curl up. Divide hair into sections with curler pins and dry one section at a time. Always direct your blower to your hair. Avoid heating your scalp.

After washing your hair, add a small amount of natural vegetable glycerin to your mousse or gel. You can generally add approximately a small amount of glycerin and quarter size amount of gel to a small amount of water that is just enough to wet your hair and rub them together to run it through your hair. This helps in reducing the fizz.

Vinegar provides good frizz control. Take a plastic cup and fill it with about 1/2 cup of apple vinegar and 1/2 cup water. After your rinse your hair with the conditioner, give your hair a final rinse with vinegar mixture. Vinegar helps to smooth your cuticle and removes the frizz. However, make sure to close your eyes tight, vinegar can sting your eyes.

If you ask me, there is hell of a lot of tips that I can give you. Another tip that I can give you is to check with some good sites on hair care like the www.hair-dressing.com Read through these sites and ask me if you don’t get something you are looking for.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Black Hair Braiding

Women have been using hair braiding styles for a long time to style their hair. And black hair braiding is one of the most popular styles.

You may find some hair braiding styles to be time consuming. For example, they may take 2-3 hours in place of a few minutes as taken by other styles. But don’t lose heart. They wear well, and have a good lasting if treated properly.

There are broadly two styles of braiding hair, Normal Hair Braiding and Micro Hair Braiding. Under this Micro Hair Braiding comes the style of black hair braiding.

Black hair braiding, highly popular among the African women, is usually done by attaching hair fibers or hair weaving. But you might be knowing that on an average African hair is weak and brittle. And you know, it is recommended to avoid micro braiding if the hair texture is weak. Micro braiding may cause severe hair breakage. Moreover, African hair needs extra care after the braiding hair procedure is complete.

Cornrows are regarded as one of the healthiest of all micro braiding styles, more so for black hair braiding. Cornrows lay flat against the scalp. The additional hair making cornrows in black African hair should be around 5 cm in length. And for straight hair it should be about 7 to 8 cm. Cornrows may last for about four to six weeks if you take proper care.

In black hair braiding you don’t need to go for daily combing and tying. What you need is extra care and nourishment. Stay away from using heavy and thick shampoos, conditioners and pomades on the braids. My advice is that you use oil to moisturize your hair. That is the best thing to do in this condition.

And after braiding hair you better use a cotton cloth, or scarf to cover or protect the braids. I feel cotton cloth is the best choice. Because it will absorb any excess oil in your hair, and allow it to breath.

By the way, I hope you are aware of the harmful effects of micro braiding. You aren’t? Well, it can cause hair breakage. Yes, you can avoid it with appropriate skill and technique.

Remember, very tight braiding can cause traction alopecia and folliculitis in the scalp. Besides, keeping the braided hair for a longer period can result into dreadlocks or hair matting.

However, black hair braiding offer significant benefits for hair that has been damaged by chemical relaxers or pressing. They can cause the hair look voluminous. A healthy way to braid hair is to take a healthy diet and keep the scalp clean and well conditioned.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Latest Hair Coloring Techniques

Hair coloring after all is not all that easy. First of all you are puzzled with so many hair coloring products. I take a natural hair coloring dye which was a branded product. Once I tried a dye and I shocked that my hair had not taken the color evenly. I tried it two or three times but the result was the same. Since I was not able to understand what all had happened, I visited a hair salon. The professional at the salon told me that it had happened because some of my hair was harshly damaged and they had taken up more color as compared to my healthy hair. She told me that I had to pay her series of visits if I wanted to improve the condition of my hair and dye them the way I wanted. She also said that using the correct hair coloring techniques was important if I wanted good results.

Though I was convinced that I wanted to color my hair, I did not want to pay the bulky sum of money she demanded. I was anxiously searching on the internet. I got some information, but only in tits and bits. After some time I chanced upon www.hair-dressing.com. The information that I gathered helped me to improve the condition of my weathered hair. After I had good healthy hair, I followed the tips and hair coloring ideas given for hair coloring. Now I have my hair dyed in beautiful dark auburn. The color suits my skin so well that I often get complements for my great looks. The site also offers some damn good tips on hair dressing as well. A good site providing information on number of issues like: instructions on tips on curling hair, hair weaving , hair braiding styles, hair setting tips, hair curling techniques and much more. A must visit site for any one interested to do wonders to your hair and your self-esteem.

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