Monique's Salon and Eufora - Helping to Fight Winter Frizz

Five Steps to Fight Winter Frizz

It’s a widely known fact that the winter can turn hair into a frizzy, static-ridden mess. However, one truth that needs telling is there is more to curing the winter frizz blues than finding a miracle product. In fact, it’s an entire series of steps that must be taken to produce smooth, shiny hair with real staying power. Eufora Intl. Global Educator, Micky Hatoum, is also the owner of Altimo Hair Group Salon in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and is all too familiar with the effects of cold weather on hair. He offers five steps to help prepare your hair to contend with the harshest weather of the year.

Step 1: Start with a Great Cut – You owe it to yourself, but it’s also important to trim dry, dead ends to create a fresh canvas to work with. No product can bring those split ends back to life.

Step 2: Read Your Shampoo Bottle Label – Stay away from harsh surfactants that may cleanse hair but also strip it of moisture, strength, elasticity and its natural essential oils and proteins. Repetitive use ultimately results in dry, damaged and fuzzy hair. So now that you know it all starts at the shampoo bowl, be sure to ask your stylist to prescribe a care regimen tailored to your hair needs. Ingredients to watch out for include: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, and TEA Lauryl Sulfate.

Step 3: Learn the Correct Way to Blow-dry – There is a misconception that you should stop blow-drying when hair begins to frizz because it will become even fuzzier. Hair actually goes through a drying process of 5 steps – wet to damp to dry to frizz to silk. Don’t panic and continue blow-drying hair beyond the frizz point. Think of ironing clothes. The higher the heat, the easier it is to remove the wrinkles.

Step 4: Use the Proper Tools – By prepping damp hair with a styling fixative such as Eufora Smoothn’ Straightening Balm, you’ll create a canvas to work with that will give you lasting results. Also, a round vented brush with a metal or ceramic base works well to create volume and de-frizz hair when blow-drying. The dryer heats up the base and hair is literally sandwiched by heat, much like a curling or flat iron. For those with extremely coarse or curly hair, a ceramic boar bristle brush and is recommended because it condenses the hair so it is frizz-free and shiny.

Step 5: Choose a Healthy Finishing Product – Eufora’s Pure Polish Finishing Drops offer amazing frizz control and acts as a shine enhancing emollients due to silica derived, Phenyl Trimethcone, Cyclomethicone and Dimethiconol. In addition, the drops include a blend of refined botanical oils including Kukui Nut Oil and Aloe Leaf Extract and Vitamin E for antioxidant benefits.

About Eufora: Since launching in 1997, Eufora has utilized advanced technology to protect, preserve and promote the health of color treated and chemically serviced hair. Eufora is the only salon professional product line to provide the legendary healing benefits of certified organic Aloe Vera Gel , which is the base for all formulations, in an optimum quality concentration. The unique blends utilize the most advanced botanical, vitamin and non-carcinogenic ingredients available with scientifically proven benefits to the hair, scalp and skin, as well as pure essential oils to fragrance all products for an aromatherapy experience.

Truth and Your Hair

Truth and Your Hair

There are many misconceptions about hair and its care. Once one knows the truth, the solution for hair challenges becomes logical, not a hidden secret to be discovered.

The most widely held misconception concerning hair is that is alive, and, therefore, its condition can be 'permanently' altered by using some newly discovered commercial potion. The truth is that hair is only living matter at its base below the surface of the scalp. Like the tip of one's finger nail, hair is dead matter, and can be clipped shorter and discarded. This fact alone brings us to two important conclusions about how one may maintain stronger, healthier looking, shiny hair.

Conclusion #1:
We must be concerned with preventative maintenance by creating a healthy environment below the surface of the scalp, where hair is germinated or born. Since hair in its basic form is 100% keratin (protein), our diets should consist of a good balance of easily digested protein, i.e. - dairy products, poultry and meat. For those of us who are vegans, good protein alternatives are nuts, beans and the old stand-by - peanut butter. I suspect that with the popular emergence of low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets, we in turn will begin to see more heads of hair with less frizzies and easily split ends.

Now, how do we ensure this quality protein gets to the living roots of our hair? Just as we stimulate quality muscle growth through exercising and bringing protein-laden blood to specific body parts, we can do the same for our hair. This is easily achieved by simply massaging your scalp, once a day, while you shampoo and condition your hair. You'll not only have cleaner and more thoroughly conditioned hair, but you will have stimulated protein-supplying blood to feed the germinating roots of your hair. Be careful to use only the pads of your fingers in small circular motions as you gently massage your scalp. Never use your fingernails for this purpose as you can cause abrasions to your scalp that could lead to infection and possible skin disorders.

Conclusion #2:
Since the hair we visually see above the surface of the scalp is essentially dead matter, how can we repair it from external environmental and/or chemical damage? First, we must realize that any product remedy we might add to our hair is always a temporary fix, no matter how good it is at initially solving certain hair challenges. Any product that is effective at controlling frizzies must be used periodically to continue to be effective. Some haircare products work for longer periods between uses, while others must be used every day to overcome challenges like split-ends.

This brings us to several fallacies concerning the shampoo and conditioning of hair. One of which is that a shampoo alone can increase the overall health of the hair. Shampoo, no matter what exotic or expensive ingredients are added to it, is designed to perform one single task - to cleanse the hair of excessive sebum (natural oils), body sweat and environmental impurities. It is a scientific contradiction that cleansing the hair alone will keep it healthy, once you have stripped it of all of its natural protective properties, like sebum. The longer your hair is, the less the chance is that these natural hair oils will reach the mid-shaft to ends of your hair with daily shampooing. This leaves the older and more vulnerable sections of the hairshaft exposed to further damage from heated styling appliances and chemical processes, such coloring or permanent waving.

Therefore, the mid-shaft to ends of your hair do not need the same intense daily cleansing as the first few inches of hair closest to the scalp. The remedy is very simple - as you gently massage your scalp while shampooing, only apply and focus your shampoo within the first 2 - 3 inches of hair closest to your scalp. When you rinse the shampoo from this base section of the hair it will quickly pass though the mid-shaft to ends of your hair, thus providing these areas with the lighter cleansing they require.

Many people have the misconception that daily conditioning (protection) of their hair will cause flatness or added weight. This challenge is easily resolved by, first, knowing how to physically condition the hair and, second, by understanding the different intended uses of the main 3 types of conditioners, i.e. - rinses, daily and deep conditioners.

Daily conditioning (protecting) any type of hair, from thin & fine to thick & frizzy, is basically the same. It is simply the reverse concept of shampooing hair as discussed above - considering that throughout the course of the day the first 3 inches of hair closest to the scalp will receive an adequate supply of naturally-occurring hair oil (sebum). Therefore, if you condition this area with a crème rinse or daily conditioner it can become over-conditioned, heavy & less manageable. The solution is to apply your conditioner from the mid-shaft (3 inches from scalp) of the hair to the ends. Then using a wide-toothed comb and holding onto the ends of your hair, gently comb the conditioner from mid-shaft to ends for even distribution, detangling and sealing split ends. By the time you finish doing this, the conditioner will have remained within your hair for the appropriate 3 to 5 minutes to be effective in temporarily repairing any damaged or frizzy areas.

The concept for applying deep conditioners is the same as above, however, the time the conditioner is left within the hair must be extended up to 20 minutes to allow penetration into the inner (cortical) layer of the hairshaft - only 10 minutes if your wrap your hair in a moist, hot towel. Deep conditioning should be done sparingly - once per week for most hair types. Deep conditioning the hair more than this is could cause the opposite intended effect. If you over-use a protein-based deep conditioner to strengthen and add body, it could cause the hair to become dry and brittle. If you over-use a moisturizing or oil-based deep conditioner, it could cause your hair to become limp and lifeless.

Notes about detangling hair and hair loss:

Many people are misinformed that it is safer to detangle the hair while it is dry. One must understand that the hair can stretch up to 50% of its length while wet without breakage, however, while dry, hair will break before it stretches 25% of its length. It is best to keep a wide-toothed comb within your shower to detangle & seal split-ends, as described above, while using a low pH (3.5 to 5.5 acidic) crème rinse or daily conditioner.

On the subject of misperceived hair loss - many people turn fearful upon seeing their hairbrush & shower drain filled with an inordinate amount of their hair. I wish to relieve some of this fear by stating the fact that each strand of hair has a lifespan of 2 to 7 years before a new hair begins to grow in its place, pushing it out to end up in one's brush or shower drain. This means everyone sheds 80 to 125 hairs from their head everyday. If one has longer hair it may give the false appearance that they a shedding more hair daily than the average amount. One should only be concerned if the hair being shed daily is not being replaced by new hair growth, however, this is the subject of a future article.

If you are concerned that you might not be using the correct products for your hair, call 509-926-6429 and schedule a consultation with any of our Hair Specialists.