healthy hair central

Ponytails and buns have become infamous because of their ability to cause hair breakage and affecting its thickness. However, for many women, these are the two perfect hairstyles that match their age and suit their looks. If you belong to this group of women, here are some tips to continue wearing your hair in these styles while preventing breakage.

Never Style Tangled Hair

One of the worst things you can perhaps do is to pull tangled hair into a ponytail or bun. If you do so, you’ll probably end up with a rat’s nest, which is a nuisance when you have to detangle it. To avoid such a hairy mess, calmly detangle your hair with your fingers before styling or wash your hair and dry it before pulling it through a ponytail or bun.

Avoid Styling Soaking Wet Hair

Hair is at its most delicate state when it’s wet. So it’s never a good idea to put your sopping wet tresses into a ponytail or bun. The least you could do is to wait for your hair to become a little dry before you style it.

Moisturize Your Dry Hair before Styling

If you want to put your hair into a ponytail or a bun, make sure that you moisturize your hair before you do so. Dry hair is prone to breakage, whereas moisturized hair is more workable and less likely to break.

Use a Satin or Silk Scarf for Slick Edges

After applying either gel or wax, immediately put on a silk scarf for approximately five minutes. If the edges of your hair don’t seem to be smooth enough, try using a different product or moisturizer.

With these tips in mind, you won’t have to worrying about never wearing a ponytail or bun again. Just remember to use a protective style to also promote hair growth and ensure less breakage.

For many women (and some men) long hair is a symbol of sexuality, beauty and power. Some people even go to great lengths (pun intended) to get it. Studies have shown that medium and long-length hair have a significant impact on the perception of attractiveness.

Although it hasn’t been studied, it seems reasonable to conclude that regular cardiovascular exercise stimulates circulation, which in turn stimulates hair growth. It also has numerous benefits on your health which may also eliminate the cause of seemingly ‘stunted’ hair growth or even thinning hair. For these reasons, many people notice a difference in their hair once starting a regular cardiovascular routine.

Many women experience mood swings and even hair shedding which could be a result of hormone imbalances caused by eating too much saturated fat, processed foods or hormones. One of the signs of many hormonal or thyroid problems is hair loss. Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly are so important for combatting stress and reducing stress hormones from making their way into the blood. Here are some specific exercises that will lower your stress and keep your hair growing like Rapunzel.

Cardiovascular Exercise – By doing cardio or high-intensity running or walking for short bursts, you will help oxygenate your blood, get your circulation moving, digestion going and experience the many benefits of what exercise can do for your hair. Modern exercises like high-intensity training (HIT) and Zumba are especially good for increasing circulation.
Yoga – Certain yoga poses or asanas can actually stimulate your hair follicles through gravity or by also increasing circulation, relaxing tense nerves and relieving stress. Stress is also a cause for hair loss in some people, due to the release of cortisol and certain hormones triggered by it. By relaxing and releasing this stress, a number of bodily functions improve, resulting in optimal hair growth.
Add little ‘extras’ to your daily routine to increase your fitness level. Take the stairs instead of those crowded elevators or park your car a bit further than usual from your destination to force yourself to walk more. While watching tv, do lunges or squats, which will not only lift and shape your butt; they will also improve your cardiovascular health and in turn, your hair.

Some experts say that adding these fitness habits every day is important for optimal health, but the time depends on your fitness levels. Remember to check with your doctor before embarking on any strenuous activity!

Did you know there’s a right way to wash your hair in the shower that minimizes breakage and increases how healthy your hair looks? Learning the proper technique to wash your hair will help keep your precious hair on your head. We recommend a 5-minute wash 3-4 times a week. Healthy hair begins with a healthy scalp. You too can have healthy hair by properly maintaining your scalp and follicles. Start with warm water and rinse with cool water. Here are the steps to healthier hair:

Step 1: Brush before you shower

Brushing before you shower not only reduces the amount of hairs that get caught in your drain, it will also help minimize breakage and stimulate circulation in your scalp.

Step 2: Wet your hair and apply the shampoo

Wet your hair, and apply a quarter-size of shampoo into the palm of your hand. Start by applying to the roots of your hair and moving your way down. If you have really long hair, don’t be afraid to use more shampoo.

Step 3: Massage your scalp

Massaging your scalp increases the circulation and delivery of nutrients that help nourish your hair to grow. Before you rinse, use the shampoo on your hair to gently massage your scalp with your fingers. Create circular motions by rubbing your scalp and gently running your fingers away from the scalp. Restart the massage every 20-30 seconds by quickly running your hands under the water. Adding water to the shampoo on your scalp will help the shampoo break down and increase nutrient delivery to your scalp.

Step 4: Rinse with lukewarm water

Use lukewarm water to gently rinse your hair. Make sure you rub from the scalp down to get rid of built up gunk in your scalp and hair.

Step 5: Rinse with cold water

If you’re looking to use conditioner, now is the time. Apply it to the mid-length of your hair and move down. Finish your wash by rinsing with cool water to seal the cuticles.

Enjoy!

Everything in your body is nurtured by your blood. Without having nutrient-rich blood traveling throughout your body, vital organs would not receive the material they need to function. Your brain needs good blood flow, your limbs, your skin, and organs too. Following this logic it makes sense that without good blood flow to your hair, it will not grow well, and will even start to die. If you rob your hair of the nutrients and other materials that it needs to thrive, then it will wither.

Decreased Blood Flow Leads to Hair Loss

Many things can lead to premature hair loss in a person. Hair loss can be brought on by a poor diet, inflammation of the scalp, imbalances in internal chemistry, and by decreased blood flow. It is also true that a bald head will have less blood flow too. Without hair actively requiring nourishment to grow, your body will send less blood to your scalp and it will remain a poor area to grow hair.

Increasing Blood Flow

The solution to your problems is not to go through some ridiculously expensive and invasive surgery to artificially make your blood pump better to your scalp. What you want to do is to provide a healthy environment for your body to grow in. To do this give it a good diet that contains all of the minerals, nutrients, and calories that it needs to produce healthy hair. If you give your body what it requires to function then it will correct low blood flow on its own and your scalp will begin to see decreased hair loss, and even hair regrowth over time.

Unfortunately testing for blood flow is not going to be very effective. If you are already balding or bald you are going to find that you have less blood flow to your scalp. This may or may not be because of a lack of nutrients. Your body naturally sends less blood to the scalp when it is not growing hair. It is a leap of faith of your part to improve your diet and lifestyle in order to promote healthier levels of blood flow in your body. There is a good chance that this will help your hair repair itself, or even begin to grow back in.

Resources

Beauty experts agree that you should wash and condition your hair on a regular basis, but some people wash and do not use any soap or shampoo. Does this sound a bit strange to you? Many people feel that this is actually beneficial. While the verdict is still out, washing your hair without soaps could be something that you will enjoy doing. Let’s take a closer look.

No-Soap Hair Washing

Take a look at the ingredient list on your favorite bottle of shampoo. Chances are you will see a long list of ingredients that you cannot even pronounce the name of! These substances cleanse the hair but they can also damage it at the same time. What a situation to find yourself in! Making the transition to washing your hair without shampoo or soap could eliminate any possible damages that you could find coming your way with their use. So does this mean that you should use only water to wash your hair? Not at all! You can use a conditioner on your hair only, but should never simply use only water. You may experience a bit of oiliness within the first day or two of using a conditioner-only cleansing, however once this time has passed your hair will be softer, shinier and easier to manage. Not only this, you can save a ton of money using a conditioner-only hair cleaning regimen. Imagine how much there is to be saved when you eliminate this regular expense from your budget. If you are interested in healthier, more beautiful looking hair, this may be the option that surpasses all of your expectations and then some. It is a definite change, but is well worth it when the day is said and done. Take a look at more about this new trend, and discover how many benefits could come your way. Resources

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/02/15/conditioner-only-washing-no-shampoo-crunchy-beauty-tips/

There are many myths when it comes to hair loss and male pattern baldness (MPB). For a long time people have pointed to a lack of sleep as a possible issue when it comes to baldness, and this has often been relegated to just another baldness myth. Unfortunately, it’s not.

Don’t stress your hair

Hair is very sensitive to changes and stress on the body, and research has found direct links to lack of sleep causing stress that does indeed cause hair loss. This hair loss is known as Telogen effluvium, and is, for the most part, a temporary condition that can be reversed.

How much sleep?

The amount of sleep needed for each individual varies, but the average is 8 hours. Sleep deprivation for long periods can and will stress the body and this can lead to hair loss.

Stress is the culprit

Sleep is a vital function for the human body, as this is the time when the body goes about repairing damaged cells. Baldness is directly related to damaged cells that scar over and stop producing hair. Stress has been shown as an influencing factor in a high proportion of hair loss cases, and you guessed it, a lack of sleep is particularly bad for of stress to the body.

It’s only temporary

Sometimes this lack of sleep only leads to a temporary loss of hair due to stress but for those who have a hereditary link to baldness lack of sleep can speed up the process. Telogen effluvium can come on very suddenly due to stress and cause drastic hair loss overnight. Picture yourself washing your hair in the morning and losing handfuls of hair.

Stop the stress

Fortunately, Telogen effluvium can be reversed by stopping the stress causing it in the first place. If that stress is brought on by a sleep disorder you can speak with your doctor to help get your sleeping patterns back on track to get that stress down.

Resources

Is there a link between trauma and hair loss? This is a very good question. As a matter of fact this is one of the most common questions that a lot of people have to deal with in the world today. On more than one occasion there are so many people who have been victims of this condition. For this reason therefore it is important to try and address the situation as it is. Trauma does indeed cause hair loss. As a matter of fact, the whole thing is about being stressed up.

How does stress affect your hair health?

Stress has its ups and downs on people, and in most cases, the conditions resulting from stress are usually bad on the skin and the human body in general. The hair is not an exception in this scenario. It has been proven over and over again that hair loss can be caused by traumatic experiences. This usually happens as a matter of fact when you are subject to stress as a result of your trauma.

Telogen effluvium

For those who are not aware, Telogen effluvium is the name of the condition resulting from such a scenario. So how should you handle such scenarios in the event that you become a victim? Well, it is important for you to look into ways of making sure that you can reduce your level of stress, and most importantly get to achieve longer healthier hair.

In order to handle your stress levels appropriately, you will need to try and make sure that you can most importantly control your level of anxiety. Stress and trauma are pretty much related, and if you can control your stress levels, you can rest assured that you will be ok.

Don’t tug on your hair

In the event of a traumatic event there are so many things that can happen. In most cases a lot of people tend to be stressed up as a result of traumatic events. Literally, there are those who even get to the point where things are so tough on them they tug at their own hair. Well, you will have also gone a long way in aiding in hair loss by doing that.

It almost seems like a cruel joke, women notice that their hair looks shinier and thicker during pregnancy, but three to six months after giving birth, they may find themselves struggling with hair loss.

Why hair loss can happen

As we have discussed before, a hair follicle may produce a new hair every three to four months and then rest. During the rest period, ‘old hair’ falls out and makes room for the new hair to grow. However, the hair follicle rest periods are drastically reduced during pregnancy because of the abundance of hormones. After the estrogen levels are reduced again after giving birth, the hair follicle rest mode is going to work harder than before to return to normal.

This means that between 5 and 10 percent of hair needs to return to rest mode, which is natural. While this may be natural, it may seem as though you are losing more hair because the resting state was dramatically reduced during pregnancy. So in short, the woman is not going bald; it is simply the hair growth coming back to normal. According to the American Pregnancy Association, this hair loss will affect approximately 50% of women.

Hair regrowth

The hair lost after pregnancy will eventually grow back. However, it is possible to enhance hair regrowth by maintaining adequate nutrition or supplementation. Most women lose a great deal of nutrients through breastfeeding. The normal regrowth rate for most women (approximately 1/2 inch per month) should be back to normal between six and twelve months after the woman delivers her baby.

Enhancing hair regrowth

While avoiding hair loss after giving birth entirely may be impossible, there are ways to ensure that hair loss is reduced. It is important to be gentle with the hair while it is fragile; this means no flat irons, curling irons, or blow dryers because these provide excessive heat that may damage the hair.

As previously mentioned, it is important to provide a proper hormone balance. This means a well-balanced diet that contains antioxidants and flavonoids. In addition, in order to help stimulate regrowth and reduce hair loss, it may be a good idea to consider supplementing with minerals or vitamins.

Color treatment fact or fiction?

*Photo courtesy of blancalala

When it comes to matters of the hair, you can rest assured that there are so many different opinions that people have in the world today. All these opinions are so diverse that some of them might actually cause you some hair raising moments. The one thing that you have to be aware of however is the fact that there is a big difference between the truth and fallacies as far as hair treatments are concerned. When you come to think about it, you need to be very keen to make sure that you do not end up believing in the wrong things as many people have.

Use color treatments correctly

One of the most common misconceptions that we have in the world today is that constant use of color treatment can lead to hair loss. Sounds like something you have heard in the recent past, right? Well, in the event that you have heard of the same, you can rest assured that this is all but a fallacy. However there is some near truth in it, which you should as a matter of fact consider carefully.

The fact remains that color treatment is an awesome thing to do, and as a matter of fact it makes you feel awesome, like you are a new person. It is however important for you to know that all components of color treatments are composed of some chemicals. All the chemicals are designed in such a way that they can make your hair feeling as good as new. However, you need to be very careful.

The reason for this according to UK hairdressers is due to the fact that all the chemicals used up in the color treatments can be dangerous to you, if and only if they are used in the wrong way. Always be keen to make sure that you do not get to use the coloring on your hair inappropriately. Besides that however, you can also consult a dermatologist or your nearest medical physician in the event that you are looking to try something new on your hair. This is especially so in the event that you have been having problems with your hair in the past.

Our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, we recommend you work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you. Toji: Pure Density is designed to support healthy hair growth, and comes with a 3-bottle guarantee. Yes – this means you can try it for 3 months, and if you don’t grow faster, thicker, longer hair we will gladly provide you a complete, 100% money back, refund . For more info, check out our site: www.tojilife.com.

*Photo courtesy of …love Maegan

Protect your hair from heat and hair loss

You often hear applying a heat protectant spray when using heated styling tools is very important. People wonder if it really matters or if it’s a gimmick to get people to invest in new products they do not need. So does it matter?

In a single word – yes – these heat protectants are important when you work with heated styling tools. Heat protectants reduce the physical and chemical damage to hair when you apply heat to it. They cannot eliminate the damage, but it’s a lot less.

Protection from physical damage

When you apply heat to the hair, the surface of the hair may have chips or breaks. When you comb the hair after heat styling, there may be physical breakage because the hair is damaged. The heat protectants place a layer of coating on the hair, meaning the hair fiber and the heated styling tools do not come into contact. This reduces the chance of breakage.

What is going on?

No heat protectant is going to protect your hair completely. Heat breaks down the amino acids in hair. Considering that hair is made up out of amino acids, there is no way to avoid chemical damage. The specific amino acid that often suffers damage is tryptophan. When you use a heat protectant, it means less degradation of tryptophan. Because the layer prevents all of the heat to transfer to the hair, it means that the protein is less likely to be damaged.

Choosing the right one

First, using any heat protectant is always going to be better than directly applying heated styling tools to your hair. But seeing as we are always about learning more, a study at the University of Manchester showed that dry ingredients (solvents and oils including ethanol) were better than water based heat protectants. Those without water simply worked better than those with. If you want some of the best ingredients, look for polymers and silicones, some of the best-researched protectants.

Our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, we recommend you work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you. Toji: Pure Density is designed to support healthy hair growth, and comes with a 3-bottle guarantee. Yes – this means you can try it for 3 months, and if you don’t grow faster, thicker, longer hair we will gladly provide you a complete, 100% money back, refund . For more info, check out our site: www.tojilife.com.

Category Archives: Healthy Hair Habits