Search Results: Michelle Breyer

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!”

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

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

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.

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.

In mid-March, MSNBC reporter Alison Stewart received an e-mail from a viewer. The message wasn’t about the Emmy-award winning journalist’s abilities, but rather her signature dark ringlets.

“I’d like to see Alison with a lot less hair,” said the e-mail.

That day, Stewart read that e-mail on the air. Her public response: “My mother always told me to worry about what’s in my head, not what’s on it.”

In an industry where conformity is the rule, Stewart’s willingness to stray from the norm has made her a positive role model for curly women everywhere. The e-mails she receives most often are from fellow curlies looking for advice, and she always writes back.

“You really have to examine who you are and what’s important to you,” she says. “If someone is asking you to wear a jacket, does it really change who you are? No. But I realized that my hair is really a part of who I am as a black woman. I never in my life desired to be like everybody else to fit in.”

That’s not to say that Stewart always embraced her hair’s natural texture. As an African-American woman growing up in the ’70s, she relaxed her hair. When she went away to college, she made the decision to go natural. And she’s never looked back.

She began her career as a political reporter for MTV News, reporting and producing for “Choose or Lose” election coverage in 1992 and 1996. She was a recipient of a Peabody Award for her production work in MTV’s first election coverage.

“MTV is a place where anything goes,” she says. “You were free to be yourself. Curly hair was a positive on MTV. I didn’t really have career hair shock until I took the jump to CBS News.”

She was a correspondent for CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” and also reported for “48 Hours,” “Weekend News” and “Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel.” From there she went to ABC News, and then to MSNBC in July 2003. During her tenure at the network, she has served as a daytime anchor and as host of the network’s daily news show “The Most.” She also is a contributor to “Today.”

During her journalism career, Stewart says she made a conscious decision that she wouldn’t let her curls become an issue. That’s not to say that she hasn’t been approached over the years about straightening her hair.

In fact, she recently did a pilot for a show, and the stylist wanted to straighten her hair.

“I said, ‘I’m on TV everyday with crazy curly hair. This is who you hired. I don’t really understand why you’d want to straighten it,” she says.

Stewart says that while it’s annoying, this kind of attitude only rarely makes her angry.

“I remember reading about a well-known anchor who said she straightens her hair because she said it was more professional,” Stewart says. “That one really ticked me off. It sends a bad message.”

“I wish there were more women who felt they could be themselves on TV rather than an idealized version of who they should be,” she says.

Stewart says this issue isn’t necessarily limited to women. She recalled when CNBC anchor Ron Insana shed his toupee in 2001 — a move that gained him national recognition.

“He was much better-looking without it,” she says.

Stewart says her curl confidence comes in part from having found a stylist who knows how to work with her curls, and finding the right products to enhance her ringlets. She has been going to Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue for years, and is a big fan of Curlisto Structura Lotion and Control II Gel.

“I just run my fingers through my hair, put it up, go to my morning meeting, put clips in and diffuse it,” Stewart says of her daily routine. “That’s it.”

“I have found a way to have it look professional and still be true to who I am. On weekends, it’s a lot wilder. My husband loves it that way. He tells me not to put stuff in my hair.”

But she admits that she still has moments of insecurity about her decision to wear her hair curly. She recently asked a high-level journalist friend whether her curls were holding her back in TV news.

“I said, ‘Let’s get real. Should I straighten my hair?’ She told me to just be myself. That’s more important. It’s something I intrinsically knew. I just needed confirmation. But I’ve thought about it. I won’t lie.”

Stewart says she sees progress in her industry as the ideals of beauty become broader. But she thinks there’s still a long way to go.

“When I see the first news anchor with braids, that will be really big!”

For centuries, the Yawanawa tribe of Brazil has used deep orange urukum pigment to bring harmony to their lands, protect them from evil and purify their bodies and minds. They also have used it to block the sun, keep mosquitos away and to draw intricate geometric patterns on their faces and bodies.

In recent years, Aveda’s Peter Matravers has gone to great lengths to bring urukum — derived from the seeds of a tree indigenous to the area — back to his company’s manufacturing facility in Minnesota to help color red lipsticks and haircare products.

Grown in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, the Brazilian urukum is harvested and the pigment is extracted in raw seed form by the Yawanawa tribe. Then it is transported down the Amazon River to a city where it is trucked across Brazil to Sao Paulo — a distance roughly equivalent to traveling between New York and California.

“It took me 26 hours to get to the destination, and the final approach to their village was an hour-long ride in a hollow canoe,” recalls Matravers, Aveda’s vice president of research and development. “Because it was heavy, we had to bail water out every time we went over rapids, and we had no life preservers. It was very interesting.”

In their quest to develop the most effective skin and haircare products, companies like Aveda and Ojon are traveling the globe, turning to indigenous cultures to find ancient tribal remedies. At the same time, these companies want the communities to be a part of their success — a concept called benefit sharing.

“We have a global sourcing person whose primary job is to advise us on novel ingredients with high performance as well as a social aspect,” says Matravers. “Aveda products have to be high performance, and we also need to do something to help people socially and economically while we’re making the product.”

For Aveda, this philosophy can be seen in its travels to the jungles of the Peruvian Amazon to get Morikue from 150-foot-high Brazil nut trees for hair conditioners, which provides 1,000 families of Brazil nut collectors with income and allows them to stay on in their homeland rather than migrating to bigger cities for work. It can be seen in the rose geranium fields of South Africa, where black families have found a way to stay on their land and revive their communities after the devastation of Apartheid. Today, each bottle of Aveda’s Color Conserve Shampoo and Conditioner contains certified organic rose geranium essential oil from one of these South African farms.

And it also can be found in Northeastern Brazil, where traditional communities of babassu women have gathered in the daily ritual of nut-breaking for more than four centuries. Attracted by the quality of the babassu nut oil — which is used in many of Aveda’s hair-care and makeup products — and the sustainability of the women’s craft, Aveda partnered with the babassu women in 1996, helping them earn a living and financing the construction of a babassu processing facility, a soap-making facility and a paper press. With support from Aveda, the babassu women have also created a pharmacy project to produce local plant-based medicines to cure the community’s diseases.

One of Aveda’s most recent discoveries is tamanu oil, which was discovered on the South Pacific Vanuatu islands — a chain of 70 islands scattered across the Coral Sea. Aveda’s global sourcing person noticed that the indigenous people had long, well-controlled curly hair.

“He began asking questions and they began sharing their beauty secrets,” Matravers says.

On the Vanuatu islands — where nobody had ever heard of Aveda — tamanu nuts drop from the tall branches onto the soft sands of the beach. The nuts are processed into an amber-colored oil, which offers intensive moisturizing and soothing properties for hair, skin and scalp.

He brought back the oil, which was sent to Aveda’s investigative research department to look at its functionality and chemistry. A prototype was created and tested against the leading ingredients in the industry to measure its success. In tests, they found that the oil improved curl definition, reduced frizz, moisturized and strengthened the hair.

“It helps us not only confirm what we see on people’s head in a test salon but allows us to quantify the results with numbers,” Matravers says.

The entire process took about three years. In 2006, Aveda debuted tamanu oil with the launch of Damage Remedy Hair and Scalp Renewal and the Outer Peace acne products. It is now found in several Aveda products, including the recently relaunched Be Curly and Hang Straight lines.

“There are many ways of making a curl beautiful, but the Aveda way is probably the most meaningful way because we give back to the community while we’re making the product,” he says.

In the case of Ojon, an entire company was built around an indigenous ingredient.

Eight years ago, a relative of Canadian ad executive Denis Simioni brought him a baby jar filled with brown paste she had purchased from an Indian on a Honduras street. He nearly threw it in the garbage, but instead stashed it away in a bathroom cupboard where it remained for two years.

Then one day his wife, Silvana, went searching the bathroom for a product to repair her over-processed tresses. She found the forgotten bottle of paste and cautiously applied it to her hair.

“It totally revived it,” Simioni says. “I couldn’t believe how shiny and soft her hair was.”

Simioni became determined to find more of this miraculous paste made from ojon palm nut oil. Before long, he was on a plane to Honduras on an adventure that would rival something out of an ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, complete with spiders, snakes and sharks.

A few years and countless trips to to Honduras later, Simioni has built one of the world’s hottest and most unique hair-care companies. Launched in December 2003 with the popular Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment, the company now sells a number of shampoos, conditioners, styling and styling products made with Ojon oil.

With the success of its ojon-based products, the company is tapping the native populations to find new ingredients for its products.

“They have a natural remedy for every beauty concern you could imagine,” Orr says. “That’s basically how he sources everything. He talks to them about their methods and what they’re using. Denis is bringing them to the mass market.”

For example, one can look at the company’s new Tawaka collection of hair and skin-care products, which contain savage cacao, Alula, Achotie and other rare ingredients native to Honduras. Savage cacao has the anti-oxidant equivalent of 204 pounds of blueberries; Alula leaf is used as an anti-inflammatory as well as to create eye drops to sooth and reduce redness; and Achotie seeds are boiled and used as an antiseptic for skin rashes and snake bites.

Matravers believes that companies like Aveda help the community’s maintain their traditional way of life by creating a sustainable livelihood.

On Vanuatu, for example, Aveda teamed up with Tahitian Prince Ariipaea Salmon, who has worked to provide economic empowerment of his indigenous communities through Pacific Tamanu, a company dedicated to supplying natural plant resources to international markets. As a part of his business, he opened the Vanuatu Convention of Biological Diversity Trust Fund, which is dedicated to raising money for the islands’ schools. Five percent of all sales of tamanu oil are automatically placed into this fund.

“Aveda is trying to give them opportunities that enable them to protect their lifestyle,” he says. “They can supply us with the ingredient we need for mutual benefit.”

Ojon has taken a similar approach in the rainforests of Honduras. Company officials have worked closely with Mopawi, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting sustainable development in the native Miskito and Garifuna populations in La Mosquitia in eastern Honduras.

Mopawi works as an advocate for the Miskito (called “Tawira” in their native language”>, reviewing any proposed development projects, and approving only those that they deem to be in the best interest of the rainforest and its native people.

De Silva is proud of the fact that Ojon pays the Miskito 250 percent of the original market price for ojon oil. In 2004, production totaled 30,000 liters, providing the Miskito with an increase in income of 450 percent benefiting over thousands of people.

The company also set up the Ojon Scholarship Fund to benefit disadvantaged school children in the ojon production area of Rio Kruta and the vicinity. This Fund encourages youth to further their studies and develop leadership skills by giving them access to higher education.

Ojon also holds annual meetings in the rainforest with all of the producers. traveling from village to village to listen to concerns and get updates.

“Denis asks them what they need,” says Ojon spokeswoman Allie Orr. “He wants to preserve their way of life.”

A frustrated mom recently posted on CurlTalk in search of her child’s curl type.

“My 2-year-old daughter has hair that’s straighter in front and tighter in the back,” she said. “When it is drying, the hair looks beautiful. But after a few hours, it puffs up big time. I think she is a 3c or a 4a, and there is a spot in the middle of her back that is kinkier — perhaps 4b. I don’t know!”

Another mom lamented the fact that her daughter — curly at two — now has straight hair.

“I’d looooove to have some of her wave back,” she says.

When the hair begins to sprout from your little one’s head, it can be a confusing mix of curly tufts and frothy waves, with a few straight strands mixed in for fun.

Determining the hair type of an adult can be difficult enough. But for kids, it can an especially complicated endeavor — a task made more difficult by the ever-evolving nature of children’s hair.

During childhood, hair is a work in progress. Ringlets at two may turn straight by four. Stick-straight bobs may go curly when puberty hits.

Follicle shape determines curl type. But the follicle shape can change, and often does change over time.

In general, a child’s hair texture changes every five to seven years, said curly expert Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue in New York.

“The final curl pattern is almost impossible to predict as there are so many factors that affect the hair,” says Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute in Toronto. “My job is to make sure that whatever the curl type, there should always be a great style to match.”

A CurlTalk mom talked about her daughter’s curls at three, which straightened out until she was 10.

“It started curling and it hasn’t stopped!” she said. “She now has beautiful 3b/4a hair, and I am so jealous!”

Between 13 and 15, the hair goes through its most dramatic changes.

“I have witnessesd all kinds of weird, obscure curl formations and hair color changes during puberty,” Torch says.

The best way to determine a child’s current curl type is to wet the hair, run your fingers through it and allow it to bounce. The texture will determine the best cuts and products for the hair.

“The styling techniques stay the same, but the styling tools must change,” Christo said.

TV reporter Lolita Lopez was interviewing for a job at a New York television station when the discussion veered away from her journalism experience.

“They thought I was great, they loved my work, but they wanted me to straighten my hair,” says Lopez. “I said ‘This is who I am.'”

Although she doesn’t know if her curls were the reason, the station told her she “isn’t the right fit for us.”

Lopez got a job at New York’s CW11 News, where both her reporting talents and her curls are more than welcome.

“I wear my hair down and keep it curly, and I’ve never been questioned about it,” she says. “My news director has been so supportive. She embraces my curly hair. She feels like it’s a part of me. That’s Lolita.”

Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue, right, cuts TV news reporter/anchor Lotita Lopez’ curly hair.

Lopez is one of a handful of TV reporters and anchors who dare to wear their natural curls on air. Most are told they must straighten their curls and kinks, whether they want to or not. In one case, an anchor in the Northeast wore her hair curly one night only to be deluged with calls from unhappy viewers who preferred her with a straight bob.

Because few curly TV personalities wear their hair curly, straight hair is what viewers have become accustomed to. Women like Lopez are doing what they can to change that.

“I don’t shy away from who I am,” Lopez says. “I hope I send the message that you can be your own person, from the way that you talk to the way you wear your hair.”

Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue, right, cuts TV news reporter/anchor Lotita Lopez’ curly hair.

Lopez says she has always been comfortable with her curls, even when others haven’t. She was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, where most curly headed women get their hair set in rollers and don’t wash it again until they go back to the salon.

“Wearing your hair naturally curly is almost unheard of there,” Lopez says. “There is a perception that straight is better and classier.”

Growing up in Houston, Lopez says she dreamed of working in television. She was a video camera junkie, who would play host on camera at birthday parties. She loved watching the news.

When she was younger, the Harvard graduate wore her curls long and one length, with the front pulled back. She never thought twice about her hair.

“It wasn’t until I got my first job that my hair became an issue,” Lopez says. “People would say ‘We really like you but we want to see you with straight hair.”

At one job, she had to continually fend off bosses who wanted her to straighten her hair.

“Nobody was writing in to complain and nobody was giving me any good reason why they wanted to do it,” Lopez says. “I felt like they wanted to give me a cookie-cutter bob, and that’s not me.”

Lopez joined CW11 as a general assignment reporter five years ago, and has worked on everything from politics to entertainment. She was appointed weekend sports anchor in 2005, and she covered the Mets as an on-field reporter for games broadcast on the station. She also works as a news anchor at the station.

Lopez gets her hair cut by Christo at Christo Fifth Avenue and wears it in long, face-framing layers. She says she wakes up, sprays in a little Curlisto Protein Boost and is out the door.

“I wear it down and keep it curly,” she says of her hair. “It’s never been an issue here. In fact, the idea of straightening my hair popped up once and my news director said ‘No. This is the way she is. I love the curly hair.'”

And she’s gotten plenty of positive feedback from viewers. When she’s been out on

a story, she hears from young curly women who tell her how much they love seeing “one of us on TV.”

“In a small way, I hope I show people that you can look professional for any kind of work with curly hair, whether it be Corporate America, TV or Wall Street,” Lopez says.

Leesah Sophia B doesn’t think the story of Inky Loves Nature is all that exciting.

She couldn’t find any attractive, organic, vegan, environmentally friendly hair and body products for women of color with natural hair.

“I saw all these cute products aimed at Caucasian women, but not women who looked like me,” says Leesah, (aka Miss Inky”>. “I was looking for a product, I couldn’t find it, so I decided to create it. It’s a typical story.”

But Inky Loves Nature is far from a typical company.

Launched in the summer of 2005, the company now sells seven natural, vegan products designed to make people “look good, smell good, feel good, be good and do good.” The products have names like Self Love Body Scrub, Warrier Queen Cleanser and Magical Melanin Moisturizer, and are available in a variety of scents. One of the stars of the Inky line is Nappaliscious Nutritious Scalp Butter, which is loaded with nourishing and scalp-stimulating ingredients.

“I wanted to be more pro-active and contribute to the world and my community,” says the British native, who now lives in New Bergen, N.J. “With a sprinkling of some peace, love and positive energy, I just blended it all together and Inky Loves Natural is what came out of the oven.”

Leesah says she became a vegan herself at a young age because of her emotional connection to animals. She says Inky is just an extension of who she is and how she lives.

“I am a woman of color who is a vegan and who buys and uses organic ingredients/products,” she says. “I wanted to use products that encompassed all those elements that I’m interested in and involved in.”

All Inky products are at least 97 percent naturally derived, and 70 of the ingredients are organically grown. They also are free from parabens, dyes, sulfates, proopylene glycol, alcohols, mercury, formaldehyes, silicones and mineral oil. She’s also a “cruelty-free approved” manufacturer.

Leesah says she has been surprised by the growth of her company, and the diversity of her customers.

“When I first started, my assumption was that the customers would be like me — women of color who like to wear their hair in natural textures,” she says. “But they include men and women of all ethnicities. Right now, it’s about the conscious consumers.”

This year, she plans to add new products and continue working on the causes that are important to her. She wants her company to be one that empowers people to do good things.

“In my heart, I would like us to be a company that contributes more in every way — from hiring ex-female prisoners to helping animal organizations in Africa to planting a fast-growing tree with each sale,” Leesah says. “You should know that advocacy, the environment, peace and love, with a pinch of animal and human rights issues thrown in, are Inky’s thang.”

Everybody wants options when it comes to their hair, and women with curls and kinks are no different.

While you might like to wear your hair wavy or curly most of the time, sometimes it’s nice to have a straighter, sleeker look.

But when it comes to straightening your hair, say the experts, there are right ways to do it. And there are wrong ways.

“Straightening the hair is not an easy technique, and it requires a lot of practice,” says Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute in Toronto.

If you want the option to wear your hair both curly and straight, the cut is important, says Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue.

“The hair must be cut for versatility, with angles that frame the face,” Christo says. “And the bottom line must be reversible and cut with slide angles in every direction, so when you blow it out straight it will look just a good as it does when it’s curly.”

Since all methods of straightening can stress the hair shaft, it is crucial to keep the hair healthy and moisturized.

“Make sure your hair is in good condition before you start,” says New York stylist Rodney Cutler of the Cutler Salon. “Sexy hair is not enough. You need sexy, healthy hair.”

The Blow Out

To temporarily straighten curls, there’s no easier way than with a blow-dryer.

“When you blow dry, you’re not locking yourself into one look,” Cutler says. “It’s less damaging and more cost-effective.”

Make sure you use products designed to work with the heat to protect the hair and lock in the style. There are a number of products on the market especially for blow-drying, including heat-protectant stylers. When applying the products, pay special attention to the ends.

Get the right tools for the job. Invest in a good ionic or ceramic dryer. A good dryer cuts drying time and reduces heat-related damage. Make sure you have a nozzle.

“A nozzle is key because you’re directing the heat from the roots to the ends,” Cutler says.

Round natural-bristle brushes are the preference of many stylists. The more bristles, the better. Some stylists like to start with a flat paddle brush until the hair is 70 percent dry, finishing off with a round brush.

The hair should be about 50 to 60 percent dry before you start blow-drying it, says stylist Cynthia Cheslock of Practically Frivolous Salon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“If you make more than two passes with the blow-dryer, then the hair is too wet and you are just boiling the water on the hair,” Cheslock says.

Separate the hair into small sections, using a clip to keep the other sections out of the way. Start at the back of the head, since it is the thickest. Hold the dryer at least 12 inches away from the hair shaft, and hold it an angle, pointing it down on the hair shaft — not on the scalp, says curly hair stylist Shai of Capella Salon in Studio City, Calif. This will force your hair cuticles to lie flat, making your hair shinier and smoother. You can tilt your head slightly to make this movement easier.

“Dry the hair following the way the hair grows, to create more shine,” Shai says. “Blowing hair against the natural direction it grows creates frizz and damage.”

Make sure you keep either your dryer or hair moving at all times. Overheating your hair happens easily and can damage it.

Stretch each section with a round brush.

“The key is in the tension, the heat and the cooling,” Torch says. “While you’re pulling on a piece, direct the heat of the blow-dryer toward the tips to seal the hair into that position.”

Don’t try to wind your hair round the brush starting at the tip of your hair. The key is to start with the brush half way up the hair and keep turning your brush gently around until you reach the tip of your hair. That way, the hair naturally curls round the brush when it gets to the tip.

If your hair is short, you can simply place your brush at the roots of the section of your hair, and blow the hairdryer up so that the hair strands curls around the brush. Keep turning the brush so that the hair curls around the brush.

Let each strand cool before releasing the brush and letting the hair fall. Repeat the process on each sections of the hair until all the hair has been straightened.

Tame flyaway hair with an anti-frizz serum or pomade. Place a few drops in your hand, rub gently to distribute it, then apply it to your hair.

Blow-drying takes patience. It can take 45 minutes to straighten shoulder-length curly hair. For special occasions, it may be worth it to pay for a professional blow out at the salon.

“You will never be able to get the same results at home because you do not have four hands or the over-head angle that stylists have,” says Amie Zimmerman of the Dirty Little Secret.

Finessing the Flat Iron

To get the hair extra sleek after you blow it dry, flat irons can be highly effective tools.

“It’s just going that extra yard,” Cutler says.

Buy a high-quality iron. such as an ionic or ceramic flat iron. The ceramic irons use consistent heat and negative ions to remove static and smooth frizzies. Ceramic irons flatten the cuticles of wavy hair and seal in moisture.

“Buy the best iron you can afford, because a bad flat iron can really damage the hair,” Cheslock says.

Before using any flat iron tool, always test the temperature first. Take a piece of tissue paper and moisten it (making it damp, not wet”>. Press the tissue paper between the heating plates of the iron and hold for a few seconds. A small amount of steam would be normal. But if there is any smoking, scorching or discoloration of the paper, the iron is too hot and the temperature needs to be adjusted to prevent the hair from burning.

Take 2-inch sections through the iron and work your way through the section, from the top to the bottom upward.

“Pass it through the hair in very fast motions,” says Christo.

After straightening each segment, allow it to cool. Once it’s cooled, pass a comb through it to break the hair apart and give it a smoother finish.

Chemical Straightening

If you are ready to go to extremes to get straight hair, you can visit a salon to get a chemical relaxing treatment. Make sure you select a salon that is experienced with relaxers.

“With a chemical process, the success is determined by the qualifications of the technician,” Torch says.

Do some research before selecting a salon. Make sure they work with a lot of clients with your hair type, and that they’re well trained in chemical services.

“Leaving the cream on too long can result in hair that’s relaxed, but badly damaged,” Christo says.

There are three basic types of hair relaxers: sodium hydroxide, guanidine hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate.

One of the reasons hair is curly is because of hydrogen bonds between the proteins (keratin”> that make up your hair; these bonds are weak and can be enhanced by water. Relaxers simply break these disulfide bonds and cap them so that they cannot chemically reform.

Sodium hydroxide is the strongest type of relaxer, and is often called the lye relaxer. It is a very strong, harsh chemical, and can only be used on coarse, extremely kinky hair. The pH level is between 10 and 14, which means it has the most potentially harmful relaxer. If not used by a professional, it can cause the hair to break.

No-lye relaxers are either guanidine hydroxide (a combination of calcium hydroxide cream with guanidine carbonate”> or ammonium thioglycolate “thio.” These have a pH of between 9 and 9.5, and are considered to be less damaging than the sodium hydroxide or lye relaxers. However, it is still vital to give your hair the same care that you would give your hair with a sodium hydroxide relaxer.

One of the hottest trends in chemical straightening is the thermal reconditioning straightening treatments. After shampooing the hair and applying a protein solution, a cream or gel-based thio solution is applied to the hair to soften the hair and disassociate the sulfur bonds inside the hair shaft. Small sections of hair are thermally restructured with a flat iron at a very high temperature (over 300 degrees”>. Next, a neutralizer is applied and the hair is pulled straight.

There are several drawbacks to thermal reconditioning. The service takes several hours and costs several hundred dollars. It also requires periodic touchups to the new growth. And it works much better on softer, wavier textures than on coarser, kinkier hair types. Some people who have lightened or color-treated their hair also should stay away from thermal reconditioning.

Those who embark on this process must realize that once the hair is straight, it’s straight for good. For those who blow-dry their hair straight everyday, it can make life easier by cutting blow-drying time.

But some curlies find that their options are limited. Stylists recommend blowing your hair straight for a a few weeks or trying on a straight wig before you have it done to make sure you like the look.

“It is not reversible,” cautions Christo. “If you want your hair curly again, the only that can be done is to cut off all your hair and start from scratch. At our salon, we may turn down certain requests for this chemical process out of concern for our clients’ hair. Because, after all, we love curly hair.”

Before straightening the hair, Diane Da Costa, author of “Textured Tresses,” suggests clients try a less-drastic chemical service like a softener or texturizer that loosens the curl rather than straightens it.

“This can make it easier to blow-dry or flat iron the hair straight,” Da Costa says.

With any chemical straightener, the hair will tend to be more porous and will need extra moisturizing and protection when being blow dried or heat styled. Use gentle cleansers and deep condition once to twice a week.

Stylists caution that you should never use a thio straightener on hair that has been straightened with a sodium hydroxide straightener. It can be like giving your hair a chemical haircut.

“Layering on different relaxer types can definitely cause breakage,” says Titi Branch of Miss Jessie’s Salon in Brooklyn.

---

Quick Tips for A Great Blow Out

1. To straighten hair, begin by shampooing, conditioning and towel-drying hair.
2. Apply a heat protectant product to your hair, paying special attention to the ends.
3. Place a quarter-size dollop of straightening balm in your palm. Rub your palms together to distribute the product over your hands, then massage it evenly through hair.
4. Comb through your hair with your fingers while gently blow-drying it on a low setting. This removes excess water.
5. Pull your hair into three sections, two at the sides and one at the back. Clip the two sides up.
6. Select a small portion of the hair from the unclipped section to straighten.
7. Using a thick, round brush and beginning at the roots, gently pull the brush through the hair to the ends while blow-drying it. Pull the hair away from your head, stretching and straightening it as you go.
8. First pull the brush through the underside of your hair so that you expose it directly to the heat of the dryer. Once that area is mostly dry, switch to the top of the hair.
9. Keep the tension consistent and evenly distribute heat over the section of hair you’re working on. This ensures uniform hair texture and prevents overdrying of certain areas.
10. Once that portion of hair is straightened, continue selecting and blow-drying small portions until that section is dry and straight.
11. Repeat the process on the two other sections to straighten your entire head of hair.

— Source: eHow.com

Tips for Making the Back of Your Hair Look as Good as the Front

1. After applying a straightening balm to damp hair, create four equal sections – two in front and two in back. Clip the front ones up and pull the back ones forward.
2. To blow a back section straight, tilt your head forward, place a paddle brush an inch below the roots to hold them taut, and aim the dryer above the brush for a few seconds.
3. Next, pull the brush forward around your neck (this curving motion creates body”>, placing the dryer in front of it until you reach the ends. Repeat until dry.

Straightening Products

AG Hair Cosmetics Insulate

Curlisto Straight Time Glaze

Cutler Straightening Cream

Ojon Leave-in Glossing Cream

Cutler Specialist Protectant Treatment Spray

Ojon Shine & Protect Glossing Mist

PhytoSpecific Integral Hair Care

Curly Hair Solutions ReMane Straight

Redken Straight Straightening Balm

Blended Beauty Straightening Glaze

Redken Fabricate

Kenra Platinum Hot Spray

Bumble & bumble Straight Control Freak Extra Extra Straight Hair Straightener

Biosilk Silk Therapy Smoothing Balm

Frizz Ease Straight Answer Straightening Spray

Alterna Hemp Seed Straightening Balm

TIGI Bedhead

Paul Mitchell Straight Works

KMS California Flat Out Straightening Creme

Rusk Str8 Anti-Frizz Anti-Curl Lotion

ABBA Straightening Balm

Tigi S-Factor Heat Defender Flat-Iron Spray

Got2B CrazySleek Hot Smooth Flat Iron & Blow Dry Lotion

Blended Beauty Straight Pearl

CurlFriends Shine Hair Gloss

Elucence Extended Moisture Repair Treatment

Simply Organic got its start five years ago when cancer struck several members of two close-knit Minnesota families.

“Our dads asked ‘What the heck is going on?” recalls Jeremiah Mostrom, sales director for the Pompano Beach, Fla.-based company and the son of one of Simply Organics’ co-founders. “They started doing research on health and wellness, and stumbled across the fact that there are a lot of ingredients in personal-care products that are questionable in terms of how they affect your body.”

One of the fathers had been a top executive with haircare companies such as KMS and Graham Webb. The other had a background in finance. And one of the mothers was a hairdresser. So they decided to use their collective talents to start a line of products without synthetic ingredients like sulfates, propylene glycol, DEA and parabens — products that would be healthier for hair stylists and their customers. I

A Sampling of Organic Haircare Products Shampoos Innersense Pure Essential Hair Bath Innersense Color Awakening Hair Bath Hamadi Ginger Soymilk Hair Wash Hamadi Honey Soymilk Hair Wash Hamadi Lemon Mint Hair Wash Simply Organic Moisture Rich Hair and Scalp Rinse Simply Organic Volume Hair and Scalp Rinse Kiss My Face Miss Treated Shampoo Kiss My Face Whenever Shampoo MOP C-system Hydrating Shampoo Dessert Essence Organic Italian Grape Shampoo Terressentials Lavender Garden Pure Earth Hair Wash Terressentials Cool Mint Pure Earth Mint Wash Conditioners Innersense Pure Inspiration Daily Conditioner Innersense Sweet Spirit Leave-in Conditioner Shea Terra Organics Certified Organic Shea Butter Greenridge Herbals Jojoba Shea Hair Butter Hamadi Shea Hair Mask Hamadi Shea Leave In Hamadi Shea Spray Simply Organic Refresh Light Detangler Hair and Scalp Rinse Dessert Essence Organic Green Apple & Ginger Thickening Volumizing Conditioner Kiss My Face Miss Treated Conditioner Kiss My Face Whenever Conditioner MOP C-system Hydrating Conditioner MOP C-system Moisture Complex MOP C-system Styling Conditioner MOP C-system Conditioning Mist Mia Simone’s Boutique Aloe Vera Herbal Leave-In Treatment Styling Products Mia Simone’s Boutique Locs Coils Waves & Curls Moisture Rich Styling Souffle Innersense Quiet Calm Curl Control Shea Terra Organics Certified Organic Shea Butter Hamadi Shea Hair Cream Hamadi Shea Pomade Hamadi Shea Leave In Kiss My Face Hold Up Styling Mousse Kiss My Face Upper Management Styling Gel MOP C-system Texture Lotion MOP C-system C-curl

The Simply Organic line now includes four shampoos, four conditioners, five styling products and four treatments, with certified organic ingredients such as olive leaf extract, honey and essential oils.

“Organic beauty products become a part of the changes you make in your lifestyle to live better,” Mostrom says.

Welcome to the world of green beauty.

Beauty companies from large to small now are offering products with certified organic ingredients in response to consumer demand for healthier products that go on their body, not just on their dinner table. According to the Natural Marketing Institute, 45 percent of consumers believe that the personal-care products they put on their skin are just as important as the healthy and natural foods they consume.

“We like to say you can feel good about looking good,” says Evan Brody, marketing manager for John Masters Organic Haircare. “You can care about your body and the earth and still have fantastic hair.”

Companies such as Simply Organic, Innersense, Modern Organic Products and John Masters Organic Haircare offer organic haircare products. Kiss My Face recently launched a certified organic hair care system, with shampoos, conditioners, hair types and styling mousse. These products contain ingredients grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms or ionizing radiation.

They are tapping into a market segment called Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS”> — an industry estimated at $228.9 billion. LOHAS consumers make conscientious purchasing and investing decisions based on social and cultural values. They are interested in products ranging from green building supplies to eco-tourism to yoga.

Consumers are becoming more educated about natural and organic products and the dangers of chemicals, says Mia Licata, a retail marketing specialist at Kiss My Face, a full line of natural and organic personal care products available in the mass market.

“Consumers are driving it,” Licata says. “In the mass market world, there’s now a strong interest in organic products.”

Jodi Billet, vice president of marketing for California-based Dessert Essence, launched an organic, vegan haircare line a year ago and says “We can’t keep them in stock.”

The skin absorbs approximately 60 percent of any substance applied to it, and there is growing concern about ingredients in some personal-care products. According to industry experts, on any given day a consumer may use as many as 25 different cosmetics and personal-care products containing more than 200 different chemical compounds.

Most of the “organic” products contain certified organic ingredients along with other natural ingredients. They usually are free of ingredients such as sulfates and parabens or artificial colors or fillers.

“Natural and organic ingredients do the same things that we depend on chemicals to do,” Licata says. “Instead of chemically derived ingredients, we add things like chamomile and lavender. They are soothing to the scalp, and also make the hair more manageable. .”

Licata says Kiss My Face does make a line of skincare products that are 100 percent organic, called Obsessively Organic.

Modern Organic Products (MOP”> products are not 100 percent organic but contain as many certified organic ingredients as possible, says Leslie Jablonski, publicist for MOP.

The ingredients used in MOP vary by product, says Jablonski. For example, C-system Hydrating Shampoo contains certified organic mango and grapefruit extracts. C-system Texture Lotion contains certified organic elderberry, alfalfa and rosemary extracts.

“We like to put in ingredients that are more environmentally friendly, and our preservatives are food based,” Jablonski says. “We try to mix modern technology with old technology to make things as eco-chic as possible. What’s good for the environment is good for you.”

The organic haircare industry is attracting industry veterans such as Greg Starkman and Judie Maginn of Innersense, a completely natural, organic line of hair and skin care products. They launched Innersense this spring, using their 40 years of combined experience with companies such as Redken, Joico and Helene Curtis.

“We think of our company as a consciousness and a culture,” says Greg Starkman, co-founder and manager partner of Innersense.

Coming from the traditional haircare industry, they saw a need for products that were natural and gentle, yet effective. Technology, and the explosion of organically grown ingredients, have helped fuel the industry, Maginn says.

“In the past, natural products were available but the quality wasn’t there,” Maginn says.

Maginn says most of the ingredients in Innersense products are certified organic and wildly harvested. When there is a need to use other types of ingredients, natural ones are chosen, Maginn says.

“We’re not saying all chemicals are bad, but we are saying we can limit our exposure,” Maginn says.

When John Masters started styling hair out of high school in 1975, he didn’t think twice about handling harsh salon chemicals. But as he embraced organic foods, he began to investigate the dangers of chemicals such as sulfates and ammonia — staples in most hair dyes and highlighting treatments.

“I believe synthetics have a place in this world, but not in or on the body,” says the SOHO hairstylist, who stopped giving perms and began concocting natural hair products in his kitchen made from essential oils and plant extracts. He launched his line 1991.

“For my first wholesale order at Barneys New York, I filled every bottle by hand with a funnel,” recalls Masters

Today, Masters has a full line of organic haircare products — products like Sweet Orange and Silk Protein Styling Gel, Bourbon Vanilla & Tangerine Hair Texturizer and Honey Hibiscus Reconstructing Shampoo. The products are wildcrafted, Brody says.

“The way they’re taken out of the ground is more earth friendly,” Brody says.

Natural and Organic Market – Facts & Figures

• The natural and organic personal-care industry is expected to grow 26 percent a year to $11 billion by 2009, according to the National Marketing Institute.
• There currently are 82,000 chemical compounds used in consumer products.
• At least 39 percent of the U.S. population purchases organic products.
• Recent market research revealed that an astonishing 97 percent of salon owners polled said their customers would be interested in products based on natural and organic ingredients.
• Eighty-five percent of salon owners said they were concerned about their daily exposure to chemicals in the workplace.

Some Valuable Web Sites

The Organic Trade Association is the membership-based business organization for the organic industry in North America

Organiclinks.com is the global resource for organic information.

Environmental Working Group, which investigates threats to health and environment.

The Center for a New American Dream helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environmental health and environmental justice for all.

The Beyond Organic radio show features everything about buying, growing, eating and cooking organic food.

At Safecosmetics.org, you’ll find alerts, tools and information you need to make sure you use safe health and beauty products.

Denis DeSilva of Devachan Salon was dissatisfied with the diffusers on the market.

His Soho salon’s philosophy was “do not disturb.” Yet he found most standard diffusers he had tried would blow curls astray. For two years, he researched all the available technology as well as what competitors were developing. Nothing did what what he wanted a diffuser to do.

So he set out to create a new kind of diffuser.

Inspiration hit DeSilva while he was waiting to tee off on the 8th hole of Florida’s Doral Country Club, when he saw a seat shaped like a hand.

“All day long, my hands are in my clients’ hair,” DeSilva says. “As we dry curly hair, we put our hands into their hair to give it lift. Why not create something that does exactly what a hand does?”

Devaconcepts worked with designers and manufacturers for over three years to develop the new DevaSun Dryer and DevaFuser — a unique hand-shaped diffuser with 360-degree air flow to dry the hair all the way through.

“We had to create a better mousetrap,” DeSilva says.

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 blowdryer.

“The invention of the diffuser is probably one of the greatest tools for styling curly hair, as it speeds up the drying time,” says Jonathan Torch of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute, and creator of the Curly Hair Solutions line of products. “When styling curly hair, the more you fuss or move your hair when it’s wet, the more frizz develops and the more your hair expands. A diffuser is a simple yet effective controller of such movement.”

Although there are a number of diffusers on the market, there has been little change to their design over the past few decades. But that has changed this year, with several revolutionary new diffusers hitting the market by companies such as Devaconcepts, Hot Tools and BaByliss.

The BaByliss Pro 3500 Radiant Heat Dryer, introduced in July, distributes radiant heat through an oversized nozzle. The low airflow and radiant heat are designed to tame frizz and create glossy curls. A drying stand can be used to free up the hands as the hair dries.

Antony Popadich, a veteran British hairdresser who introduced the Sedusa Diffuser, began taking a closer look at the diffuser when he began exploring different ways to bring out the curl in people’s hair. Perms were a tough sell to many clients. Curling irons required some expertise. And existing diffusers were problematic.

“The universal diffusers tended to fly off the dryer,” Popadich says. “One day, in frustration, I said ‘Why doesn’t somebody do something about this?”

An idea began to crystalize in his mind about how to improve the design of the diffuser. He took an old diffuser and taped it to plastic plant pot with the bottom cut out. His brother-in-law had a manufacturing plant, and he asked him to create some aluminum spirals to put in the bowl to encourage curls. Because the hair is contained in the bowl, it prevents it from swelling out, while the aluminum spirals coax out curls.

He tried the first Sedusa prototype on his wife.

“I came out of the garage with this contraption, and she looked at me and said ‘No chance!'” Popadich recalls. “She said ‘You’re not getting near me with that contraption.'”

But he convinced her to let him have a go at her fine, straight hair, and the result was beautiful waves. They were both excited.

“We went to see a patent attorney,” he says.

Every day, in a variety of ways, children are getting messages about how they should look and act—from the friends they hang out with, from the video games they play and from the television shows they watch.

For parents, the challenge is to figure out how to counter the negative influences that come their way.

“A parent does have to make sure they pay attention to what’s appropriate,” says Dr. Mary Lamia, a clinical psychologist in Marin County and host of Kid Talk with Dr. Mary on Radio Disney in San Francisco/Sacramento.

So what influences kids the most? Children are most influenced by their peers — the people who tell them in the classroom, on the playground or on play-dates just how well they’re fitting in, according to Judith Rich Harris, author of “The Nurture Assumption.” Children act a certain way and dress a certain way as a attempt to gain acceptance from their peers, Harris says.

Whether it leads to blue hair or body piercing, peer pressure is a powerful reality and many adults do not realize its effects. Peer pressure can be found in groups as young as age two, when children will do things simply because other kids are doing them or because the kids tell them to. This can effect the child’s behavior, social and emotional development, eating habits, play time, and sleeping patterns.

“The No. 1 thing that influences the choices kids make is their desire to fit in with other kids,” Lamia says. “Children are self-conscious and they want to fit in and they don’t want to feel insecure. They do things that other kids do and wear things that other kids wear in order to be popular.”

It may come as a surprise, but parents are often as vulnerable to peer pressure as their children, Lamia says. They want their children to fit in, and may push them to be popular.

“Parents need to be worried when they find themselves succumbing to peer pressure themselves,” she says.

And by giving in, parents send a message to their child that they should give in to peer pressure if they want to fit in, whether that be the hottest styles or how to treat other kids.

“Part of the reason bullying happens in school is because adults are tolerating it,” Lamia says.

In addition to pressure from friends, kids also are heavily influenced by the media — movies, music videos and television. The average child spends three to five hours a day watching television, and they’re getting messages about how to dress and how to act from the shows they watch and the ads they see.

Sometimes you can see the impact of media right away, such as when your child watches superheroes fighting and then copies their moves during play. But most of the time the impact is not so immediate or obvious. It occurs slowly as children see and hear certain messages over and over.

Many of these messages are coming from the ads that bombard them on TV, on the Internet and on the radio.

Children are big business, and advertisers know that. American children ages 4 to 12 spent over $35 billion of their own money last year, and they influenced a surprising $500 billion of their parents’ purchases. The youth marketing research firm WonderGroup reported that parents are giving their kids greater financial responsibility, partly because parents aren’t around to help their children make spending choices.

“They have really taken over the minds of children, and they’re good at it,” Lamia says of advertisers. “Parents should be teaching their child about what marketers do and how they are trying to influence them.”

The advertising industry has funded dozens of studies on children designed to enhance their marketing effectiveness. Some agencies have even hired clinical psychologists and cultural anthropologists to record more than 500 hours of interviews and observations of children.

In some cases, the messages they may get from TV, music videos or video games can be downright dangerous. The programming may be overly violent, or overwhelmingly sexual.

A study by The Rand Corp. found that watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. The study also found that reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming or increasing references to possible negative consequences of sexual activity could delay their desire to engage in this kind of activity.

“They begin to think that being seductive is the way to be,” Lamia says. “They see that children get attention from other kids from dressing or acting like that.”

While parents don’t have total control over advertising, media or peers, they can help control the influence they have on their child. Parents need to set limits and be actively involved with the TV shows, computer games, magazines, and other media that children use. But this is only one step in helping media play a positive role in children’s lives.

They can limit access to the computer and television and can oversee what types of programming their children are watching. Lamia says she wouldn’t let a 12-year-old subscribe to fashion magazines meant for older women, such as Cosmopolitan or Glamour.

“You’re not being an overly cautious parent if you’re limiting their exposure to certain things,” Lamia says. “You’re being protective. It’s the same as limiting sugar. Limiting what you put in their heads is no different than limiting what you put in their stomachs.”

Because media surrounds us and cannot always be avoided, one way to filter their messages is to develop the skills to question, analyze, and evaluate them. This is called media literacy or media education.

Ultimately, the best thing a parent can do is to teach children to have confidence in their own opinions, and that they don’t have to succumb to peer pressure.

“In the end, if you do these things, you teach your child to be a leader rather than a follower,” Lamia says. “That’s what leadership is about—thinking for yourself.”

See tips for making better use of the media, next page.

Tips for Making Better Use of the Media

Make a media plan.

Schedule media times and choices in advance, just as you would other activities. A media plan helps everyone to choose and use media carefully.

Set media time limits.

Limit children’s total screen time. This includes time watching TV and videotapes, playing video and computer games, and surfing the Internet. One way to do this is to use a timer. When the timer goes off, your child’s media time is up, no exceptions. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality TV and videos a day for older children and no screen time for children under the age of 2.

Set family guidelines for media content.

Help children and teens choose shows, videos, and video games that are appropriate for their ages and interests. Get into the habit of checking the content ratings and parental advisories for all media. Use these ratings to decide what media are suitable for your child. Be clear and consistent with children about media rules. If you do not approve of their media choice, explain why and help them choose something more appropriate.

Keep TV sets, VCRs, video games, and computers out of children’s bedrooms.

Instead, put them where you can be involved and monitor children’s use. If children or teens are allowed to have a TV set or other media in their bedrooms, know what media they are using and supervise their media choices. If you have Internet access, supervise your children while they are on-line.

Make media a family activity.

Whenever possible, use media with your children and discuss what they see, hear, and read. When you share your children’s media experiences, you can help them analyze, question, and challenge the meaning of messages for themselves. During a media activity, help children “talk back,” or question what they see. Do this during a violent act, an image or message that is misleading, or an advertisement for an unhealthy product.

“Talking back,” or asking questions about media messages, builds the lifelong skills your child needs to be a critical media consumer. Discuss how the media messages compare with the values you are teaching your child.

Look for media “side effects.”

Unless they come clearly labeled as containing violence, sex, or graphic language, parents often overlook the messages children are getting from media. Instead, be aware of the media children and teens use and the impact it could be having.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

---

Strategies to Combat negative Peer Pressure

The following are strategies young people can use to deal with negative peer pressure effectively:

Avoid putting yourself in situations that make you feel uncomfortable.

Choose your friends wisely. If you hang around with people who share your values, chances are you’ll never be asked to do something you don’t want to do.

Think about the consequences whenever you are asked to do something you are not sure about. Stop for a moment and ask: Will this activity get me in trouble? Will it be harmful to my health?

Be true to yourself. Think about the reasons why you are considering doing something you are uncomfortable with. Is it to gain popularity? Although there is nothing wrong with wanting to be popular, there are right ways and wrong ways to achieve it. If you change your behavior just to fit in with a particular group, you are not being true to yourself.

Learn how to say no. This is perhaps the most difficult thing in the world for many people to do, but it is an essential skill if you are to successfully fend off negative peer pressure. There are many ways to say no, some of them subtle and some of them a little more “in your face.”

Several examples are: “You see it your way. I see it my way.” – “If you are really a friend, then back off.” – “You must think I’m pretty dumb to fall for that one.”

Over the past two years, CurlTalker LazyKerri has discovered many wonderful curly products—Pantene Curl Scrunching Gel and Aussie Gel + Water, Herbal Essences Humidity Defying Gel and Suave Professionals Firm Hold Gel.

“What do these have in common?” asks the Chicago curly. “They’ve been discontinued or reformulated! Although I understand they have their reasons, I really wish the companies wouldn’t keep doing this to us!”

LazyKerri’s frustration is a common one, especially for curlies who search long and hard for their “Holy Grail” products only to see them disappear from the store shelves.

“I’ve found replacements that work just as well, if not even better,” says CurlTalker Joy4ever of Bowling Green, Ohio. “But it’s always a shock to the system when you realize the product you worked so long and hard to find — after weeks or months of trial and error — is going to be gone forever.”

“Why are you gone?” one woman lamented on a beauty Web site when John Frieda discontinued Frizz-Ease 5-Minute Manager in December 2005. “I miss you more than my husband. Someone must put you back on the market for dandylion heads like me.”

In some cases, customers get downright angry when their favorite product is discontinued, as was the case when Clairol discontinued its Clairol Daily Defense Tender Apple Shampoo and Conditioner.

“I’m very upset and disgusted that Clairol decided to discontinue the product line ONLY because it ‘wasn’t making enough money’ for them,” one angry poster said on epinions.com. “It’s their ONLY product that makes my hair feel clean and soft when I finish. I bought these products faithfully. I tried their other brands they recommended and they did NOT give me the same results. They don’t care about what does work for people.”

Manufacturers say products aren’t discontinued without cause. There are several reasons why a product may disappear from the shelves.

“It takes a lot of effort and time to discontinue a product, so we don’t do so lightly,” says Dawn Blackstone, executive vice president of Graham Webb International.

The hair-care industry is a ‘what’s new’ business. Companies must continually add new products, and reposition existing lines, to stay on top of fashion trends and technological changes.

“We are in the fashion industry,” says Tatiana Jovic, spokeswoman for Canadian haircare company AG Hair Cosmetics. “As such, we are continually watching upcoming trends and developing products to meet the need. The challenge, of course, is to develop products that are meeting the needs of the current trends without being too ‘trendy,’ as trendy means it will be hot for a while and then the trend will move on, making your products obsolete.”

Companies also regularly re-evaluate their product lines to see what’s selling, and more importantly, what’s not. Jovic said AG continually analyzes sales for all of its products, looking at sales results over the years as well as consulting with its managers out in the field. In its 17-year history, Jovic said AG hasn’t discontinued a single product.

“It’s pretty simple arithmetic” says Jim Markham, founder and chief executive officer of Pureology, which also owns the Alterna line. “If you continue to add (new products”> to your line and keep things that don’t sell very well, you’re not very smart. If it sells well, you keep it. If it’s not doing enough volume to justify its existance, it’s discontinued.”

Blackstone says her company has thresholds for product revenue, and products that are consistently below the thresholds eventually are targeted for discontinuation.

“We want to make sure we are offering the most in-demand, productive products that warrant us carrying them and tying up inventory space and dollars,” Blackstone says.

Graham Webb discontinues roughly 2-3 percent of its products each year, she says. With the company’s recent redefinition of its Back to Basics line, it made a deliberate choice to streamline it and to focus on the big sellers and the items that had unique benefits for the hair and body.

Blackstone stressed that the company does take into consideration whether a product fits a unique need that makes it relevant to the customer, and that it is important to the line overall.

Karen Fuss-Zipp, vice president of U.S. marketing for Redken, says one of the main reason her company discontinues a product is because of improved technology.

“New technology allows us to relaunch and redevelop products,” Fuss-Zipp says.

For example, last year Redken discontinued its Color Extend line and relaunched and repackaged it with new technology. Redken’s discontinued Headstrong for fine hair because of lackluster sales. The development group had new technology and created the Body Full line to replace it.

“Sales quadrupled because it had advanced technology and a better fragrance,” Fuss-Zipp says. “It was a good way to bring advancements and a sense of newness to the consumer.”

In some cases, a product isn’t discontinued but rather repositioned. Redken’s Solid Water had become a huge hit among people with curly and kinky hair. It was discontinued, and will be relaunched later this year as as a product specifically for curly hair.

When a favorite product is discontinued, consumers have several options. Usually, the company will have recommendations for other products that have similar qualities. Stylists also are a good resource, providing advice on the best products for a particular hair type. Fuss-Zipp says Redken always tries to provide a good replacement product, or a combination of products that can be used together to create the desired effect.

“People shouldn’t give up,” Fuss-Zipp says. “Their favorite product is probably still around somewhere in a different form with added benefits.

Some discontinued products find their ways to Web sites like eBay and stores like Big Lots. For example, one CurlTalker found some of her beloved Daily Defense Conditioner at a Florida Big Lots store. The original Herbal Essence Shampoo is available on eBay — for $59.50 a bottle!

Sometimes, consumers go to desperate measures to get ahold of an old favorite. One fan of the original Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo last year started a petition to get Clairol to bring back the original, fragrant dark green shampoo. People were asked to call a toll-free number or fill out an e-mail form on the Clairol Web site.

If there is enough outcry from consumers, a product may be brought back by a manufacturer. Fuss-Zipp says Touch Control Texture Whip, which was discontinued four years ago, will begin shipping again this month.

“People missed it,” Fuss-Zipp says. “People continued to ask for it. We re-evaluated our line and saw it as an opportunity to bring it back.”

Stylist Amie Zimmerman of Dirty Little Secret Salon in Portland recalled a curly client who showed her what she used to tame her hair.

“She came in with Dep Gel, hand lotion and coconut oil, and swore it was the only thing that would work,” Zimmerman says.

Any curly girl or stylist will tell you they have become makeshift chemists, creating their own mixtures of products in their search for the perfect solution for curls and kinks. These might include any possible combination of conditioners, gels, mousses, serums, creams and pomades. A product from one company often is mixed with products from others.

CurlTalker Velvet Paws, for example, puts on Curls Curl Enhancer Styling Lotion, followed by Curl Keeper, followed by Devacurl Angel, followed Long Lovely Locks Coco Light.

“It sounds like it would feel horribly producty, but it doesn’t at all,” she says. “It makes my hair very soft and shiny, with bouncy, defined waves and curls.”

Why do we depend on so many products to get the right look?

“The benefit of using more than one product in curly hair is that you can fine tune the texture and resilience of the curl and the shape of the style,” says Giovanni Giuntoli, a session artist for Redken. “Sometimes one product doesn’t give you all the benefits of two or three. It’s similar to giving your hair a multivitamin, compared to just a Vitamin C tablet. It helps out more.”

A favorite curl combination for Giuntoli is a mixture of Redken Glass Smoothing Serum and either a gel or Redken Guts Volume Spray Foam. He likes to follow that with a spritz of Redken Forceful Super-Strength Finishing Spray. He calls this cocktail the “Curlsmopolitan.”

“The Glass alone has no hold, but it has great shine and prevents frizz,” Giuntoli says. “The gel or Guts has medium to strong hold. The two together create a pliable consistency that is manageable and easier to use.”

Toronto stylist Jason Kearns loves to mix Joico Ice Whip with CHI Silk Infusium or ICE Gel for a crunchier curl.

“Any intelligent hairdresser is going to make cocktails,” Kearns says. “I’m a very firm believer in cocktails.”

Diedre Boone, owner of The Root of You Salon and Day Spa in Houston, which specializes in ethnic skin and hair care, says African-American and multi-ethnic women have a wide variety of hair types and one product rarely does the trick.

“The fact that their hair textures vary so dramatically, we find it necessarily to mix together different products on different people,” Boone says.

Depending on how thick, porous and kinky the hair is, she uses different concentrations of different products. A favorite combination for Boone is KeraCare Foam, which molds the hair, with Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding or Curly Buttercream, which both redefine the hair. She also likes to mix Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk with Graham Webb Making Waves for women with natural hairstyles.

“With curly hair, there are many challenges to fight,” says Ramie Roth, a session artist for Redken. “Each product fights one specific challenge. By combining products, the result is a combination of combatants for every type of challenge of curly hair, accomplishing an overall better look.”

Sometimes product cocktails may defy logic, Zimmerman admits.

“I’m always saying ‘Oh no, they’re using silicone-based, petroleum-based products with water-based products and they’ll never bond to the hair or distribute through their hair the way they want them to,” she says. “I imagine these fist fights between the water and petroleum, with the silicone waiting to wrap up the whole mess at the end. I’m a total geek!”

Zimmerman says she likes to keep her product combinations simple to prevent the ingredients from canceling each other out. She might mix MOP C-Curl with a leave-in conditioner to provide a softer hold, or a little styling gel with a straightening balm for loose, defined waves.

“I have two Kusco-Murphy conditioners I like to use together,” Zimmerman says. “One is a super-delicious smelling, light detangler with a lot of slip. And the other is a massively moisturizing, olive-leaf extract conditioner. The two together make the perfect conditioner combination.”

Some companies are catching on to this curly trend, and are responding with products meant to be mixed together. L’Oreal Professionnel is launching Hairmix by Textureline, three products designed to be used together for all types of curls and kinks. The line includes Supremesmooth smoothing cream, Spiralsplendor curl defining cream and Sublimeshine oil.

“For years, stylists have practiced blending products together to try and achieve the right formula for clients that would leave hair more manageable, soft and disciplined,” says Andrew Bartfield, L’Oreal Professionnel’s vice president of education. “All three products can be mixed to achieve the optimal level of control, moisture and shine.”

---

Some favorite combinations

John Paul Mitchell Systems: For fine-medium curly hair: Gloss Drops or Super Skinny Serum with Sculpting Foam or Round Trip with Super Skinny Serum. For coarse or frizzy hair: Mix a few drops of Foaming Pommade with Super Sculpt or with Super Clean Gel for more control.

Christo of Christo Fifth Avenue: a quarter size of Curlisto Structura Lotion with a nickel size of Curlisto Control II Gel. “You’re going to have a frizz-free summer.”

Lorraine Massey of Devachan Salon: I like to put half Mist-er Right and half AnGell or DevaCare Arc AnGell. You mix it in a spray bottle and then you have yourself a nice spray gel. If you like a stronger hold, add a little more AnGell.

When I go to the beach, I like to mix a concoction of 3/4 water and 1/4 Devacurl One Condition into a spray bottle.

Ramie Roth, session artist for Redken: Redken Fresh Curls Spin Control with a splash of Redken Glass Smoothing Serum, followed by Redken Fresh Curls Curl Boost.

Marsha Coulton, Curl Junkie: 3a-3b finer hair: Curl Junkie Give ‘Em Slip (use a little as a leave in”> with Coffee Coco Curl Creme. 3b thicker hair: Curl Junkie Hibiscus & Banana Deep Fix(use a little as a leave in”> with Guava & Protein Curl Creme. 3c: Curl Junkie Intense Protection, Guava & Protein Curl Creme

Ethan Shaw, Anne Kelso Salon, Austin, Texas: Devacurl B’Leave In followed by (for finer curls”> Bumble & Bumble Tonic mixed with Bumble & Bumble fine to medium Curl Creme or (for thick hair”> followed by Bumble & Bumble medium to thick Curl Creme and Devacurl Set it Free. If certain areas don’t want to curl as much, a little Aquage Illuminating Gelade helps a lot.

Dana Grandy, Snippets Salon, Chicago Illinois: Tigi Catwalk Curls Rock Curl Amplifier with Sebastian Xtah Bondage Gel.

CurlTalker CurlyNurseJenn: ABBA Nourishing mixed with ABBA Gel Lotion

CurlTalker Mrfhnl: (For rainy, humid days”> Curl Keeper on wet hair followed by Devacurl B’ Leave In, with Devacurl Angell to top it off.

CurlTalker SuZen: Boots Curling Cream, with Curl Keeper and Jessicurl Gelebration on top of it.

CurlTalker Beaglecookie: Curl Keeper, followed by AG Re:coil and Abba Weightless gel.

CurlTalker Kimmyc: Jessicurl Rockin’ Ringlet under Devacurl Angell

CurlTalker Lushaholic: AG Re:coil and Boots Curling Cream under Batia & Aleeza Bio-Herbal Mineral Styling Gel

CurlTalker Betweenshades: Jessicurl Aloeba under Jessicurl Rockin’ Ringlets under Suave Professionals Volumizing Gel

CurlTalker OctoberBaby02: AG Re:coil mixed with Paul Mitchell Super Sculpt Styling Glaze

CurlTalker Tooj68: Honey mixed with Devacurl One Condition or Jessicurl Too Shea. Then Curl Keeper under Long Lovely Locks Curls de Light mixed with a little Devacurl Angell. For ends, I like two pumps of Devacurl B’ Leave In mixed with a spritz of Devacurl Set It Free.

CurlTalker Sweetpeacurli: AG Re:coil with Long Lovely Locks Coco Light

CurlTalker Banjocurl: Devacurl One Condition as a leave-in conditioner. Then layer Boots Curling Cream, Curl Keeper and gel-of-the-day (Devacurl Angell, Batia & Aleeza Bio-Herbal Mineral Gel, ABBA Weightless Gel”>, plop and go!

Craig Davis has studied healthy living for the more than two decades — from “Planet Health,” his radio talk show on holistic health issues, to nutritional consulting work for companies.

His 3-year-old business, By Human Design, is a natural extension of this passion.He has hired top researchers and cosmetic formulators to create potions, elixirs and remedies made with ingredients used for centuries. The company sells Buddha Butter and Joshua Tree Lip Conditioner, with other several other skin-care products in the works.”From antiquity to the present day, natural healers have always used nature’s raw essence to benefit overall wellness and enhance personal beauty,” Davis says.

Buddha Butter is a blend of 25 healing herbs and oils from around the world, including jojoba oil, olive oil, aloe vera oil, black cumin seed oil, burdock root, ghee butter, mango butter, slippery elm bark, Turkey rhubarb root, stevia and red tea.

Black cumin seed, for example, is one of the most revered medicinal seeds in history. The seeds were found in the tomb of Tutankamun and are mentioned in the Bible, as well in the words of the Prophet Mohammed who stated that they cured everything but death itself. The seeds have been used to treat skin conditions such as acne, burns and psoriasis. Turkey rhubarb root was a favorite remedy with early physicians in Persia and Arabia and is used to relieve inflamed skin and conditions such as boils and burns. Red tea has been very effective used to treat eczema and irritated skin. Stevia eliminates dandruff and other scalp problems.

Davis says they have tinkered with the concentrations of herbs and oils in the product to find the most effective formulation — a blend that with the right pH balance to oxygenate and detoxify the skin.”It was a laborious process, but we’re more than satisfied with the outcome,” he says.Davis says he has seen people use the Buddha Butter successfully on everything from athlete’s foot to acne. Some female customers use it as a base for their makeup to protect the skin.”I’ve seen significant transformations in my own skin,” Davis says. “I’ve had a bump come up on my temple. After I apply some butter, it’s gone by the evening.

“The company’s other product, Joshua Tree Lip Conditioner, contains a blend of 13 desert extracts and exotic oils to moisturize, sooth and protect lips. It is sweetened with licorice root extract and spearmint oil.Davis believes chapped lips can affect more than your pucker.”Chapped lips provide a direct pathway for bacteria and other diseases to enter your bloodstream,” he says.

“Moisturizing and protecting your lips provides overall health and wellness when used daily. The more you put it on, the softer your lips get.”It’s only natural that Davis would pursue a career in the health and beauty industry. His father, Morrise Davis, was one of the founders of Pro-Line Haircare Co. — a 36-year-old haircare giant that has since been purchased by Alberto-Culver. The company’s product lines include Motions, TCB and Soft & Beautiful.

“It gave me a good understanding of the manufacturing process,” Davis says. “I watched them work with the chemists on such products as Comb Thru and Hair Food. I saw how to build a business.”Davis attributes his interest in wellness and herbs to his father’s death in 1978 from colon cancer. Once a huge fan of Popeye’s fried chicken, he became a strict vegan at 19, and still is very careful about the food he eats. He fasts before each seasonal change.”It was an opportunity to look at more holistic practices, and the things I needed to do to keep my body in shape and maintain wellness,” he says.

Davis has been making herbal products since he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he studied marketing and accounting.”I’ve got 23 years of experience with my own alchemy,” he says.After college, he befriended actor Will Smith, who introduced him to the entertainment industry. Davis wrote for Smith’s “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” as well as the “Jamie Foxx” shows. After four years of writing for TV, he wanted to pursue his entrepreneurial interests.

Now, at 41, he is devoting his energies to By Human Design. He is working on creating different variations of Buddha Butter specifically for different ailments as well as a microderm exfoliator, a toner, an aloe juice-based foaming cleanser and tinted lip balms.He says he is exactly the same age as his father was when he started Pro-Line.

“It’s a do over,” he laughs. “I think my company might surpass Pro-Line’s success. We’re working with people who are seeing their acne disappear inside of a week.”