Natural Hair Care

Natural hair care that can be done in the privacy of your own home for a fraction of the cost of salon treatments.

Many men and women spend tons of money in beauty salons for simple things they can do at home with a little time and research. The benefits are not only the money saved but also the convenience and privacy of doing it in your own home. However, the idea of home beauty care conjures up images for some of Lucy Ricardo in the episode where she wrecks her hair before her big night out.

First is eyebrow or mustache waxing. I recommend getting a buddy to help with this one. Depilatory wax is sold over the counter at any drug store and can be heated in a crock-pot filled with water or in the microwave. Just be sure to test on your finger before applying to the skin around your eye. The wax should be very warm, not hot. Apply the wax to the unwanted hair, then apply a strip of cheesecloth over it and gently press. Wait a few moments for the wax to harden then quickly remove the strip. Pulling too slowly causes unnecessary discomfort.

Second is conditioning treatments. You can get the packets or containers of cholesterol or deep conditioning formulas at beauty supply stores or use warm (not hot) olive oil. Apply the conditioner of your choice, and then wrap in a warm towel that you can heat in the microwave (again test for heat before applying). Leave on while you relax or have a cup of coffee and then wash or rinse your hair (if you use the oil you may want to shampoo). This will give you shiny renewed hair for pennies a treatment.

Next are highlights. If you are going for an all out color change, going to a salon would be preferable unless you know what you are doing, but its easy to add a glossy sheen to hair that has not been colored. Simply buy an over the counter highlight or hair painting kit, which comes with full instructions and an applicator brush. Or if you just want to add some shine, mix up a batch of lemon juice, apply and go sit out on your patio in the sun for a while.

If you like long, stylish nails you would do well to learn to do them yourself to save tons of money in professional maintenance.

Facials can also be done using ingredients from the fridge. Try an mashed avacodo mask to moisturize, egg white to decrease oil and cucumbers to refresh tired eyes.

Last, but most importantly is style. Armed with as supply of hot rollers and some styling gel, you can create a variety of looks. If you have a roommate, or a hairstyle buddy, you can try looks like the French braid or cornrows on each other. If your hair is short, add some volume with a few small rollers or spike it up a little with some gel. Add accents like beads and barrettes that you can purchase at the local dollar store and you have a multitude of possibilities. Books on hair styling can be found at the library or local books store. Have a styling party and invite friends over to lend their expertise. The more ideas you share, the more possibilities you have for your home salon.

Natural Dandruff Treatment

Dandruff - dry, flaky skin on the scalp - is a common and annoying problem. The usual cause is a condition known as seborrhoeic dermatitis, which produces an itchy, scaly rash on the scalp. Sometimes other areas such as the eyebrows, beard, chest, back and even the groin are affected too, and the skin in these areas may look red and inflamed.

Both dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis are thought to be triggered by hypersensitivity to a yeast called pityrosporum. Everyone has small quantities of this yeast on their skin, but in people with scaly scalp problems, it may be present in large numbers.

Dry, scaly skin is sometimes linked with lack of certain vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, B2, B3, C, biotin and the minerals iodine, manganese, selenium and zinc. A good multi-nutrient supplement containing around 100 per cent of the recommended daily amount of as many vitamins and minerals as possible may be helpful, as may evening primrose oil and fish oil supplements. These contain essential fatty acids important for healthy skin.

You may also find it helpful to rub your scalp with a solution of seven drops of rosemary or tea tree essential oils diluted with 1 tablespoon (15ml) of carrier oil, before washing your hair. A shampoo containing the anti-fungal drug, ketoconazole, is available over the counter and highly effective.

Dandruff Treatment

Conventional treatment of dandruff in adults includes zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, sulfur and salicylic acid, or tar shampoo are used. For severe dandruff, hydrocortisone cream is used. In some patients ketoconazole cream is used.

• Diet - Fried foods should be avoided. Reduce intake of fats, dairy products, sugars, chocolate, seafood, and peanuts. Increase green leafy vegetables and raw foods. Eat a whole foods diet.
• Biotin � Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin that helps to break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. A typical dosage for dandruff is 3,000 mcg two times per day. Food sources of biotin include brewer's yeast, nutritional yeast, whole grains, nuts, egg yolks, sardines, liver, cauliflower, bananas, and mushrooms.
• Vitamin B complex, especially vitamin B1 and B2.
• Vitamin A.
• Omega fatty acids, especially omega-6.
• Zinc

Natural Dandruff Treatments

• Grapefruit seed extract � A few drops of grapefruit seed extract can be added to shampoo.
• Tea tree oil � Look for a tea tree oil shampoo or add a few drops of tea tree oil to shampoo.
• Apple cider vinegar � Pour apple cider vinegar onto your hair and scalp and wrap your head in a towel. Remove after one hour and wash hair.
• Selenium-based shampoo � Selenium acts as an anti-fungal agent.
• Flaxseed oil or vitamin E oil � Apply these oils to the scalp nightly and wash off in the morning. They can soothe and nourish the scalp. Use an old sheet or towel to protect your pillow.

Natural Hair Color

A person's genes determine the hair, skin and eye color since before his or her birth. The determinants for hair color are known as melanocytes. These cells form the natural hair colors or pigments and distinguish between black, brown, and red. Depending on the percentage of each pigment, the person has blonde, brown, red or black hair. As the melanocytes decay during a lifetime, the hair becomes a dull gray and later on it turns into a whitish color.

Natural Hair Coloring

Natural colors have been used on hair since ancient times. Most of them are made from plants. Henna is by far the best known. It is widely used to this day to redden hair, especially dark hair, and the color produced lasts through several shampoos. But its concentration is difficult to control, and hence results can be unpredictable. It has been reported to cause asthma and allergies in some people, and people who suffer from these ailments should be wary of using it. Henna should not be used on gray hair, as it turns it orange!

Special hair dye preparations are made for coloring gray hair. They can be used to add highlights too. They do not contain a single dye but mixtures of red, yellow, blue, and orange dyes in various proportions. The dyes have small molecules, which mean they can pass through the cuticle into the cortex easily, and without damaging the scales of the cuticle. Since they can enter the hair shaft easily, they can also be washed out relatively easily.

Natural Hair Growth

Hair is composed of strong structural protein called keratin. This is the same kind of protein that makes up the nails and the outer layer of skin. Each strand of hair consists of three layers.

1. An innermost layer or medulla which is only present in large thick hairs.
2. The middle layer known as the cortex. The cortex provides strength and both the color and the texture of hair.
3. The outermost layer is known as the cuticle. The cuticle is thin and colorless and serves as a protector of the cortex.

Structure of the Hair Root

Below the surface of the skin is the hair root, which is enclosed within a hair follicle. At the base of the hair follicle is the dermal papilla. The dermal papilla is feed by the bloodstream which carries nourishment to produce new hair. The dermal papilla is a structure very important to hair growth because it contains receptors for male hormones and androgens. Androgens regulate hair growth and in scalp hair Androgens ma cause the hair follicle to get progressively smaller and the hairs to become finer in individuals who are genetically predisposed to this type of hair loss.

The Hair Growth Cycle

Hair follicles grow in repeated cycles. One cycle can be broken down into three phases. Each hair passes through the phases independent of the neighboring hairs.

1. Anagen - Growth Phase: Approximately 85% of all hairs are in the growing phase at any one time. The Anagen phase or growth phase can vary from two to six years. Hair grows approximately 10cm per year and any individual hair is unlikely to row more than one meter long.
2. Catagen - Transitional Phase: At the end of the Anagen phase the hairs enters into a Catagen phase which lasts about one or two weeks, during the Catagen phase the hair follicle shrinks to about 1/6 of the normal length. The lower part is destroyed and the dermal papilla breaks away to rest below.
3. Telogen - Resting Phase: The resting phase follows the catagen phase and normally lasts about 5-6 weeks. During this time the hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle while the dermal papilla stays in a resting phase below. Approximately 10-15 percent of all hairs are in this phase at an one time.

At the end of the Telogen Phase the hair follicle re-enters the Anagen Phase. The dermal papilla and the base of the follicle join together again and a new hair begins to form. If the old hair has not already been shed the new hair pushes the old one out and the growth cycle starts all over again.

Natural Hair Loss

At any one time, about 10 percent of the hair on your scalp is in a resting phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair starts to grow in its place. This growing phase lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each hair grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is growing at any one time.

It is normal to shed some hair each day as part of this cycle. However, some people may experience excessive (more than normal) hair loss.

A number of things can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, you may suddenly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is related to the stress of the illness and is temporary.

Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treatment of the thyroid disease. Hair loss may occur if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are out of balance. Correcting the hormone imbalance may stop your hair loss.

Many women notice hair loss about 3 months after they've had a baby. This loss is also related to hormones. During pregnancy, high levels of certain hormones cause the body to keep hair that would normally fall out. When the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels, that hair falls out and the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again.

Some medicines can cause hair loss. This type of hair loss improves when you stop taking the medicine. Medicines that can cause hair loss include blood thinners (also called anticoagulants), medicines used for gout, medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, vitamin A (if too much is taken), birth control pills and antidepressants.

Certain infections can cause hair loss. Children may have hair loss caused by a fungal infection of the scalp. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines.

Finally, hair loss may occur as part of an underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes. Since hair loss may be an early sign of a disease, it is important to find the cause so that it can be treated.

Natural Hair Loss Treatment

Causes of hair loss are varied, and of course treatments are specific to the type of hair loss.

• Alopecia Areata is thought to be an auto-immune disease of the hair, initially appearing as a rounded bare patch about an inch across.
• Androgenetic Alopecia accounts for 95% of all hair loss. It can affect both men and women although men experience a much greater degree of loss. In women androgenetic alopecia appears as diffuse hair loss occurring over most of the scalp. In men however the pattern of loss usually starts with a receding hairline which then advances to thin the top of the head.
• Anagen Effluvium is the sudden hair loss which occurs as a result of chemicals or radiation, such as the hair loss that results during certain types of Chemotherapy or Radiation Treatment.
• Self Induced Hair Loss. Some damage to the hair is self inflicted sometimes consciously or unconsciously the two main types of self induced hair loss are Trichotillomania and Traction Alopecia.
• Telogen Effluvium occurs when sudden or severe stress causes an increase in the shedding of the hair.
• Scarring Alopecia. When inflammation of the hair follicles occurs due to infection it can lead to scarring alopecia.

Natural Treatments for Hair Loss

Diet - A diet that contains whole foods, particularly the outer skin of plants such as potatoes, cucumbers, green and red peppers, and sprouts can give strength to hair because they are rich in the mineral silica. Foods that are high in iron, such as lean meats, are important for people with a known iron deficiency.

Nutritional Supplements, Vitamins and Herbs

• Saw palmetto - Saw palmetto oil is an accepted treatment for benign prostate hyperplasia in men. It appears to interact with various sex hormones, including dihydrotestoseteron (DHT). DHT is produced from testosterone by enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. Like most enzymes, it can be inhibited. There has been great medical interest in substances that have the potential for inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase, and thereby preventing or treating benign prostate hyperplasia.
  Theoretically, saw palmetto could have also be used to block DHT and prevent hair loss. Saw palmetto is believed to have a similar mechanism of action to the anti-androgenic drug finasteride (Propecia), which has been used in low doses for hair loss.
• Folic acid, biotin, vitamin B5, para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), and silica are supplements that may help maintain the color and thickness of hair.
• Be sure to check your daily intake of zinc through supplements. Intake of 30 mg or higher for more than three months can induce a deficiency of copper, and low copper levels can result in hair loss. Speak to a health practitioner before supplementing copper to avoid copper overdose.

Aromatherapy

The results of one research study suggest that the essential oils of thyme, rosemary, lavender, and cedarwood mixed with an oil and applied on the areas of hair loss may stimulate hair growth. This double blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled 84 people who massaged either these essential oils or non-treatment oil into their scalps each night for seven months. Results showed that 44% of people in the treatment group had new hair growth compared to only 15% in the control group.

Hair Oil Recipe

• 3 drops of essential oil of thyme
• 3 drops of essential oil of lavender
• 3 drops of essential oil of rosemary
• 3 drops of essential oil of cedarwood
• 1/8 cup of grapeseed oil
• 1/8 cup of jojoba oil

Mix the ingredients together. Cover your pillow with an old towel. Apply several drops of the mixture to areas of hair loss each night, massaging gently into scalp for 3-5 minutes. Store the oil tightly covered. Do not take internally or near the eye area.

Ayurveda

Bhringaraj oil or brahmi oil are applied to the scalp regularly to stimulate hair growth. The Ayurvedic herbs ashwagandha and amla are also reported to stimulate hair growth.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

In traditional Chinese medicine, hair loss is linked to kidney deficiency syndrome. Other symptoms of kidney deficiency are weakness and fatigue and low back weakness. Kidney energy is believed to naturally decline with age, but people with early or accelerated hair loss may have particularly weak kidney energy. Kidney tonics are usually recommended.