Search Results: Michelle Breyer

Tom Brophy, inspirational educator and former creative director for Vidal Sassoon, has developed a reputation for his ability to interpret trends for individual clients. London-trained Brophy, who now owns a salon in Beverly Hills, is also a big fan of curly hair. He encourages his clients to work with, rather than against, their natural texture. NaturallyCurly talked to him recently about his philosophy on curls.

NaturallyCurly: There seems to be a trend these days back to long, ultra-straight hair. What is your opinion about that?

Brophy: There’s so much emphasis with straightness now, not just with hair but with bodies. Just look at Victoria Beckham. A lot of clients would like to emulate it. But I try to encourage them to enhance what they have naturally, rather than going against it. I personally find all this long straight hair a little tiring to look at. There’s no texture, no movement.

NC: Is it a tough sell to get people to go curly?

Brophy: It can be. I’ve been watching people walk by my salon all day, and I haven’t seen a head of curly hair yet. It’s crazy. I know you can’t win everybody over, but there are plenty of women out there who do want to wear their hair curly.

NC: How do you work with your curly clients who want a cut that won’t work for them?

Brophy: First, you have to understand their expectations and work from there. One has to be honest, but not so honest that you’re brutal or rude. If they want a cut that just won’t work for them, you might say “Yes, that’s a great idea, however . . .” You have to back up that statement with some form of knowledge about why it won’t work. They might want their hair to look like Kate Hudson’s. But they have to understand that Kate Hudson spends four hours each day having her hair and makeup done to get that look. I’m never going to do something that I don’t think will work. My experience tells me that when I go against my intuition, it just doesn’t work.

NC: Do you think cutting and styling curly hair is an art?

Brophy: It definitely is. A lot of hairdressers don’t know how to approach curly hair. Some can’t deal with it. We’ve been so accustomed to blowing everything to pieces and flat ironing it. When they get a textured head of hair, there’s a lot of people who are unsure how to approach it. Many people approach it hoping the hair will react to them instead of them reacting to the hair. That seems to be a big problem out there right now.

NC: What is your approach to curly hair?

Brophy: I adjust my technique to the hair rather than hoping and praying that the hair adjusts to me. Because curly hair doesn’t move around, I approach it from an abstract point of view. I sculpt it, cutting pieces out to encourage texture. If I pull it down and cut it one length, then the hair tends to expand horizontally. It becomes triangular in shape. I like to cut something that is a little freer than that.

It was a night of curl education and curl celebration at Curl Freedom 2007.

Over 100 curlies gathered at Toronto’s Memorial Hall Sept. 29 for the event, which was hosted by Canadian curl guru Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute, creator of the Curly Hair Solutions line of products.

The event was hosted by Toronto celeb Sandra Pittana. Gretchen Heber and Michelle Breyer from NaturallyCurly.com were honored to be guests of honor at the event.

Torch gave styling and color demonstrations to show off the latest techniques for curly hair, where a variety of colors are used to create richness, shine and depth.

He also introduced his newest Curly Hair Solutions product, Tweek, a unique hairspray in a cream form. It will be available later this year.

Fashion and beauty experts also were on hand to give advice and showcase the latest makeup and fashion trends for the upcoming season.

For many who attended, one of the biggest highlights was the curly fellowship that filled the room. From long ringlets to short kinks, every curl type was represented. Women shared their stories of how they had come to peace with their curls. For some, it was a long road of bad haircuts, flat irons and tears. One teen who attended the event said she has loved her curls since she was a child, and considers them one of her best assets.

Everybody came away with a renewed appreciation of what it means to be curly.

They’re no bigger than the head of a pin.

But families have been known to go to desperate measures to get rid of lice.

Just ask Penny Warner, founder of Texas Lice Squad.

When Warner’s two young daughters both complained about itchy heads, Warner thought it must be from all the swimming they were doing.

“By the time I realized what it was, both girls had lice, I had lice and my husband had lice,” Warner recalls.

She treated them with Nix three times, Rid two times and with olive oil. She cleaned her house from floor to ceiling. She threw out clothing and bedding. The family even vacated their house for a weekend hoping the lice would go away while they were gone.

“They came with us,” she says. “I cried. The children cried. It took eight months to get rid of them.”

When her daughter came home with lice two years later, Warner was determined that she would never go through that ordeal again. So she got on the Internet and found a non-profit organization in Florida that helped people get rid of lice. The owner told her about how to use nit combs and non-toxic products to eradicate lice.

An idea began to form in her mind. Warner discovered that nobody in the state of Texas offered a similar service. At the time, she was working as director of risk management for a large Houston hospital system, suffering from major job burnout. After talking with her husband, she decided to start her own delousing service.

“I knew I couldn’t be the only mother in the world who felt like I did,” says Warner. “If I had found a place like that two years ago, I would have paid any amount of money to get rid of the lice.”

She opened for business on April 1, 2006, putting up a web site and sending out flyers to local pediatricians. Initially, the calls trickled in. But word about Texas Lice Squad has quickly spread, and she now gets as many as eight calls a day. She estimates she has treated 500 to 600 people so far.

“Now I’m to the point where I have to turn people away,” Warner says.

Warner has flown to Alabama to delouse a family and regularly travels around the state of Texas. Her customers have come from as far away as Africa for her services. “If people are willing to pay my expenses, I’ll go anywhere,” she says.

Warner is opening her Texas Lice Squad treatment center October 15 in Missouri City near Houston and plans on expanding to Texas cities such as Dallas and Austin.

Warner is part of an emerging industry that has sprung up to battle head lice — one of the most common issues for young children and their parents.

Lice spread from one child’s head to the other through contact with an infested person’s clothing, brushes or other belongings. Discourage your child from sharing combs, brushes, towels or hats with friends. Lice make their home in human hair, nourishing themselves with blood from the scalp, holding onto the hair with hook-like claws found at the end of their six legs. The average number of lice on a child’s head is about 10.

In recent years, they have become increasingly difficult to get rid of as they have become resistant to chemicals such as permethrin and pyrethrin, which are found in Nix and Rid, which can trigger asthma and other respiratory problems. Scientists at the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in Cardiff, UK discovered four out of five lice were resistant to the chemicals. And many are ineffective against the eggs, which is why it can be so difficult to get rid of lice.

Warner charges $80/hour for her services, with the average session lasting 2 1/2 hours. During the session, she painstakingly combs out every nit and uses a non-toxic enzyme solution that softens the glue that attaches the nits to the hair shaft. She just worked on a curly headed little girl who took four hours to delouse.

She knows it may sound expensive. But she believes it’s money well spent, when one takes into account lost days of school and work and countless hours of frustration. Warner guarantees that children will be readmitted to school the next day or the fee is returned.

In addition to helping families eliminate lice, Texas Lice Squad offers a variety of preventative steps in an attempt to safeguard the child and other family members from reoccurring cases.

She sells a peppermint spray — lice don’t like the smell of mint — that can be used once a day. Parents are urged to comb their child’s hair for five minutes a night to makes sure every nit is gone. Once a nit hatches, a female louse can lay up to 300 eggs.

She has some parents who want her to come back in a week for peace of mind. “If you can check once a week, you can save yourself so much heartache later on,” Warner says.

---

Check out CurlMart’s non-toxic lice products

Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Shampoo

Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Creme Conditioner

Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Styling Gel

Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Leave-in Conditioning Spray

Lice B Gone

So Cozy Boo! Conditioner

So Cozy Boo! Shampoo

Click here to see a related story

Austin stylist Georgia Bramhall of Pink Salon cuts all of her curly clients’ hair dry.

“It shows me their real hair and what it naturally wants to do,” Bramhall says. “When it’s wet, it totally changes into something different. If it’s wet, it’s practically straight.”

Mia Fanali of D. Sabrina Salon in Westport, Conn., never cuts hair dry.

“When you comb out the curl and you try to cut it dry, it won’t fall that way again.,” Fanali says. “I also like to get all the dead ends off — from the perimeter to the layers. When you cut the hair dry, it doesn’t give you that opportunity.”

Scottsdale, Ariz., stylist Victor Sabino always starts off his curly cuts on dry hair to get a basic shape. Then he shampoos it and cleans it up when it’s wet.

“Then I dry it and finish up the cut from there,” Sabino says.

Three stylists. Three different philosophies about whether curls should be cut wet or dry. It’s no wonder curlies are confused.

Curl experts all are passionate about their techniques, whether they cut the hair wet, dry, wet into dry, dry into wet, or some other variation on the theme.

Cutting hair dry is not a new concept. Many hairstylists over the years have used variations of dry haircutting techniques. The late John Sahag is generally considered to be the pioneer in the the dry-cut technique. Sahag, who advocated the shift to dry cutting in the late 1970s, believed that when the hair is cut dry, it creates a natural shape according to the way the hair grows, enabling the stylist to remove bulk and weight to create movement and dimension. Wet hair, he believed, did not allow for natural inconsistencies.

In recent times, one of the biggest proponents of cutting curls dry is “Curly Girl” author Lorraine Massey of Devachan Salon in New York. All stylists at Devachan Salon cut curls dry.

“Unless a stylist can see how much spring there is in your curls, he won’t understand your hair and he’s likely to cut too much when it’s wet, only to discover that fact after your hair dries,” Massey writes in her book “Curly Girl.”

Rosie Da Silva of Devachan Salon likes to cut her client’s hair curl by curl.

“I can’t do that with dry hair,” Da Silva says. “You have to feel the texture. When you cut curly hair wet, you’re not really seeing how it’s going to look.”

New York stylist Jose Valdez has been cutting hair dry for the past 15 years. He believes it enables him to sculpt the hair, chiseling away to create shapes with dimension and balance.

“Why not cut hair dry?” Valdez says. “You do, after all, wear your hair dry. Cutting the hair dry lets me see exactly how your hair will fall as you’re wearing it. I can create perfect angles that not only accentuate your best features, but that suit your personality as well.”

Stylists who cut curly hair wet also have valid reasons why they prefer to do it that way.

Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute in Toronto says he prefers to cut curly hair wet because he can manipulate the curls and read the ringlets.

“When I work with dry hair, the more I play with it, the bigger it gets,” Torch says.

If a person has a combination of loose and tight curls, Torch said he might cut the looser curls dry to help them blend it with the rest of the hair.

“Then I wash the hair and do the full design,” Torch says.

Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue believes cutting the hair wet gives his clients more options.

“You can wear it curly, wavy or straight,” Christo

Dustin David of the Dustin David Salon in Los Gatos, Calif., takes a customized approach to his clients. For clients with tight curls, he cuts it dry, shampoos and styles it and then cuts it again. For clients with looser, wavier curls who wear their hair both curly and straight, he irons it straight and cuts it flat ironed. If the curls are looser and the client always wears her hair curly, David cuts it wet.

“To me, each person is an individual,” David says. “No matter how similar their hair seems, the cut needs to be customized to take into account their texture, density, length and lifestyle.”

All stylists stressed the importance of having the client come in with their dry and styled so they get a realistic look at the the curl pattern.

“Before I do the haircut, I analyze the curl, analyze the volume, touch the hair to see how much it expands,” Torch says. “But I couldn’t even imagine cutting curly hair dry.”

When Canadian hair-care giant AG Hair Cosmetics decided to create a curly-hair styling product four years ago, the company turned to NaturallyCurly.com.

“We were drawn to it,” recalls John Davis, AG’s co-founder. “We got involved in discussions online, and the curly community let us know what they were looking for in a product.”

Samples of the company’s soft-hold cream were sent out to NaturallyCurly members to test, and adjustments were made based on their feedback.

“The rest is history,” Davis says.

Re:coil Curl Activator launched Sept. 1, 2003, and has quickly became AG’s superstar. Within 18 months, it became the company’s No. 1 seller, outselling the former bestseller, Fast Food leave-in conditioner, two to one.

“It was a total surprise,” admits Davis. “I expected it to be a well-performing product — maybe in our Top 10. But the response has been incredible everywhere. I don’t remember the last time we had a product that had double the sales of our No. 1 product. Re:coil really is something else.”

Participate in AG’s survey; get free Re:Coil!

Davis attributes Re:coil’s success to several factors, including a hot market for curly-hair products. But at the top of the list is the fact that the company listened to the customer and gave them what they wanted.

Now AG is turning to NaturallyCurly members again to develop two new products in the Re:coil line: a shampoo and conditioner for curly hair. The idea for an expansion of the Re:coil line first arose last year during research and development discussions.

“We always look to our best products to see what we should develop,” Davis says. “So we thought ‘What about a Re:coil shampoo and conditioner that enhance curls at the cleansing an conditioning stage?’ It was a no-brainer.”

NaturallyCurly readers will be a part of the product development process as well as the final testing process. They will get to weigh in on product performance as well as price.

The new Re:coil shampoo and conditioner will be launched in late 2008.

While NaturallyCurly’s involvement in the development of Re:coil Curl Activator wasn’t formally planned, AG made the decision early on to bring in NaturallyCurly readers in the development process of the new products.

“What a great opportunity to get them involved and to get direct feedback from the end user to help us develop a great product,” Davis says.

Davis concedes that this isn’t traditionally how his company — or most companies, for that matter — have developed products. In the past, AG would develop and test products in house. Then, when the product was at a desired stage, it would be sent to AG educators around North America to test it in their salons.

While parallel testing will be taking place in salons, Davis wants to hear from the curlies of the world on the new Re:coil products.

“It’s unusual to have an opportunity to have direct interface with the end user,” Davis says. “They will have a direct influence on a product. We will listen to them. If they don’t like it, we will change it.”

Living in the heat and humidity of South Florida, Heather Frankel’s fine curls often turned to frizz. One day, she saw a curly Brazilian friend, and her hair was noticeably longer and straighter.

“She told me about the treatment,” Frankel says.

That would be the Brazilian Keratin Treatment — a curl relaxer that has taken the United States by storm in recent months. Known as Brazilian Keratin Treatment, Brazilian Hair Straightening, Brazilian Blowout or just BKT, it first came to the United States a few years ago. But over the past year, a growing number of hairdressers have embraced it.

Thermal reconditioning — also known as Japanese straightening — seems like yesterday’s news compared to this hot import from Brazil.

Frankel, who was considering doing thermal reconditioning, is thrilled with the results. She says hair has body and shine, and only takes five minutes to style. And frizz is a thing of the past.

“It opens the door to hairstyles I’ve always wanted but didn’t think I could have,” she says. “Now you can see the layers, you can see the highlights, you can see the flips. I am so happy – you have no idea.”

Stylist Tiffany Vance, owner of Hedda Hair and Body Bliss in Joliet, Ill., began doing the chemical service in June.

“I’ve had extremely good results,” Vance says. “It’s good for all curl types, especially those who color their hair.”

A big selling point of BKT is that it doesn’t have the strong chemicals – sodium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate – that are in most relaxers and straighteners. These harsh chemicals can cause damage and breakage.

Instead, the active ingredient is keratin, a protein similar to a component in human hair, which naturally straightens the hair. Unlike many chemical processes, Brazilian Keratin Treatment works best on hair that’s been color processed, highlighted or chemically treated.

Unlike other types of relaxers, the treatment can be used over any kind of straightening.

“The keratin fits right on the hair’s cortex,” says Nadine Ramos of Brazilian Hair Straightening Inc. in New York’s East Village. “It works as a treatment and a straightener at the same time. It actually strengthens the hair’s cuticle.”

Ramos first heard about the treatment when she got her hair straightened four years ago by a Brazilian importer. She liked it so much, she decided to get licensed so she could provide the service to other women. She has been importing it for three years. But it’s popularity has soared this year, she says.

“Stylists see that it works and that it’s time efficient,” Ramos says.

On average, the process takes around two hours, and starts at around $150. Thermal reconditioning, on the other hand, can take five to six hours and usually costs $500 and up.

With Brazilian Keratin Treatment, a stylist applies a solution made with keratin. Using a 450-degree iron, the hairdresser seals the formula onto the outer layer of the cuticle. It sticks to the cuticle’s rough edges, trapping moisture and hydrating the hair.

Initially, the hair may seem too straight for many curlies.

“My hair was stick straight,” Frankel says. “It was beyond Marcia Brady straight. I’ve never had my hair so straight in my entire life. Personally, I didn’t like how straight it was.”

Unlike thermal reconditioning, the process washes out so the hair gets wavier over time. Another advantage over thermal reconditioning is that the hair can be curled, giving people more styling options.

“The hair has body and natural movement,” Ramos says.

The process typically lasts from six weeks to a few months — longer for color treated hair — depending on how often the hair is washed. There is no demarcation line between the treated hair and new growth.

While it is less damaging than traditional relaxers or straighteners, BKT is not without risks. The formula does contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that can irritate the eyes and lungs. Frankel said her eyes burned and she broke out in hives the first time she had it done in a poorly ventilated room.

In the October issue of Allure, they tested the chemicals used in Brazilian straightening and found they contain a much higher level of formaldehyde than is considered safe by OSHA. Safe levels are under 0.2 ppm, levels in the straightening solutions are upwards of 3 ppm. They notified the FDA of their results, and the FDA replied that they will investigate.

Kids should not be around when this service is being done. Pregnant or nursing women cannot get the treatment done.

It can cause color to fade. Frankel gets her hair colored several shades darker than she likes it before getting the treatment.

Find a stylist who is experienced with the treatment because there have been reports of damage. Go for a consultation beforehand to learn about the product and what you can expect from it.

“It’s a treatment that should be used carefully by professionals only,” says curl expert Christo. “You should see people who specialize in curly hair when you have a treatment like this.”

As with thermal reconditioning, going straight may be too drastic a change for some people with curly hair. People considering the treatment are encouraged to blow out their hair for two weeks so they can see what they’ll look like with straight locks.

“It totally straightens the hair,” says Vance. “It’s designed for people who flat iron or blowdry their hair.”

And Christo takes issue with the way the product is marketed as something to get rid of curls, as if texture is a bad thing.

“Curls are not a problem,” he says. “Curls are something people are blessed with.”

Some tips for BKT

• Use a sulfate-free shampoo on your hair at all times.
• Don’t use hair clips
• You should wear a mask and close your eyes during the blowdry with the paddle brush after the product has been applied.
• Do not use hair bands or bobby pins.
• Wait four days before going into a pool or ocean after the treatment.
• You cannot use sprays, gels or mousses for the first four days.
• For the first four days, do not exercise or sweat.

Source: wwww.sickoffrizz.com

Venus Johnston has a great job, a beautiful home, and a loving live-in boyfriend named Clint, who happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous doctor. She has a weekly beauty-parlor date with Tina, who keeps Venus’s long, processed hair slick and straight. Ever since childhood, the tedious hours in the salon and the harsh, burning chemicals have grated on Venus, and increasingly she dreams of cutting off her beautiful “good” hair. When her boyfriend keeps balking at commitment, and the thought of another hour at the salon is just too much.

This month, Thomas releases “Nappily Married” to kick off the official Nappily series. Savvy character Venus Johnston will continue her trek to hair freedom with wit, humor and non-stop truth telling.

NaturallyCurly talked to Thomas about her novels, the upcoming movie and her own hair-raising experiences.

In honor of the release of her new book, Thomas is holding a contest in celebration of natural hair. She is asking people to send in their own experiences with natural hair.

NaturallyCurly: How did you get the idea for “Nappily Ever After”?

Thomas: I started writing a non-fiction chronicle starting from the 1800s to the present and how societal changes gave way to what was acceptable and “right.” The reason I began the historical research was out of sheer anger. My daughter came home from school in tears when she was around 9 or 10 after being teased with “nappy head” comments. She had never heard that before, and I wasn’t big on putting her hair in tight greasy styles. So she already felt different. It’s a hard time for kids going to a new school in a new area, so this was traumatic. Anyway, i just couldn’t believe these same hair wars, (good hair, bad hair, ie, curly versus nappy”> were still happening from when I was a kid. I wrote the hair history and sent it out to a few publishing houses. At the time, they weren’t interested at all. So I started with the fiction side, trying to incorporate a good story. I had never written a novel but I’d always loved to read. I spent another year rewriting, and that’s how it came to be.

NC: Have you been surprised by the response to the book?

Thomas: I knew hair affected everyone on some level, but not to the point of hearing “Thank you’s for changing my life.” That’s when it hit me how truly deep and painful our hair roots go.

NC: You must be so excited that “Nappily Ever After” is being made into a movie. Tell me about the experience of turning your book into a movie.

Thomas: Seeing “Nappily Ever After” becoming a film and starring one of the biggest movie actresses of our time is surreal. It’s somewhat overwhelming, and I just do my best to not think about it or I get stuck on the cloud, floating around instead of writing, which is what pays the bills.

NC: You’ve gotten some criticism for the choice of Halle Berry as the lead. Tell me about that.

Thomas: The word ‘nappy’ is a dual-edged sword. Some think it’s a terrible word and should be banned from planet earth, then the pendulum swings all the way over to folks who believe you have to earn your ‘nappy membership card’ and it’s a privilege to use the word. I’ve been asked, “what do you know about nappy’,” as if I couldn’t possibly be allowed in the club. Once again, this goes back to the good hair, bad hair wars on the playground. The children stand around and rate each other by hair texture, creating a pecking order. The straighter hair gets you points. The coarse hair gets you teased. As adults, I don’t think this pain ever goes away. So because Halle doesn’t have the coarse grade of hair mostly associated with the word, she’s not supposed to understand. But I think she understands perfectly or she wouldn’t have spearheaded this project into existence. She’s an actress. It’s a role. But she’s also passionate about the complex relationship women have with their hair.

NC: Tell us a little about “Nappily Married.”

Thomas: Nappily Married continues the story of Venus. She’s a stay-home wife and mother, happy finally to have the man of her dreams. Until her ex comes along and offers her a dream PR job. Of course her husband doesn’t approve of her working with her ex-fiance. But Venus is too headstrong to turn down an opportunity to get back into the fold. Her ambition leads her head to head with the woman who stole her ex from her in the first place. Now she’s more than determined to get back what she’s lost, the career or the ex, — the line becomes blurred. I can’t wait to hear how people feel about the ending of this one. I got a lot of flack for ending “Nappily Ever After” the way I did so it’s going to be interesting.

NC: What are the details about your contest?

Thomas: In the opening chapter of “Nappily Married, ” Venus is back in “the chair,” about to get a relaxer put on her spiraling mane, all to fight fire with fire. She wants to be a slick-haired beauty like her nemesis. Everyone in the salon is screaming to talk her out of it because it’s such an honor to have the courage and power to go natural. No one wants to see her fall off the wagon. I just wanted to see if people could talk about their own experiences going natural.

There was a time when setting lotion was an invaluable tool in the arsenal of every hair stylist.

With the wide variety of mousses, creams, gels, waxes and pomades now on the market, setting lotion has gotten lost in the shuffle. That’s why Fritz Clay created his Hairplay Set, a line of setting lotions. These weightless foaming products provide flexible hold for all hair textures.

“Setting lotion is a classic product,” says Clay, who also owns two Hairplay salons in San Francisco.

He spent four years developing his product line, which includes four versions. The Light hold formula works best when blow-drying, flat-ironing, or when for a polished natural look. The Medium hold is for dense, frizzy, wavy/curly hair. Extra Set is for the most challenging unruly curly hair. There also is a Light Fine variety for people with fine hair. Clay also created Seal to give the hair shine without being oily and heavy.

A native of San Francisco, Clay began cutting hair in junior high school. He was inspired by his godmother, Bessie Hawkins, who was barber instructor. He would go with her to trade shows and classes, where he was fascinated by what he saw.

“I’m a look-and-learn type of guy,” Clay says. “I felt like ‘I can cut hair.’ Being the convincing Leo that I am, I started by cutting my friends’ hair, and I got better and better at it. “

By age 14, he was cutting the hair of both his friends and their moms, and had a nice little business going.

“They’d give me $5 and feed me,” Clay says. “It lasted through high school.”

Then he lost interest in it, instead spending a year in business college.

“I missed cutting hair,” he says

Sensing her godson was in a rut, Hawkins took him to lunch and introduced him to the owner of her barber college. She offered to pay for his tuition, and he signed on.

“She didn’t strong arm me, telling me it would be something good to fall back on,” he recalls. “The more involved I got, the more empowered I felt.”

Twenty years later, Clay has no intention of getting out of the hair business. After working with one of San Francisco’s most prestigious stylists, he opened his own salon 14 years ago. Hair Play now has two locations. During his career, he has built a reputation for innovative work in both the fashion and entertainment industries. Clay has worked as an educator and platform artist for such companies as KMS and Redken, and is a national award-winning stylist.

“I’ve been doing hair so long that I’ve gone through different stages—master stylist, creative director, designer, etc.,” he says. “Now I’m back to being a simple hairdresser with a lot of knowledge to give the professional and the consumer.”

From the beginning, Clay — who is biracial — has specialized in coarse, kinky and curly hair. Hair Play is a multicultural hair mecca, where stylists are equally adept at turning out a head full of dreads or a sleek blowout. When hiring new stylists, Clay says they must understand curly and kinky hair, even if they don’t work with those hair types on a regular basis. Eight of his 26 stylists are experts in these hair types.

Clay understands curly hair first hand. His own hair went from wavy to frizzy and curly when he hit puberty.

“I’ve had Toni perms and relaxers,” he says. “You name it, I’ve tried it.”

For 12 years, he had dreadlocks, cutting them off a year ago. It was when he cut his curls that he discovered the benefits of setting lotion for curls.

“I never really thought about using it to control curly hair,” Clay says. “But I found the products I was using were either oily or crunchy.”

He put setting lotion on his hair with the intention of blowing it out. But he got busy with clients. When he looked in the mirror, he was thrilled with how good his curls looked.

“It was different then I’d ever seen it,” Clay says. “I started wearing like that all the time.”

So he created his own line of setting lotions.

“I’m so proud of it,” he says. “I want to run up to people I see with curly hair and give them all bottles of Set!”

Most of us would prefer not to wash our curly locks every day. But second-day hair can be a challenge to achieve.

Don’t despair, say curl experts. With the right tools and curly hair tips, your curls can look good on the second, and even the third, day.

There are numerous reasons why we strive for second-day hair. Many of us would like to save time in the morning rather than washing and styling our hair from scratch every day. Second-day hair also can be healthier because the natural oils help keep the hair moisturized, making it softer and shinier.

But many of us wake up with a head full of frizzy, out-of-control curls. So what’s the secret?

On one thing, most everyone agrees: “Good second-day hair is only going to happen if you have good first day hair,” says Amie Zimmerman of Dirty Little Secret Salon in Portland, Ore. “Take care of it with the proper products to begin with.”

1. Comb, condition and dry

Sheila Head of Head Designs in Oakland, Calif., suggests cleansing and conditioning with your favorite product, combing the conditioner through the ends with a wide-tooth comb or with your fingers. The comb flattens your cuticle layers, which helps control the frizz and begins the creation of a uniform curl pattern.

To blot excess water, use a microfiber towel, paper towel or a t-shirt rather than a terrycloth towel.

“They take out the excess moisture, yet the fibers are more gentle,” says Betty Di Salvo of The Curl Ambassadors in Toronto, Ont.

When applying your styling product, make sure to put it on in sections, making sure the entire section is coated. Then, let it either air dry or use a hair diffuser — and don’t touch it as it dries.

“The drying process is the setting process,” Head says. “Fluffing, touching and shaking curly hair as it dries will cause it to frizz and will make the texture inconsistent.”

2. Put your hair to bed

Your night-time routine can make or break your chance at getting good second-day hair.

“It’s easy to make your curls last longer as long as you protect your chair the night before,” says Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue in New York.

Invest in a satin pillowcase which will reduce frizz-causing friction.

“At bedtime, pull your hair up in a high ponytail with a scrunchie,” suggests Mia Fanali of D. Sabrina Salon in Westport, Conn. “Don’t use an elastic band because that will leave more of an indentation.”

Christo tells his clients to put their hair into a loose French twist at night, letting the steam from the hot shower revitalize the curls while they’re up in the twist. Then undo the twist and spray on some leave-in conditioner, finishing off with a little pomade (rub a little in the palm of your hands and smooth over curls.”>

Many people swear by “the pineapple”– gathering the hair on top of the head with a scrunchie.

“It gives my 3b shoulder-length hair the best second-day hair,” says CurlTalker Laney1. “I’ve even gotten third-day hair with it. I might have to spritz a little water here and there, but that’s it.”

3. Create a good morning routine

Zimmerman suggests wrapping up the hair in at least four buns so it doesn’t flatten or break up the curls. She uses a no-tangle hair band to secure the buns, and then spritzes them lightly with water or a detangler in the morning.

“Let the curls air dry a bit and then apply some styling cream to your fingertips and twist any ringlets that have gotten puffy, separated or frizzy,” Zimmerman says.

Invest in a good refresher or curl revitalizer, such as Jessicurl Awe Inspiraling Gel, DevaCurl Set it Free or CurlFriends Rejuvenate.

“To cure bed head, mist with your favorite product, fluff with your fingertips, scrunch in a little leave-in and go!” Head says.

If the ends have separated, scrunch water into the hair before reapplying product, says Titi Branch of Miss Jessie’s Salon in Brooklyn, NY.

“I spritz it with water before I apply product each morning,” says CurlTalker Wild-Hair, who regularly gets second-, third-, fourth- and even fifth-day hair. “I then spray my hands with water too before I rub a small amount of product into them. All of these steps make it easier for the product to distribute easily. I flip over and scrunch it in, then re-wet my hands, rub in some more product, flip upright and smooth it over the canopy and scrunch some more–the “plink” method.”

If the hair has flattened during the night, turn your head upside down, place your fingers just above the ears at the headline and gently massage the scalp in short side-to-side motion until your fingers meet at the top of the head.

“This separates the curls at the root while keeping the ends together for shiny and bouncy frizz-free curls,” Branch says.

If your hair tends to look flat in the morning, Di Salvo suggests gathering your locks at the top of the head with a jaw clip while getting reading in the morning.

“Once you’re ready to leave, gently unclip and voila, you have some height back,” Di Salvo says.

4. Accessorize your hair

Hair accessories are also a handy tool in the quest for second-day hair. Invest in some pretty headbands and clips.

“My hair is very curly, so I try to wash it as little as possible,” says Allyson Velasquez, assistant manager at Marco Two Union Square, a Seattle salon. “Headbands help keep that second-day hair in place.”

Suburbanbushbabe says it has take some time develop a good second-day routine. Even then, good second-day hair is hardly a guarantee, she says.

“Some days produce better results than others,” she says. “If curls clump well the first day and stay that way morning to night, next-day hair is almost a given. Other days are disasters. It’s still evolving for me, and I still have a lot to learn.”

Curly hair tips from Curl Stylists and CurlTalkers

• Titi Branch, MIss Jessie’s Salon, Brooklyn, NY: “When the hair is dry, or there is no product being put in, you must not manipulate the ends unless you want frizz!! Keep hands, combs, and brushes away from the ends while hair is dry!”
• Mia Fanali, D. Sabrina Salon, Westport, Conn: “Less is more. People tend to use too much product on Day 2, and this could create too much weight and stickiness. Use some type of smoothing serum or gel – or a mix of the two – gently coating the outer layer of the hair with it – but just a little bit.”
• Christo, Christo Fifth Avenue, New York: “If you need an extra boost, use a spray gel like Curlisto’s Curl Replay to touch up your curls.”
• Mindi Hedges, Akada Salon, Columbus, Ohio: “Flip your head over under running water and, with fingertips, lightly massage the scalp. Allow the water to saturate the hair completely. Turn off the water and with the head upside down, scrunch and squeeze the water into the hair. Lightly blot, then flip the head up and allow to air dry or lightly diffuse.”
• Betty Di Salvo, The Curl Ambassadors, Toronto, Ont.: “All curls really benefit from using a deep conditioner. This will help locks feel and look more moisturized, allowing them to go the ‘extra mile’ on the second and third day!””
• Lazykerri, CurlTalker: “The key is to keep the frizz at bay because once it sets in, it’s here to stay.”
• Suburbanbushbabe, CurlTalker: “A real silk charmeuse pillowcase reduced hairline frizz as soon as I started using it. It mad e a big difference in how my hairline looked the next day.”
• CurlyJenn, CurlTalker: “The key for me is to put in plenty of strong-hold product on wash day, air dry and then sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase. If there’s any frizz the first day, then the second day doesn’t happen so easily.”
• Ladydancng, CurlTalker: “I can’t add any products or wet my hair the next day. For some reason, this disturbs my curls and gives me frizz.”
• Dancingbadger: “I really must fight the urge to touch my hair on wash day. I have to let it alone for at least five hours, but it’s better if I don’t touch it other than putting it up in a pineapple. I even wear my hair in a pineapple around the house and for dance class. I think my classmates think I am weird.”
• 2bforme, CurlTalker: “I have been experimenting with my own concoction which consists of water, gel and a touch of Curl Keeper.”
• Ouidad, NYC Curl Expert “Since curly hair is more dehydrated, since it’s very thin, it is essential to use deep treatments on a regular basis (every two weeks.”> When you use a deep treatment, the internal molecular layers all connect, giving your hair its own pulse and pliability.”
• Wild-Hair, CurlTalker. “I don’t touch my hair at all until it’s completely dry. There are many wash days where I wait five or six hours for it to dry. But I don’t mind because I know it’ll mean a whole week of good hair if I don’t mess it up!”
• Banjocurl, Curltalker: “I generally do my hair at night so I always have second-day hair. I find that sleeping with my hair plopped when it is slightly damp gives me amazing curls in the morning.”
• Miacurl, CurlTalker; “I always lay the length of my hair over the back of the pillow so it does not get messed up so much during the night.”
• DominicanaHeat, CurlTalker: “My trick is using extra gel the day I wash my hair, and I do not scrunch out the crunch. I leave my hair alone, sleep on satin with my hair spread above me, and by morning the crunch is gone and my curls are still intact.”

As any parent who has endured it will tell you, banishing lice from a child’s head can be a long, frustrating endeavor.

It can take multiple treatments – slathering on smelly shampoos and painstakingly combing the nits and lice out of the hair – to get rid them.

Even then, a few pesky creatures may still make an appearance.

With over 12 million cases of head lice a year, entrepreneur Maria Botham saw a need for professional nitpickers.

“I thought if I could come up with a methodology that works, I could have a successful business,” says Botham.

With that in mind, she created Hair Fairies, full-service salons dedicated to removing head lice in a kid-friendly, fun environment. The first Hair Fairies opened eight years ago. There now are three salons in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Manhattan. Two more are opening soon in San Diego and Chicago, and there are plans to open franchises around the country.

“We kind of want to be the Starbucks of head lice,”Botham says.

Head lice is one of the most common – and most dreaded – issues for children and their parents. Lice spread from one child’s head to the other through contact with an infested person’s clothing, brushes or other belongings. Children with lice may have an itchy scalp, and may feel a sensation like something is moving in their hair. They may also have red sores on their scalp caused by scratching.

Lice make their home in human hair, nourishing themselves with blood from the scalp, holding onto the hair with hook-like claws found at the end of their six legs. The average number of lice on a child’s head is about 10. In addition, there usually are hundreds of tiny eggs, called nits, that cling to the hair shaft.

“Getting rid of them is a manual, laborious removal process,” explains Hair Fairies CEO Botham, who is based in Hollywood, Calif. “When you’re infested, you might be able to get 80 percent of the them, but getting the last 20 percent can be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Many current treatments contain the same harsh chemicals found in products like Raid Yard Guard and Black Flag Flea Ender.

There is evidence that permethrin and pyrethrin, found in Nix and Rid, can trigger asthma and other respiratory problems. Some of the prescription lice products contain strong chemicals like Malathion, a harmful neurotoxin, and Lindane, a carcinogen that has been banned in California.

“It’s not like you can come up with something more toxic,” says Botham.

The problem has only become more difficult as lice have increasingly become resistant to the pesticides (pyrethrin/permethrin”> that have been used for the last 20 years in head lice shampoos. Scientists at the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in Cardiff, UK discovered four out of five lice were resistant to the chemicals. And many are ineffective against the eggs, which is why it can be so difficult to get rid of lice.

Hair Fairies uses a three-step process.

During the first step, specially trained “Hair Fairies” manually screen hair for nits and lice. They will often screen the entire family because it is common for more than one family member to be infested.

If nits and lice are found, the next step is nit-picking. The Hair Fairies manually remove the parasites using patented combs and rinses.

Finally, the non-toxic treatment is applied that inhibits breeding. A non-toxic, organic shampoo is used to damage the nervous system of the bugs and loosen the glue that attaches the nits to the hair.

Curly hair presents its own challenges. There is more hair to comb through, and it’s more difficult to part.

“Someone with curly hair is more difficult to treat, and you have to make sure you use more product,” Botham says.

The Hair Fairies all wear scrubs and bandanas, spending an hour or two on each child. To make the process fun, the salons have plenty of things to keep the child and parents entertained.

The cost of treatments at Hair Fairies is $300, which includes three treatments over a week and a half. A non-profit arm of her company offers the treatments to under-served families. The treatments are 100 percent guaranteed, and she says some insurance companies cover the cost.

Since nitpicking is only a part of the equation, Hair Fairies also sells its own line of patented combs, non-toxic shampoos and rinses. The line includes Nit-Zaping Eucalyptus Laundry Additive and and Nit-Zapping Lice repellant Spray, an environmental spray. The products work by damaging the nervous system of the bug and by loosening the glue inside their eggs.

“Once you’re lice free, these products can help protect you,” Botham says.

Botham says her salons have treated thousands of heads over the past seven years. And she feels like she’s having an impact on people’s lives.

“Lice is the No. 1 reason why kids miss school and adults miss work,” she says. “It’s a huge educational problem in public schools.”

Botham worries that people have a false sense of security about current traditional treatments. People often use the products and send their children right back to school, only to get another call from the school because more lice have been discovered.

By the time some parents come to Hair Fairies, she says, they may be frantic and frustrated.

“The most important thing is to break the stigma and to make everyone feel comfortable,” Botham says. “We need to calm them down, and we need to educate them. And then we need to remove the head lice. Hair Fairies have a lot to do.”

---

Debunking Myths: Lice Facts

• You can not “catch nits.” Nits must be laid by live lice.
• Head lice are crawling insects. They cannot hop, jump or fly.
• Head lice cannot live in furniture, clothing or bed sheets.
• Head lice are small wingless insects which feed on human blood. They need human blood in order to survive.
• Head lice do not thrive on pets
• Getting lice isn’t a cleanliness issue.

Source: Hair Fairies

Curly-headed stylist Victor Sabino believes silicones have gotten a bad rap. “There are all kinds of misconceptions that all silicones dry out the hair, and it’s not true,” says Sabino of the Sabino Salon in Scottsdale, Ariz. and creator of the Sabino line of hair-care products. “It frustrates me every time I hear stories.”

Sabino believes silicones actually can help the hair by serving as a barrier against damage from appliances and the elements while keeping out frizz-causing moisture in the air. His line of products is designed to protect the hair from all forms of external moisture and humidity while maintaining the right internal moisture content.

“I’ve found through testing that it does no damage to the hair, and I’ve seen dramatic improvements. I’ve seen damage reduced,” Sabino says.

Moisture Block, aimed primarily at the curly-haired market, uses two different dimethicone polymers in a non-water-soluble formulation to create a moisture barrier. It is designed to keep humidity from penetrating and keeping it smooth, shiny and manageable without frizzies.

Another misconception about silicones is that they build up on the hair. While that may be true with lower-quality silicones, which often are mixed with other ingredients, he says his formulation contain “the highest grade of silicones that money can buy” and does not cause build up. He calls his products shampoo soluble, not water soluble.

“Once it’s applied to the hair, it surrounds the hair shaft and holds to it until it’s shampooed out,” he says.

Victor Sabino created Sabino hair products.

Sabino is no newcomer to the hair-care industry. He has been a stylist for more than 35 years, founding OGGI International of Beverly Hill, known for its Root Lift volumizer. His company was one of the first to design spray leave-in conditioners. While working at his salons in California, he was a “stylist to the stars,” working with such celebs as Meg Ryan and Sylvester Stallone. He has appeared in such magazines as Vogue, Elle, Brides and Cosmopolitan.

Sabino considers the creation of Moisture Block to be one of his greatest triumphs. He says he developed the product because of his own frustrations with what was on the market for people with curly hair. He worked with a chemist to come up with the formulation and tested it on more than 500 women, traveling to humid places such as Hawaii and Louisiana. He says it held up against every possible condition. It took him a year and a half to develop the product.

Moisture, he says, is the single most important factor in determining the way your hair looks. Problems arise when the hair has either too much or too little moisture. In high-humidity climates, when the moisture level rises above 11 percent, curly hair can get frizzy and unmanageable. Too little moisture, on the other hand, can make the hair look and feel like straw.

Sabino’s popular Moisture Block uses a blend of polymers to form a moisture barrier on the surface of the hair, reducing the rate at which water moves into or out of the hair follicle. Too often, he says, conditioners can’t do what they need to do because they don’t stay in the hair.

‘Moisture Block seals it in so it can’t leave the hair,” he says. “It’s like putting a clear coating over a patch so it plugs it up.”

To bring out natural curls, Sabino suggests applying Moisture Block in one-inch sections and twisting them, letting them dry naturally or drying them with a diffuser. To straighten curls, apply Moisture Block to wet hair and dry it with a vent brush and apply more with your fingers and brush through. If you use a flat iron, Moisture Block liquifies when heated which allows it to spread evenly through the sections.

For summer, he suggests applying Moisture Block before going swimming to prevent chlorine damage. It can also be used on the skin to soften feet, hands and elbows; to reduce lines around the eyes; to prevent bumps after waxing and to prevent peeling after a sunburn.

Sabino’s hair-care line also includes the Volumize, which creates volume lift and body, and the Finisher, a non-sticky, soft-hold hair spray. Like Moisture Block, they are water proof.

“We have a very loyal following for these products,” Sabino says. “So many people are hooked. They beg me ‘Never stop making it!’ One client calls it ‘the magic stuff.’ “

Stylist Nick Arrojo doesn’t believe in “curl-only” specialists.

“Good hairdressers can do everything,” says Arrojo, who has curly hair himself. “I believe I should be able to make anybody look good.”

He has been doing just that throughout his career as a stylist and on TLC’s “What Not To Wear” makeover television show where he serves as one of the show’s “style gurus.”

He grew up in England, beginning his career in Manchester at Vidal Sassoon and then with the Wella team. His work caught the attention of Bumble & Bumble in 1994, and he took the post of director of education at the company’s New York salon. Three years later, he teamed up with stylist Rodney Cutler with the Arrojo Cutler Salon and Arrojo became global master for Aveda.

In September 2001, he realized his life-long dream of opening his own salon, the Arrojo Studio, where he works on such clients as Minnie Driver, Liev Schreiber and supermodel Melissa Keller. He regularly is featured in magazines such as Elle, Allure and Jane. He was selected as a judge for the Elite Model competition.

Arrojo is a big proponent of letting your hair do what it wants to do naturally.

“It’s better than trying to make it something it’s not,” he says. “Whenever I’m thinking about a style for a person, I’m thinking about what their hair is telling me to do. If you work with your natural texture, you’ll get the best results.”

Today’s culture is definitely more curl friendly, Arrojo says. When he came to New York in 1994, nobody was wearing their hair curly. Everybody wanted straight, silky hair. But in today’s increasingly diverse culture, texture is much more accepted.

“More people are enjoying working with natural curl,” he says. “There is much more natural hair around then there was 10 years ago. People are much more confident sharing their uniqueness rather than being someone they’re not. It’s better for everybody. Curly is beautiful.”

It’s an attitude he brings to “What Not to Wear.” While many makeover shows think curly hair is something to be fixed, straightening every ringlet and kink, Arrojo often works with the person’s natural texture. Even when he straightens a curly girl’s hair, he gives a cut that is versatile enough to be worn straight or curly.

“Most of the curlies on the show are amazed at how easy it can be, and how good their hair can look,” Arrojo says.

Arrojo says his work on the show is incredibly rewarding . He has been a part of dramatic transformations that have changed lives. He especially enjoys the moment when he spins the chair around and the person sees the new look for the first time.

“When they first see themselves, it’s a shock,” he says. “Then you slowly see the winds of change appearing — you can see their confidence level and perception change. It’s absolutely awesome.”

The day before we spoke with him, Arrojo had done a makeover on a woman who had never had a haircut.

“She went from plain to sexy,” he says. “If I can enable someone to have a better look, I feel like I’ve achieved a great deal.”

Arrojo says he’s given total freedom to create a look for the people who appear on the show. They come to him after they’ve spent two days with fashion experts Clinton Kelly and Stacy London, who give them a style makeover. It’s up to Arrojo and makeup artist Carmindy to complete the “magic.” He feels his work on the show is one of the most crucial elements because “you can’t take the haircut off.”

“It’s much more of your identity,” he says.

One of the most rewarding parts of the show is the feedback he gets from hairdressers, who enjoy watching how he communicates his ideas. Good communication between the stylist and the client is crucial when it comes to a good haircut. A client may want a style that’s not going to work with their hair type. A stylist needs the confidence to know what they can and can’t achieve, and must know how to get that message across to the client.

That may be especially true with curly hair, because working with curls is different than working with straight hair. Curly hair expands, while straight hair tends to fall. The cut needs to be more technical, he says. But then it must be cut visually.

When Arrojo was trained to cut hair, he says he wasn’t allowed to use styling products, and he has integrated that into the way he cuts hair today. The hair is cut wet and allowed to dry, doing it what it naturally wanted to do. Then, the hair is re-rinsed and reset.

When he designed his new Arrojo product line, he says he designed it with his own fine curls, as well as his wife’s curls, in mind. The line includes a Styling Creme, Curl Creme, Defrizz Serum and Volume Foam. For definition, he recommends the Curl Creme. For finer curls, the Styling Creme and Volume Foam provide thickness and volume. He recommends the Serum for those who straighten their curls. His Daily Conditioner is a good leave-in product.

“With the Styling Creme, Curl Creme and Conditioner, you have something for every type of curl,” he says. “You can layer the products depending on what you need.”

In addition to developing his own products, Arrojo is branching out into other areas as well. He is working on a book that will come out in fall 2008 called “Great Hair,” which will be loaded with useful information on how to work with your hair to make it look its best — from the cut to the care. He says it will have a lot of great information about curls.

“It’s all about how to look at yourself so you can always have great hair,” Arrojo says.

---

Nick’s Mane Advice

Don’t Get Obsessed About What Cut is Right for Your Face Shape: It doesn’t matter unless our shape is crystal clear.

Don’t Fight Nature: The further away you are from what’s natural, the harder it will be to make your hair look good.

Determine if You’ve Got a Good Cut or Not: How do you do that? Ask yourself two questions. One, did my cut last for a minimum of four weeks? Has anyone told me my hair looks great? If the answer is no to both questions, start looking for a new hairdresser or discuss the situation with the current stylist.

Length Matters: Anything below your shoulders won’t change your face shape.

Don’t Wear Your Hair Too Long if it’s Fine: You’ll only play into the fineness, the longer it is, the thinner it will feel.

Avoid a Center Part: You don’t want a strong line on your scalp. Anything symmetrical will highlight the asymmetry in your face. Do an asymmetrical side part or a zig-zag part.

If You Have Curly Hair You Can Have Bangs: Go for longer ones that caress your face and fall around your eyes to create to create more romance. Don’t straighten your bands and leave the rest of your hair curly. Mixing textures is the worst.

— From “Beautified” by Kyan Douglas

Curls and waves need special attention. Too much air power can make them dull and frizzy.

That’s why Conair developed the new Curl Fusion Ionic Styler. This special dryer is designed to gently diffuse each curl with 1800 watts of power, using the latest ceramic ionic technology.

For people with curls and kinks, a diffuser is an invaluable tool in their arsenal. Diffusers allow gentle heat to speed up the drying process without the wind of a blow-dryer. Although there have been diffusers on the market for years, there has been little change to their design over the past few decades.

Conair’s new Curl Fusion is part of a new generation of dryer-diffuser combinations especially designed for curly hair. Conair research shows that 70 percent of people have naturally curly or wavy hair.

“We wanted to develop a product that would bring out that natural texture and make it easier to work with,” Heller says.

Heller says a different version of the dryer was on the market 20 years ago. As curls have come to the forefront, Conair decided to revamp the dryer, cranking up the wattage and using the benefit of the newer ceramic ionic technology. This technology works by evening out heat and neutralizing the positive charges that cause static and flyaways.

A volume lift attachment was created to help lift the hair at the root and directs the air flow to the root. She said this helps prevent “pyramid head.”

“You get the benefits of diffused air along with ionic ionic technology, which seals and smoothes the cuticle,” says Paulette Heller, director of marketing for Conair. “It helps prevent frizziness while maintaining the curl.”

A decade ago, Heller said the trend was to straighten out curls — blowing them out or smoothing them with a flat iron. But a growing number of people with curls now want to embrace, rather than fight, their natural texture.

“There’s much more acceptance of natural texture,” says Heller, who wears her own hair curly everyday. “Curl Fusion gives you the versatility of wearing it naturally curly rather than blowing it straight.”

Readers of magazines like Glamour and Vogue can’t miss the three-page ad for John Paul Mitchell Systems — dramatic photos by world-famous portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz of company founder John Paul DeJoria and his wife, Eloise, and his son John Anthony, set against the rugged California coastline.

The most notable thing about the ad is the absence of any mention of the company’s hair-care products. Instead, the multimillion-dollar ad campaign — printed on recycled paper at a cost substantially greater than a standard ad — sells a different message: “Join together to preserve our natural resources, protect our animals and ensure the rights of all people.”

“We’re the first hair-care company that ever ran a major ad campaign that talks about changing the world for the better, fighting injustice, and we have 200,000 hairstylists working on this campaign with us,” says the JPMS CEO “We do it because we can actually make a difference.”

DeJoria, and his company, have donated countless hours of time and millions of dollars to environmental causes all around the world.

“Corporations can and should change the world for the better,” he says. “We have the perspective needed to leave the world a better place for our having been there.”

He is not alone in his quest to protect the planet. A growing number of beauty companies have made it their mission to be environmentally stewards.

“Aveda believes in conducting business in a manner that protects the Earth, conserves resources and does not compromise the ability of future generations to sustain themselves,” says Dominique Conseil, president of Aveda.

Aveda does its manufacturing at its primary plant with 100 percent certified wind power — an industry first. The company uses renewable, sustainable or organic, plant-based ingredients and non-petroleum mineral ingredients in its products. Stores and studios are built with environmentally friendly materials like bamboo and agriboard countertop.

Last year, Aveda and fashion designer Deborah Milner launched an “ecoture” fashion collection — a sophisticated line of sustainably crafted couture. Each dress in the collection had a story and lesson for sustainability.

Innersense Organic Beauty, a California-based hair-care company, is a certified green company. The company also has made a commitment to work with other green companies, including a green printer who uses recycled materials and environmentally friendly inks.

“We’re committed to protecting the environment,” says Judie Maginn, co-founder of Innersense. “We just feel it’s everybody’s responsibility to take care of the planet. Everybody has the ability to either impact the environment positively or negatively.”

While many companies are just now jumping on the green bandwagon, DeJoria’s passion for the earth began early. While growing up in Los Angeles, he was surrounded by cement.

“Our little gang hung out by a tree in a vacant lot,” recalls DeJoria. “It was a special tree for us. Nobody was allowed to carve out their initials in that tree. No matter how poor we were, we always had a little garden.”

DeJoria and other inner-city youth were sent to the a camp in the mountains to experience the wilderness — an experience that stuck with the entrepreneur throughout his life.

“I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” he says. “When I was growing up, a lot of us wanted to change the world. But we didn’t have the money or the influence to do it. Well, now we do.”

DeJoria’s commitment to the environment starts at the Beverly Hills corporate headquarters, where everybody gets a free lunch if they bring their own utensils, and they get free gas if they carpool. Recycled plastic, unbleached recycled paper and soy-based ink are used in product packaging whenever possible. The company harvests the organic awapuhi (a kind of ginger that helps soften and add shine to hair”>, used in Paul Mitchell products, without depleting natural resources. JPMS also uses giant solar panels to generate electricity for the company’s Hawaiian awapuhi farm.

DeJoria estimates the pollution caused by every step of the production process of his company’s 16-product Tea Tree line — “from the picking of the leaves to the boiling, bottling and transportation,” and then he offsets its climate-changing carbon-dioxide output by paying for trees to be planted where they’re needed through the organization American Forests. American Forests is an international non-profit that preserves and grows a healthier environment with trees. JMPS Tea Tree products will also fund American Forests Global ReLeaf and Wildfire ReLeaf programs to further preserve our natural resources at home and abroad.

“We’re doing studies to see if we can reduce the carbon footprint of our entire line of products,” DeJoria adds.

DeJoria’s efforts don’t stop there.

His Malibu home, as well as his home in Hawaii, run on solar power. He had a special motorcycle built by Victory that runs on ethanol — and his Patron Tequila. He financed and drove the “Mana La,” a solar-powered car, in the first international solar-powered cross-continental race in Australia in 1987.

His dedication to finding alternative energy sources that earned him an invitation to the Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations, as well as, numerous special events with several presidents of the United States. Some of his projects include helping to fund the world’s first environmentally friendly oil refinery in Tunisia and transforming the demilitarized zone in Korea into an ecopreserve. Some of his projects include helping to fund the world’s first environmentally friendly oil refinery in Tunisia and transforming the demilitarized zone in Korea into an ecopreserve.

DeJoria joined forces with The Big Blue Foundation and The Humane Society to produce a two-minute public service announcement with a cruelty-free message, entitled “Ebudae”, that ran in movie theaters nationwide. DeJoria was named special emissary to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP”>. With UNEP, he helped arrange a peaceful meeting between the Ogoni people of Southern Nigeria and Shell Oil, in order to clean up serious oil problems in that country. During a recent trip to North Korea, DeJoria initiated a program to convert the Korean Demilitarized Zone into an ecological zone once reunification takes place. DeJoria is also as passionate about animal welfare. He’s donated thousands of dollars to Los Angeles’ California Wildlife Center, which rescues and rehabilitates injured or orphaned wild animals.

DeJoria makes contributions to, and works on projects with, a number of organizations including: Waterkeeper Alliance, the Sovereign Dine’ Nation Weaving Collective, The AIDS Relief Fund for Beauty Professionals, Rescue Missions for the Homeless, The Earth Communications Office and The Rainforest Foundation among others. He donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Mirador Basin in Guatemala, buying up and saving hundreds of thousands of acres of jungle rainforest. He helped save 6 million acres of Elk River rainforest from clear cutting.

“I sent them money for lobbyists, money for campaigns and personally got on the phone and called aides to Senators who were passing the bill to destroy it all,” DeJoria says.

As part of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he traveled with his daughter, Alexis, to the Bay of St. Lawrence, standing on an iceberg to protect baby harp seals from hunters until they were mature enough to go into the sea.

“Were were there for a week and we broadcast it on Canadian radio,” DeJoria says. “Not one ship came within 10 miles of us, and we estimate we saved 100,000 baby harp seals from being clubbed.”

DeJoria has been a recipient of awards from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA”> and the Anti-Vivisection Society for pioneering the first major line of salon products not tested on animals. DeJoria also gave PETA a grant to produce an album entitled “Tame Yourself” and backed producer Jolie Jones in the production of “Take it Back,” an environmental public service campaign.

DeJoria believes high-profile people like he can help influence the younger generation, and can help them take action.

“Now you have an army of influence,” DeJoria says. “Now it’s fashionable for today’s youth to get involved in the cause.”

There is no time to waste, DeJoria stresses.

“The damage to the environment is greater than it’s been since a meteor knocked out the dinosaurs,” he says.

In the 1993 movie “Danger Island, secret agent Mr. Moto utters the famous phrase: “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity.”

People with wavy, curly and kinky hair know all too well the power of a humid or rainy day.

“It’s all about the weather,” says Redken artist Omar Sassin of the Omar Sassin Salon in Tampa, Fla. “Weather has an immediate effect on the hair – especially humidity.”

Humidity is defined as the ratio of vapor pressure of water in the hair. In high humidity, hair will absorb moisture from the air. Humidity has a truth-serum effect on the hair.

“It brings out the true qualities of your hair,” says Jesse Linares, a Redken artist at Studio Gaven in Nashville, Tenn. “The higher the humidity, the more the hair will want to revert to its natural state.”

While fine hair goes limp, coarse, curly hair can become curlier – and frizzier. The moisture in the air reacts with the hydrogen bonds in each strand of hair. And because naturally curly hair tends to be more porous, humidity can be especially challenging for curly girls and guys.

“Humid weather is one of the most challenging elements for people with curly hair,” says Tim Cowan, a national artist with Redken and owner of Image One Salon in Springfield, Mo. “With the right products and the right strategy, it will set you up for good hair days every day.”

The style should be designed to work with natural texture rather than fighting it. That way, it will look good no matter what weather conditions you face.

“If it’s humid, play to your natural strengths,” Sassin says. “The quickest way to draw attention to yourself is to try to get your hair to go in a direction it doesn’t want to go in. It becomes painfully obvious.”

Those with thick, curly hair may want to choose a cut that is longer during humid summer months. Length helps create more weight on the hair strands, which helps prevent excessive shrinkage.

“It comes to how much volume you want,” Linares says.

Keep your hair well-conditioned and -moisturized. A wet sponge absorbs less water. Deep condition at least once every two weeks with a product like Redken Smooth Down Butter Treat or Redken All Soft Heavy Cream. If your hair is dry and damaged, a product such as Redken Extreme Rescue Force can help repair damage and strengthen the hair.

And if your hair needs extra attention, go to your local Redken salon for a conditioning treatment with the Redken Chemistry System. Shots are blended to create customized formulas that address hair’s individual needs, such as color protection, strength, softness or anti-frizz.

A good leave-in conditioner, such as Redken Fresh Curls Curl Refiner or Smooth Down Detangling Cream, helps moisturize the hair. It also coats the hair, which cuts down on frizz throughout the day.

When it comes to styling products, opt for products that smooth and enhanc curls, such as Fresh Curls Spring Mousse.

“Because curly hair isn’t always evenly curled, some individual hairs may escape from a lock of hair, making it look fuzzy,” Cowan explains. “A product like Spring Mousse helps keep it in a clump. Ten hairs together make a curl; ten hairs apart is frizz.”

Anti-frizz products are a must. These products help enhance shine and lock in moisture, making it less susceptible to frizz. Sassin is a big fan of Fresh Curls Anti-Frizz Shiner, whether you’re going for a curly or a straight look. It blocks humidity for all-day frizz control and shiny curl perfection.

“I would love it if they sold it in a gallon size!” Sassin says.

For especially unruly curls, Cowan likes the combination of Redken Ringlet and Redken Crystal Curls, which are a little bit heavier. He puts the Ringlet on first, finishing it off with Crystal Curls.

If you’re going for a straighter, smoother look, use products that protect the hair from heat styling and resist humidity. Cowan recommends Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide, which contains macadamia nut oil and candelilla wax to provide heat-safe control. He also likes Redken Align, which is a protective balm that conditions while resisting humidity.

“They help straighten the hair, and keep it straight,” Cowan says.

Hot, dry weather poses its own special challenges for curls and kinks, as anyone who has spent a summer in Arizona has experienced. The curls may lose their shape and the hair may get very flat. In addition, the low humidity may dehydrate curly hair since curls and kinks tend to be drier naturally.

For dry climates, Sassin recommends using a shampoo like Fresh curls Shampoo and Conditioner. He is a big fan of Fresh Curls Curl Boost to keep curls looking luscious.

“With Curl boost, we can seal in as much humidity as possible, even in the driest weather,” Sassin says. “That helps the curls maintain their shape.”

To keep the curls looking their best, he likes finishing off with a hairspray such as Redken Forceful. If your curls need a pick-me-up during the day, Linares suggests Redken Fresh Curls Spring Mousse, which can be scrunched into dry hair.

Make sure you’re protecting your hair from the sun during the intense summer months. The Redken UV collection, including new Shimmering Defense daily care protective lotion, contain UV filters to deflect and protect the hair.

“Make sure you’re protecting your hair on a deeper level,” Linares says.

---

Tips

• Work with your hair’s texture. High-humidity days are not the ones to go against your hair’s natural gain.

• Wear your hair longer during humid months. The extra weight of the hair will keep it from getting puffy.

• Leave-in conditioners can help keep the hair moisturized, keeping frizz at bay. Try Fresh Curls Curl Refiner.

• Use styling aids designed to resist humidity. Many people find that product cocktails can help you customize your styling aids to meet the needs of the day. Try layering Redken Fresh Curls Anti-Frizz Shiner with Fresh Curls Spring Mousse for defined, humidity-resistant curls. Or try Ringlet layered with Redken Rough Paste.

• In dry climates, use products that encourage the curl, such as Redken Fresh Curls Curl Boost.

• Hair spray can be your friend. After styling your hair, spray on some non-sticky hairspray. It will act as a barrier, making it tougher for moisture to be absorbed. Try Redken Forceful or Redken Workforce.

• Always have a Plan B. Keep pretty headbands and clips in your purse to put your hair up or back.

When Kechi launched Long Lovely Locks two years ago, she thought she could do it as a part-time endeavor.

But demand far exceeded her expectations, and she quickly found herself overwhelmed trying to juggle a full-time day job and her growing hair-care company. She would get home from work, and try to find time to make the products and process the orders. She found it difficult to keep up with the demand.

“I wasn’t 100 percent business savvy,” Kechi concedes. “I went through a lot of growing pains, and I’ve learned from them.”

In February, she quit her job to devote her full time to Long Lovely Locks.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Kechi says. “But I realized that a lot of people really use and depend on my products. It wasn’t really just about me anymore. It was worth giving it 100 percent.”

She is using the many lessons she has learned — some painful — to make Long Lovely Locks better company. The products have all been repackaged, and she now sells larger sizes of best sellers such as Coco Light. Kechi knows that some customers got frustrated in the past, and she has vowed to make customer service her No. 1 focus. Her turnaround time now is less than a week, she says.

While she has has made adjustments to enable the company to grow, Kechi says she still makes the products in small batches, using the best natural ingredients.

And her vision for Long Lovely Locks remains the same — to gather ingredients that are good for the hair and use them to create unique products for people with curly and kinky hair. As a part of the company’s new direction, Agbasi says the ingredients for each product will be posted on her web site.

Long Lovely Locks was created when Kechi saw a picture of the back of her head, and was shocked at her hair’s damaged condition. She vowed to change the condition of her hair and began taking a closer look at the products she as using. She saw they were loaded with chemicals, and decided to concoct her own using her knowledge of aromatherapy, essential oils and other natural ingredients.

Her line quickly grew to 25 adult products and seven Lovely Child products. Such products as Coco Light, Curly Custard and Curls de Light developed a large following among women with a variety of curl types.

“I’m hoping people will give us another chance,” Kechi says. “I want people to know we’re here and we’re doing it full time, and we have a lot of new exciting products in the works.”

Selected Long Lovely Locks products are available in CurlMart

Many of us desire shiny waves and curls. But most of us probably don’t know why hair shines, or why it doesn’t. The answer is more complicated than one would think.

Each hair has a cuticle, which acts as a mirror that reflects a certain ratio of light—the higher the number of layers, the higher the ratio of the reflected light and the more intense the shine.

Shine is perceived in two parts: the Chroma-Band, which reveals the color within the hair shaft, and the Shine-Band, which is a pure reflection of the light off of the hair’s protective coating.

“The physics of hair shine really is the reflection of light not just off the cuticle but through your cuticle,” explains Dianna Kenneally, a principal scientist at P&G Beauty (a division of Procter & Gamble”>. “The light actually goes through the cuticle, absorbs the color of your hair and comes back.

But making your curls shine may be a challenge because factors such as the structure of the hair, sebum buildup, styling products, damage from heat or chemicals, dirt and pollution all can interfere with shine.

“If you have layers of materials, it interferes with the ability of light to go through the hair shaft,” Kenneally says. “If the hair shaft is damaged and the cuticle is roughened, light won’t reflect back strongly. It’s diffuse.”

The right style and color also can enhance shine.

“For maximum shine, hair must all be going in the same direction,” she says. “Defined curls give you more shine than a lot of little curls because of the nature of the way your eye sees shine.”

To achieve this with curly or wavy hair, she suggests styling the hair in sections to create bigger curls.

A good color treatment also can enhance shine because it intensifies the color inside the cortex of the hair. When the light comes in and reflects back out, you see the shine more intensely. The darker the color, the more intense the Shine-Bands.

“That’s why black hair looks so shiny,” Kenneally says. “It’s because the contrast between the Chroma-Band and the color is so intense.”

Anything that helps protect the cuticle and encourages it to lay down will enhance shine, Kenneally says.

Fatty alcohols—moisturizing alcohols—actually protect the cuticle and keep it intact, she says.

Kenneally also is a big fan of silicones, which lay on the top layer of the hair to keep the moisture in. Silicones have been a hot-button item for people in the curly world, but Kenneally believes they are one of the most powerful tools to enhance shine.

“Farmers use this technique in arid areas, putting edible oils in their ponds to prevent them from drying up,” she says.

Silicones also reduce friction, protecting the hair from damage caused by heat appliances and brushing. Silicones are most effective in conditioners and styling products, she says.

But silicones must be used in moderation because overuse can make the hair sticky and heavy and may cause buildup, which dulls the hair. Many hair experts suggest using water-soluble silicones, which can be rinsed away without having to use harsh sulfates.

According to a recent study, there is actually a scientific reason why we are attracted to shiny hair.

The International Congress and Symposium Series last year published “Assessment of Hair Quality Using Eye-Tracking Technology,” sponsored by an educational grant from P&G Beauty. People were shown photos of people with different types of hair (messy, frizzy, straight, curly, etc.”> and a laser—developed for fighter jet pilots—tracked how much time they spent looking at different elements on the computer screen.

“What we found is that when people had shiny hair, the eyes would look at the shine band and then would move on to the face,” Kenneally says. “When people had dull, frizzy hair, a lot of time was spent looking at the frizzy elements. It was distracting. If you’ve got frizzy, messy hair, it can distract from your face.”

How to Maximize Shine

Nurture by Nature

Trade harsh, plastic brushes for natural boar bristle or softer synthetic bristle brushes. The natural brush fibers are less likely to break the hair shaft.

Give Heat the Cold Shoulder

Most damage stylists see on a daily basis comes from the overuse of heat-styling tools, including curling and flat irons. Heat breaks down the hair’s natural barriers, which can result in a dull appearance. Check your blow dryers to see if they are too hot. Old hair dryers may have blocked vents, which could raise heat too high.

Bottoms Up to Fatty Alcohols

Fatty alcohols are found in many of today’s moisturizers and conditioners, and are good for hair. A common misconception is that all alchohols are drying to the hair. Fatty alcohols are conditioners (look for cetyl alcohol or stearyl alcohol on the ingredient listing”>, and are critical as they help create a lubricious film over the surface of the hair. This creates smooth cuticles for easier combing, protecting the cuticle from damage and enhancing shine.

Don’t Sleep on It

Hair breakage can be a rude awakening! Many women go to sleep with their hair in ponytails or braids, but the pressure and tension on some of the hair strands may be enough to create breakage in those areas, especially the area around the band. This can disrupt shine on the hair’s surface. Sleep on a satin pillowcase to reduce friction.

Rembrandt to the Rescue

If you have damaged your hair to the point that makes natural shine tough to revive in the short term, you can get inspiration from the Dutch masters who used a “highlighting” technique to create the illusion of shine when painting the satin of a lady’s dress. This artist’s technique is the origin of hair-color highlights. A few well-placed highlights can provide dimension to otherwise dull hair.

Silicones can be Your Friend

Silicones can be an important conditioning ingredient that makes the hair smooth, soft and shiny. However, not all silicones are created equal. The newer Amino-Silicones (Amodimethicone”> have an amine group at the end of the silicone chain that allows it to better adhere to damaged hair. Some are able to provide conditioning benefits that last through several shampoos and work well as a weekly treatment for color-treated hair. But overuse of silicones can cause buildup over time, which can make the hair dull.

When Gregory Starkman and Judie Maginn decided to create an organic beauty company, they drew on more than 40 years of combined experience in the hair-care industry along with a passion for developing safer, toxin-free products.

The result is Innersense Organic Beauty, an 18-month-old company dedicated to providing consumers with gentle, yet effective products for their hair and body while sharing organic philosophies and practices to live healthier lives.

A recent study by the Environmental Working Group shows that women use an average of nine personal-care products each day, exposing themselves to 126 unique chemical ingredients. And 25 percent of women use 15 or more products daily.

“We were surprised by these numbers,” says Maginn. “Our goal was to formulate products that were as gentle as possible for those consumers who are seeking healthier alternatives. We strived to take out all harsh, irritating ingredients and replace them with gentle, organic ingredients — creating concentrated, yet mild formulas.”

Although the Europen Union has banned more than 1,000 ingredients, only two dozen ingredients have been banned in the United States, Maginn says. All Innersense products have been developed to comply with Europe’s stricter regulations, she says.

The founders of Innersense traveled different roads to the beauty industry. Starkman grew up with a mother and uncle who were beauty professionals. As a teenager, he got an early start filling beauty products for his mother’s cosmetic line, which she sold at her Beverly Hills Salon. Over the course of his career, he worked for hair-care companies such as Joico International, Helene Curtis and Nioxin, most recently serving as president of the Institute of Trichology.

Maginn, the oldest of eight children, grew up cutting or styling the hair of friends and relatives. After high school, she decided to attend Barber College against the wishes of her friends and family. Her success led her to get her cosmetology license and begin a career as a stylist. While working in salons, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Information Systems, later getting her MBA in marketing from DePaul University. She has worked at companies such as Helene Curtis, Redken and Matrix, spearheading some of the companies’ most successful product launches.

Their paths first crossed at Innovative Styling Options (ISO”> in the early 1990s, where Starkman was director of sales and Maginn was director of marketing. Even after they went on to other companies, they kept in touch through industry events.

They discussed the idea of creating an organic hair-care company on and off for years, even as their jobs took them to different cities. Then, through serendipity, they both ended up in California and decided to make their idea a reality with the help of angel investors and a dedication to their idea. They found a good lab that worked with a lot of natural and organic product companies and developed their line, officially launching Innersense last year.

The company’s name came from a wise psychologist who counseled Starkman and his wife, Joanne. As parents of a child with special needs, they worried that they wouldn’t always know what to do. The psychologist told them to “trust your inner sense.” And they did.

Innersense currently has three skin products and six for the hair. One of the company’s most popular products has been Quiet Calm Curl Control. Maginn says they saw a need for a moisturizing styling product that could naturally define curls and fight frizz.

Two new products will launch in June — a pomade and a whipped texturizer. Both products. which are enriched with certified organic olive oil, will be especially good for curls and kinks, Maginn says.

A huge growth area for Innersense is the spa industry, where much of the emphasis in the past has been on skin care rather than hair care.

“Rarely were there any good professional hair-care products that are natural and organic,” she says. “For them, it’s been a lost opportunity. A lot of women were taking their own products into the spa for their hair.”

Maginn says Innersense takes a holistic approach to the products. The founders were inspired to include a series of simple meditative self-care rituals that let the user focus on the application and benefit of each product.

“We think of our company as a consciousness and a culture,” Starkman says.