Category: Haircare Advice

The best way to cut the hair from a professional!

~ Joseph Kellner

josephkellner.com

You’ve seen the stylist in your neighborhood salon approach a head of wet dripping hair, with scissors in hand, and start to work his or her magic. But have you ever wondered whether trimming the hair while wet is the healthiest thing to do? This article will discuss whether wet or dry hair trimming is best for your hair.

For straighter hair types, wet cutting may not be very problematic. Straighter hair is not very vulnerable to “shrinkage” and porosity issues, all characteristics that are found exaggerated on wet, textured hair. So, for those of us who are chemically relaxed, color treated, or have curl patterns that aren’t exactly uniform– dry trimming is actually the best method of hair trimming . Why?

1.) Imagine cutting a wet piece of paper, and then cutting a dry piece of paper in the same way. You’ll easily see that the cut on the wet paper is not a clean one. Your hair is really no different. Wet trimming can actually damage the (new) ends you create with the trim, leaving them more vulnerable to splitting later on. The damage is even more likely if your scissors are the cheaper variety (less than $10-15), non-hair specific shears, or good hair shears that need to be sharpened.

2.) Hair appears much longer when wet. So, a dry cut or trim will give you a better feeling of the actual, final length result. If you trim wet hair, you’ll appear one length while wet and then once the hair has fully dried, you’ll see that your hair is typically much shorter than you would have expected due to shrinkage.

3.) Differences with porosity and texture throughout your hair make dry cutting the better, more precise option. With porous or textured hair, some areas of the strand may lengthen more than others when exposed to water. More porous areas will lengthen the most, while less porous areas will resist that extra lengthening. Also, tighter coiled areas may not “release their curls” fully, as looser curled or coiled areas would. So, if you use your wet hair as a guide, you may end up with uneven hair in some places.

As a final note, if you are chemically relaxed and are some weeks post relaxer, you must take into consideration the differing growth rates in different areas on your head. Some areas, generally the crown, will experience faster or more noticeable growth than other areas like the nape. It is always advisable to relax or straighten your hair first, then attempt your dry hair trim.

Do You Use A Color-Safe Shampoo?

~ Joseph Kellner

Ninety Two percent of women have colored their hair at some point in their lives. So when that gorgeous, gleaming color suddenly turns a weird shade of who-knows-what or gets crazy dull a few weeks (or days) later, know you’re not alone. Others have suffered the same fate. But could the right shampoo have saved you from washing that amazing color down the drain or are those color-treated formulas just marketing hype? Here’s what you need to know about caring for colored strands.

Most classic shampoos contain detergents that make up around 15 percent of each bottle. Their job: to sweep away dirt and oils that leave strands squeaky clean (most commonly sodium- or ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium-or ammonium lauryl ether sulfate). However these same detergents can strip the color molecules from the hair cuticle, as well. Conversely, the kinds of cleansing agents dropped into color-treated and sulfate-free formulas typically contain gentler dirt busters that won’t strip hair of color.

Here’s where it gets tricky: There’s not really any scientific proof that going lighter on the suds’ strength makes any difference to hair color preservation. Shampoos for color-treated hair tend to be sulfate-free but there are no published studies that validate the theory that sulfates fade hair color faster than other surfactants or detergent.

It’s a Gimmick pulled on you! From Manufacturers!!

Color-safe products don’t contain alcohol, have low sulfate levels and often contain extra moisturizing elements, emollients and proteins to smooth the cuticle, giving hair luster and shine. So does that mean you have to use a shampoo for color-treated locks? Not necessarily. If you think you’d get more benefit from a volumizing, moisturizing, curl-defining or dandruff formula, then go ahead and grab one. Studies show that having a UV filter in a hair care product can reduce color fading by up to 40 percent most of these findings are based on controlled studies that only reflected washing—not the normal wear and tear that we put our hair through on a daily basis.

So, an upside to color-specific shampoos is that most of them are laced with some combo of UV absorbers and antioxidants to prevent free radical damage, (yes, the same pesky electron-hungry molecules that are the main culprit of skin aging and DNA damage). Free radicals rip apart the pigments used to color the hair which results in fading, brassiness and dullness..

Potent color protectants such as benzophenone-3 and 4, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, or trademark combos like ChromAveil and Heliogenol (found in the new ColorProof line), all offer UV protection as well as some of the same antioxidants typically cast as skin defenders including ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E). 

Read Your Labels, if you cannot pronounce the ingredients. It is too strong of a cleanser for artificial hair color.