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The No-Poo Method is an old movement that continues to evolve and gain popularity; celebrities, vloggers, and even hair stylists alike are jumping on the shampoo-shunning bandwagon. The most unlikely people are ditching their suds–folks with oily hair. So why would anyone choose to stop shampooing their strands? It comes down to training your hair. There have been claims that if you wash your hair less often you can actually train your hair to be less greasy. 

There have been claims that if you wash your hair less often you can actually train your hair to be less greasy.

The theory is based on the idea that shampoo creates a supply-and-demand relationship: It strips the hair of sebum (that oily substance that helps hydrate hair, as well as ward off bacteria and wetness”>. In order to compensate, our scalps produce too much of it, which in turn creates that grimy, dull, and greasy coating on our hair. Also, overusing styling products will weigh wave and curls down, in addition to unnecessary hair handling, which transfers oils from your fingertips to your hair.

No-pooing claims that, in order to get hair back to its most natural and purest state, you have to wean your locks off the sudsy, sulfate packed product. This often proves to be a painful process, particularly for the fine-haired wavy and curly flock. Complete with itchy scalps, vinegar rinses, obsessive hair brushing and slick-looking strands. “Your scalp produces oils at a constant rate, regardless of how often you wash your hair,” says Pantene Senior Scientist Jeni Thomas.

Fine hair generally gets oilier quicker since there’s simply more of it. Its small diameter means you have more strands hanging out on your head. And since each hair follicle produces oil, the more hair you have, the more oil you crank out.

Fine hair generally gets oilier quicker since there’s simply more of it.

Liz Cunnane, a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in New York City, has done extensive research on the topic at their New York and London clinics. She found that healthy hair is a result of a healthy, which includes a clean scalp. “Fine hair will always look better when it is freshly washed,” she says. “It will always have more body and movement when clean.”

But what if you have a thick or more textured hair type? “You will not need to shampoo daily, but you must remember that the process of shampooing and conditioning is important because it reintroduces moisture to the hair,” says Cunnane.

If your hair is fine, oily, and wavy or curly, try one of these co-washes in place of your shampoo:

• Pantene Pro-V Truly Natural Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner, $4.99
• Mop Top Clarifying Rescue Treatment, $9.99
• Follicleanse OS Conditioner, $20 
• SheaMoisture African Black Soap Balancing Conditioner, $9.99

To sum it up

Even though you cannot fool Mother Nature when it comes to taming your fine hair’s oil production, there are some tricks of the trade to keep limp, greasy locks at bay. Cunnane suggests using a shampoo that gently cleanses and adds body and contains certain ingredients, such as copolymer (for surface volume and aid in controlling flyaways”>, natural cellulose (to thicken texture”> and keratin protein (to strengthen and improve fullness”>.

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We’ve all heard it said that confidence is sexy. And you see it in action all time time. Surely each of us has fallen under the spell of a certain someone who exuded an irresistibly confident air, or watched a friend work her magic at a bar and wondered what it is that makes her such a guy magnet.

“Attractiveness is not measured completely objectively,” writes Art Markman, Ph.D., YouBeauty’s Psychology Advisor. “We judge people’s physical attractiveness by many factors including their actual body type and facial structure, the way they carry themselves, the way they dress, the social energy they project and the way they engage with us. Most of these factors are completely under your control. Anyone can project her beauty to others. It all starts with confidence.”

Great. Unless you lack confidence in the first place.

“If you struggle with confidence, it’s more difficult to feel good about yourself in many ways, including seeing yourself as sexy,” says YouBeauty Self-Image Expert Heather Quinlan. “If you don’t see yourself as sexy, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel sexy and project that self-image to others.”

While we can get the flowing hair, the perfect pout, the alluring fashions that are the hallmarks of sexiness, the ultimate accessory can’t be bought. Fortunately, it can be faked.

“Carrying yourself confidently (standing up straight, eyes forward, smiling”>, looking people in the eye and speaking clearly can convey confidence, even if you don’t truly feel that way, and may actually help you feel more sincerely confident,” says Quinlan.

Markman contends that confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pretend that you’ve got it and you’ll start to believe you do. And believing in yourself is the crux of the matter. He says, “If you walk with confidence that you don’t feel, if you speak clearly when you want to whisper, if you look life in the eye when you want to look away, then the world will respond to your actions.” And so will you. In the same way that putting on a happy face can actually make you feel happier, striking a confident pose can make you feel more confident in a very real way. A 2010 study by Harvard and Columbia University researchers found that after assuming a dominant stance for just one minute, volunteers reported feeling more powerful and in charge. There was a physiological response as well: They saw a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol, and a surge of testosterone, the hormone most associated with dominance.

“Your external world is a manifestation of your internal world,” says orthopedic surgeon Ken Hansraj, M.D. “It is well known that when human beings and animals feel optimized internally they manifest power by presenting good posture. This study reveals that the reverse is true as well. Get into good postures and then you can control your internal neurochemistry and the way you feel. This internally-based confidence leads to better productivity, sense of well-being, state of physical being and finally sexuality.” In his book, “Keys to an Amazing Life: Secrets of the Cervical Spine,” Hansraj argues that good posture—ears aligned with shoulders, shoulder blades retracted—is directly related to finding emotional and physical love.

The confidence question doesn’t end there, though. Once you’ve made a connection, the feedback loop to feeling confident can help you engage more fully and with greater satisfaction than you may be naturally inclined to. “People who have a poor body image or feel uncomfortable in their own skin often say that they’re self-conscious with intimacy,” Quinlan reports. “They may feel embarrassed or awkward being naked in front of another person and have trouble focusing on anything other than unhappiness with their own body.”

Manhattan sex therapist Stephen Snyder, M.D., points out that unlike men, who are generally turned on by outside stimuli, women get turned on by the idea that they are irresistible. What he calls “self-related cues” are an integral part of a woman’s sexuality. “As any sex therapist will attest, for a woman to feel good about sex often requires that she like how she feels in her jeans,” he says.

So should you fake it in the bedroom? That is, fake confidence? “Better to find something to delight you,” says Snyder, “such as a scent or an outfit that pleases you. Something you feel relaxed in.” And your partner can help you, too, he says, “by desiring you truly and honestly, and letting you know it.”

MORE: Test Your Confidence With the Self-Esteem Quiz

Confidence and power (not booty and cup size”> are the two attributes that came up again and again when we asked 11 guys to tell us about their top celebrity crushes. Browse through their responses to see what sexy really means.

9 Celebrities Who Got Pixie Cuts in 2013

Are Ponytails Bad for Your Hair?

The Scientist

Temitayo Ogunleye, M.D., a dermatologist and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania

The Answer

Ponytails are convenient and useful, but in general, women should treat their hair gently.

You shouldn’t feel like you’re giving yourself a mini-facelift every time you pull your hair back. Tight ponytails yank on the delicate hairs at the front of the scalp. These strands are the most susceptible to damage by traction (pulling”> and over time they can fall out.

This hair loss is temporary—but only at first. If you’re addicted to ponies (ponytails, that is, not adorable little horses”>, especially if you like them tight, or always wear them in the same spot on your head, you put yourself at risk of permanent loss around the hairline.

As many women experience with cornrows and weaves, constant traction can cause inflammation around the hair follicle, which can eventually damage the follicle itself and rob it of the ability to regrow new hair.

It’s a good idea to vary up the location of your ponytail—high, low, crown, side—to keep from abusing the same hairs in the same way, over and over. Even if you don’t damage the hair at the roots, you can break the shafts where the fastener rests day after day.

As far as what kinds of ponytail holders to use, the most important thing is to have a fabric covering over the rubber of your rubber band, to decrease snags. If the elastic becomes exposed, toss it and use a new one. Flat ribbon elastics are popular these days and might benefit your hair by distributing the tension more than traditional hair ties.

Finally, if your ponytail feels too tight, it probably is. They say beauty is pain, but too much tugging on your scalp irritates nerves and can cause headaches. That’s not pretty, no matter how good your top knot looks.

MORE:  Healthy Hair Quiz 

PHOTO COURTESY OF CURLYNIKKI

Michelle Williams’ polished brows and pale platinum crop featured in the Louis Vuitton fall 2013 ads have become the beauty reference of the season. It’s an elevated ladylike take on the strong brow/light hair trend that’s captured the imaginations of women because well… it’s just perfect. Celebs like Rita Ora and Miss Miley have twerked punkier versions on the red carpet as well.

We went straight to the nicest and most sought-after blonder in the business, Marie Robinson (who is a killer blonde herself”>, to get the scoop on how to realize your blonde ambitions without setting a wrecking ball to your hair.

If you aren’t familiar with Marie’s work, her buzzing salon in the Flatiron District of NYC is where Anne goes from brunette to platinum, Natalie maintains her shimmering brown and yes, where Michelle gets her creamy white blonde.

We also interviewed up-and-comer Meg Sanchez-Hartigan who cares for Marie’s own platinum locks, because if Marie trusts her, she must know her stuff.  We threw in a round of tips on brows because they are such an integral part of the look.

Q: Everyone is obsessing over the dark brow/light hair look—but do you have to go platinum to make it work?

A: Going platinum is always fun and being extreme is not for the faint of heart as it requires maintenance and time. You don’t have to be as platinum as I or some of our clients in order to have Rita Ora’s look.  You can simply brighten your natural color a little bit and then deepen your eyebrow one shade darker to create the same contrast and effect.

Q: You’ve been a beautiful redhead but now you’ve been blonde for a while. How do you care for your own platinum hair?

A: I use clear and/or white shampoos that are meant for color-treated hair so it doesn’t discolor my blonde. I’m not fussy with shampoos and change often between Pantene, L’Oréal and Wella. One product I never stray from is my once a week conditioning treatment ColoristCure. It’s an intensive treatment that removes product buildup on my hair shaft, coating my individuals hairs with essential oils. The result is bright, shiny hair!

Q: Are you in the camp that anyone can go blonde?

A: I do think anyone can go blonde and should try to at least once. There is a simple rule to follow: If cool tones or silver jewelry work on your skin then keeps tones cool; if you wear yellow gold and warmer colors that are autumnal, stick to warmer blondes. If you have very dark or olive skin tone, very light hair can be sexy and dramatic. However, leave your natural root or have a colorist create the natural root in your hair to keep your skin looking good.

Q: My friend Sara is devoted to you, and since she’s been coming to you her hair has become much healthier, yet you still manage to take her to a level of bright blonde that other colorists couldn’t. What’s your secret?

A: I don’t think I have any special secret! When coloring, I take care of the hair by not overlapping on hair that has been previously highlighted or lightened and I just retouch it to add brightness. I take care to add lightener to the new hair that hasn’t been colored yet. I also don’t over-process the hair and when it’s that perfect lightness, I don’t risk leaving it on. Another trick: Leave a little gold in the highlight and don’t lift to maximum whiteness because warmer blonde reflects more light than cooler blonde.

And Meg…(Meg Sanchez Hartigan, colorist at the Marie Robinson Salon and Marie’s current colorist”>

Q: Describe the technique you use to do Marie’s blonde.

A: On Marie I apply a concentrated bleach straight to her salt and pepper regrowth. Using a little bit of low heat I lift her roots to a pale-yellow and rinse in sections to assure evenness. We use toner, but only on her roots to shadow them just a touch and leave the rest bright and creamy.

Q: Besides Marie, where do you derive your inspiration?

A: The waitresses that work at Samurai Mama in Williamsburg always inspire me with their Japanese street style. They are such a treat to look at. Not only are they super sweet but their hair/makeup/outfits are always killer. I’ve never seen a cuter staff!!

Q: And do you think anyone can go blonde?

A: I think if you’re itching to bleach your hair out, everyone should try it once! However, the darker your natural hair, the harder it will be to bleach it to white blonde. Also, double processes don’t always have to be white blonde! A pale “paper bag” blonde can look beautiful on women with darker skin tones. Another factor to consider is the current state of your hair. If you’ve been coloring your strands midnight black you will have to cut it off and start from scratch. Bleaching out your hair can be a damaging process; the texture of it will permanently change until your natural grows out. It is A LOT of maintenance, but if you’re dedicated to taking care of it, it will be a head-turner!

And finally, brow tips from Landy Dean, makeup artist at the Marie Robinson Salon and for this shoot!

“I love a full, straighter brow. For shape reference think Audrey Hepburn and Lily Collins.” Follow his tips below to darken your brows the right way.

• For a platinum blonde, use a brow color that is ashy or smoky.

• Use a very fine-tip pencil to fill in spaces and or sparse areas. I love Vincent Longo Everbrow Micro Pencil in Black.

• Then darken the hairs with a darker shade of brow gel or pomade to keep the dimension. Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Deep adds volume and is a great neutral shade with a precise applicator.

MORE: The Exact Products to Buy If You Have Colored Hair

We sort of like the modern day Disney title of the classic fairytale “Rapunzel” better than the original. Why? Because we’re realists and “Tangled” is what being a longhaired princess (or everyday gal”> is all about: knots, split ends, damaged hair shafts and general mane malaise.

Consider this: Hair grows from its roots at an average rate of one centimeter per month. That means that if your hair is past your shoulders, which makes it at least 16 inches long (about 40 centimeters”> then your ends are over three years old! Just think about all the environmental abuse they’ve been through. All of these aggressors chip away at each hair’s cuticle, causing it to frizz out, feel brittle and be more prone to breakage.

MORE: Turn Brittle Hair Soft Again

It almost sounds like a miracle that anyone actually has long hair in the first place.

Yet, long, thick locks that have blinding shine and touchable softness remain to be the beacon of beauty, youth and vitality. The good news: It actually doesn’t take a miracle to make that happen. Using the right kinds of products and being mindful of your styling moves can ensure your hair stays healthy as it grows longer and longer and longer.

First, try not to wash your hair every day. “Daily washing will actually dry it out. Instead, skip every other day and use a dry shampoo if your roots are oily or your hair looks limp,” says New York based celebrity hairstylist Creighton Bowman, who works with Felicity Huffman and Jane Krakowski. When you do lather up, give your scalp a good massage, which will boost blood flow to your roots, helping follicles to function at peak performance and stimulate hair growth.

But don’t mess with the rest of your hair too much. Hair is actually even more fragile when wet because it can absorb as much as 45 percent of its own weight in water, causing it to stretch 2 percent longer and up to 20 percent wider—that’s a lot of tress stress! So suds up gently. Also, avoid using very hot water, because the heat will cause the hair shaft to open up and cause frizz. Always use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner so hair gets clean but still stays soft and manageable.

When you’re out of the shower, blot-dry your hair with a super absorbent, microfiber towel. Don’t rub back and forth with a regular nubby bath towel. Again, since you hair is still wet, it’s extra fragile and you must treat it with TLC. Smooth a detangling spray from ear level down to ends (your roots have enough natural sebum, so they don’t need extra product”>, then use a wide-tooth comb or specific detangling brush on wet hair (see some picks below”> to gently remove tangles. Always comb out your ends first, then gently work your way up to roots. This avoids cramming the comb down the whole length of knotted hair.

Look for styling products that also contain conditioning and strengthening ingredients like natural oils (argan, avocado, safflower, etc.”>, keratin and amino acids. Use a natural boar-bristle brush when styling, and stay away from accessories with metal clasps and tight hairstyles, which can tear your hair.

QUIZ: Is Your Hair Healthy?

As for maintenance, include a deep conditioning mask once a week. Apply it to freshly shampooed hair, then wrap a hot towel around it for 10 minutes, which will open up the hair shaft and let all the moisturizing ingredients sink in. (Tip: Zap a wet hand towel in the microwave for a minute or two.”> Rinse out the mask with cool water to seal up your hair cuticles.

Finally, trim your dead ends when necessary. Once split ends start, they’ll progressively get worse and work their way up the mid-shaft of your hair. “Dry, brittle hair may need trims every few weeks while healthier hair can go a few months,” says Bowman.

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For this and other hair health articles, check out YouBeauty.com

Picture a typical hair salon: rows of chairs lined up with big mirrors positioned on the wall in front of each. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. But imagine if those mirrors weren’t there and instead, you settled into your chair and let your hairstylist do her thing while you waited blindly to see the finished product.

Are we giving you anxiety yet? Trusting someone with a pair of scissors anywhere near your head is a big feat. But a new salon in New York City, O&M.nyc, the first U.S. salon by Australian-based Original & Mineral, takes that notion of trust to a new level by removing the mirrors from the equation. Instead, clients sit around a custom-built wooden table where they can converse with others or watch a black and white movie projected on the wall.

MORE: Change Your Hairstyle Without Cutting It

Janelle Chaplin, creative director for Original & Mineral, says that going mirrorless is meant to create a more relaxed feeling for clients. “It’s a more personal experience and not as awkward as talking to someone through a mirror,” Chaplin says. “There are less boundaries for conversation about your styles,” she notes, which allows the stylist to better match the exact cut and color that clients are asking for.

But are most women really willing to fully trust a hairstylist with such an important part of their appearance? Vivian Diller, Ph.D., clinical psychologist in NYC and author of “Face It: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change,” is a little skeptical, considering how important hair is to most women.

MORE: Why Hair Is So Precious to Us

Our attachment to our hair, Diller says, “goes back hundreds and thousands of years to an association with being an attractive, fertile woman.” Now, our roles are more numerous than just attracting a mate, she says, but having hair that we feel in control of is still an important part of our female identity. Unlike other aspects of our appearance, we can easily change our hair and choose how we want it to be cut, what color we want it to be. Relinquishing that control to a stylist takes serious trust.

“So I think the whole notion of sitting around a table and handing your style or your beauty over to someone is great in theory, but the fact is you have to have a strong sense of yourself and you have to have a good bond with your hairdresser,” Diller says. “I think to make that concept work,” she adds, “it would mean hairstylists developing the kind of relationship with their client that’s based on knowing their client.”

MORE: What Your Hair Says About You

Although it could be scary, she does note that giving up control can also be refreshing and eye opening. “The liberating, relaxing feeling that you’re handing something over that matters to you to someone else, that’s a wonderful feeling,” she says. “And it may be a good experiment to recognize how dependent you are on a mirror.” But realistically, she doesn’t see most women being brave enough to give up that control.

So far, according to Chaplin, reactions from salon-goers have been very positive. “We have hand mirrors available; however, most have loved not looking at themselves during the process.” “It is wonderful for networking,” she adds, but “the table is large enough that you still have privacy if you want. It is like having your hair done in a chic loft. The very modern concept empowers women, as they do not have look at themselves for two hours during the process.”

MORE: Beach Wave Tips, Straight From Surfers Themselves

Few things are as startling as spotting your first grays. But while we associate silver strands with older age, on average, women gray from age 25 onward, and top stylists say they’re seeing more women in their 20s and 30s coming in to the salon with gray hair these days.

“I think women are more stressed out than ever, and that’s likely accounting for the younger and younger clients I see with gray hair,” says Lisa Stephenson, creative director for Sassoon Salon NYC Uptown.

In short: More of us than ever are dealing with those first grays at all stages of our lives.

Yet when you have just a few strands of gray, a full head of color correction is too much of a time (and money!”> commitment. Fortunately, leading stylists have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves to make emerging grays look stylish and chic. Here are their top tips.

Do NOT Pluck!

Apparently, this is as close to a cardinal sin as one can get. Sure, when it’s just a stray strand or two, grabbing the tweezers can feel super tempting—but experts say you may live to regret the shortcut. “Plucking can damage the hair follicle and the strand may never grow back—and as you age and your hair naturally thins, you’ll need every strand of hair you can get,” warns New York City salon owner and stylist Mark Garrison. “Gray hair is perfectly good hair—it just needs pigment. Never under any circumstances pluck perfectly good hair from your head!” adds Adam Livermore, celebrity colorist and Oribe Hair Care educator. OK, OK, we promise not to pluck!

Play With Your Part Line

For many women, grays often grow in more heavily on one side of the head than the other. “If grays are more prominent on one side, try switching your part to the other side,” says Mike Petrizzi, AgeBeautiful artistic director. A zigzag or diagonal part may also help conceal grays that are growing in more scattered around the head.

Clip It

Try styling with barrettes and pretty hair jewelry clips (we love the selection on Etsy”> to neatly pin gray strands beneath colored locks in a very intentional-looking way, suggests Petrizzi. A simple half-up style clipped at the back of the head without a part can adeptly disguise stray grays growing at the crown that can otherwise stand out like a spotlight.

Get the Right Cut

For clients whose first grays are around the face or on the sides of their head, Stephenson designs hair to disguise the grays. “I cut layers shorter in the back and longer in the front so that hair falls forward,” she explains. A blowout with a brush that accentuates the forward-falling motion can help cement the clever style.

Go For Gloss

“For clients who are beginning to gray and don’t want a huge change, I use gloss to camouflage the grays and make them look like natural highlights,” says Livermore. Gloss (sometimes also referred to as glaze”> adds a sheer touch of semipermanent color to strands that washes out in a couple to a few weeks, and also comes with the benefit of adding beautiful glass-like shine to strands.

Turn Grays Into Highlights

If grays are numbering more than just a few, you can paint highlights directly in small sections to turn those wiry strands into a face-brightening effect. “Stick to a highlight shade that’s close to your base color, and it’ll look very natural,” advises Garrison.

Try A Root Concealer

The popular root cover up category that has exploded in recent seasons is chock full of products that work brilliantly on gray strands, too. Livermore is a fan of Roux Tween Time Temporary Hair Color Touch-Up Sticks and Jerome Russell Temporary Color Sprays. Petrizzi says that hair powder and root mascara are excellent temporary solutions for random gray strands that may pop up here and there.

Sweep On A Single-Process

When those few gray strands turn into more than you can handle with tricks, or you’re spending too much time obsessing over concealing them, going with a simple single-process color is an easier route than many women imagine. “Cost and maintenance with single process color are low, and the opaque color erases them completely,” says Livermore. And if it’s literally just a few strands that are gray, there’s no reason you can’t just color those pesky few. “You don’t always have to do your whole head,” says Garrison.

Embrace The Grays!

Attention aging gracefully advocates: Stephenson says that sharp haircuts with confident angles can make gray strands look incredibly chic. “I have a client whose gray grew in a streak on one side of her head, and I made that side longer and the other side shorter so that the gray streak was actually a focal point—and she loved it!” shares Stephenson, who adds that the client even felt her special streak imbued her with a feistier attitude.

Goat’s Milk

Like many a smart working woman in Kingston, Jamaica, the hustling-bustling capital city, Michelle Yap-McKay pooh-poohed goats’ milk, dismissing it as a common beverage consumed only by the people living in the rural parts of the country where goats roamed free. Even if the grannies and aunties of the villages touted goats’ milk as an elixir for tight, glowing skin and overall good health, it was definitely not on Yap-McKay’s list.

But then one day, the rigors of the corporate world caught up with her.

“I was getting physically exhausted and sicker spiritually, and I didn’t know what to do,” she says. An herbalist recommended she drink goats’ milk, and very quickly, Yap-McKay realized her grandmother had always been right.

MORE: Nordic Secrets For Natural Beauty

“My skin was softer, clearer, like the layers of old skin had been peeled off and my baby skin was coming out,” she says. In addition to drinking it, Yap-McKay—who also credits goats’ milk for the improvement in her overall well-being—discovered that the fat in it contains high amounts of alpha hydroxy acids (AHA”>, in particular lactic acid, which sloughs off dead cells when applied topically, “in order to reveal absolutely new skin underneath and lighten and brighten the complexion.” Goats’ milk is also packed with vitamin A, which repairs damaged skin tissue, she says, and minerals such as selenium, which can guard against the effects of the sun.

Today, Yap-McKay is a self-confessed goats’ milk convert and the creator of Ital Blends, a brand of soaps and skincare products that seek to leverage the many benefits of goats’ milk and further enhance its properties by blending the milk with a range of different kinds of plants and herbs that are found in the cool Blue Mountains region of Jamaica where she now lives.

Tropical Plants

She is also one of a small but growing number of Caribbean beauticians, scientists and entrepreneurs who are pioneering a movement to bring back the many natural treasures that the region abounds with and shed light on the cornucopia of plants, leaves, fruits and flowers of the islands that, although a staple part of health and wellness in the past, have been overshadowed in the region’s recent history.

MORE: Three Must-Have Caribbean Beauty Brands

The islands of the Caribbean weren’t always the resort-laden, tourist havens that they are today. These islands have literally been built up from nothing, and for years, their residents just had to make do with whatever was around them. The list is long, and includes the likes of aloe, sorrel (a variant of the hibiscus flower”>, papaya, prickly pear cactus, licorice and castor oil seeds, to name a few. These and many others can be found throughout the Caribbean, and in the past were used as health, beauty and nutrition staples by generations of island residents simply because, like the sea that surrounds them, they were just there.

Through the years, poverty, economic duress and distance from the mainland have all posed multiple challenges to development in the Caribbean, but so too has the weather, in particular the blinding heat of the tropical sun. It’s almost a blessing that nature has been so bountiful and that plants like the miraculous aloe, whose leaves contain a gel that is simply bursting with nutrients, enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and minerals, and which calms and cools the skin and protects it against the sun, should abound in the Caribbean. The succulent inner layer of the aloe leaf, which Caribbean folk cut out and consume either as juice or as is, is also full of polysaccharides that help enhance the immune system by enabling cells to weed out the toxins and retain nutrients.

MORE: 7 Habits That’ll Give You Great Skin

Beauty Benefits

Generations of Caribbean men and women have also used aloe for smoothening out their hair. They have fashioned softening and hydrating face packs out of the papaya fruit, which contains, among other ingredients, lycopene (which protects the skin against UV damage”>, lutein and enzymes that soothe the skin, and used the leaves of the quaco-bush in lieu of soap for its cleansing properties and as a cure for the common cold.

Aching and sore feet have been relieved with Pepper Elder leaves, which have cooling properties similar to menthol, and the prickly pear cactus, a relative of aloe that contains a rare form of antioxidant known to lower blood sugar levels, has also been used to scrub out sand from between toes and fingers, since it contains lignin that when released, takes on a soap-like consistency.

Skin Lightening

But as much as bush medicine and natural health and beauty remedies played an important role in the Caribbean’s history, that same history has also shaped and conditioned beauty ideals. The historical inevitabilities of slavery and colonialism in particular have left their indelible mark on the region, so that today, the most coveted facet of beauty is, ironically, the least attainable: light skin.

MORE: The Best Natural Skincare Products

“The color and the fear of being darker than you are is something that I am sad to say I grew up with, and it is still a top concern in the Caribbean, but not so much from a health angle,” says Patrice Yursik, aka Afrobella, a widely known blogger (she’s on Ebony’s Power 100 list, alongside the likes of Jay-Z, Oprah and the Obamas”> who celebrates the natural beauty of black women. “I mean, it’s never presented as ‘you should stay out of the sun because you may get skin cancer,’ but ‘because you will get darker,’ so it’s all about skin bleaching instead of sunscreen.”

Indeed, the widespread usage of skin whitening creams is a huge problem on many islands, particularly Jamaica, where skin bleaching has reached such alarming levels that even the poor are spending fortunes they don’t have on commercial products that claim to lighten the skin, some of which may be loaded with noxious chemicals.

That aside, the prolonged usage of commercial skin lighteners and whitening creams is in and of itself dangerous and extremely detrimental to the skin in the long run, says Cheryl Bowles, a former chief chemist for Nestle and the founder of the Cher-Mere line of natural skincare and beauty. Dark skin produces melanin and this makes it naturally prone to dark spots and hyperpigmentation, she says, both of which become exacerbated by the usage of bleaching creams, particularly in a hot and sunny climate.

MORE: Surprising Causes of Hyperpigmentation

Like Yap-McKay, Bowles is also looking to bring more women and men in the Caribbean full circle back to where things began, by focusing her line of skincare products and soaps on the idea of overall well-being. Bowles, who now runs spas in her native Trinidad & Tobago and in Barbados, and who is looking to open outlets in Canada and the United States, is bringing her scientific knowledge and experience back home and works closely with the University of the West Indies to study the Caribbean’s many natural plants and flowers to lend scientific backing to traditional beliefs in their properties.

Take sorrel, for instance. The bright red flower is made into a juice that’s drunk at Christmas time throughout the Caribbean, “but our studies have shown us that it is packed with antioxidants and with vitamin C and E that are vital for good skin, so even if our grandmothers did not have the scientific rationale, they knew from intuition and a sense of nature,” she says. Bowles is also studying the properties of bois-bande, a tree species from St. Lucia whose bark was traditionally consumed for its aphrodisiacal properties, but also has very strong astringent properties (she’s integrated it into a line of aftershaves for men”>; and licorice, which contains glabridin, an element that suppresses the formation of melanin and therefore lends itself well to the skin lightening many Caribbean women desire.

Thanks to product lines like Cher-Mere, a new generation in the Caribbean is slowly but surely coming back to their roots, Yursik says. But the benefits of the herbs and plants of the region are universal, since the power of nature always transcends boundaries.

MORE: Natural Beauty Oils From Around the World

You have begged, you have pleaded, wondered what kind of voodoo magic Demi Moore is up to and finally, given up. But there’s no question that countless middle-aged women share the same lament: “Why—really, why?—won’t my hair grow any faster? And is it just me, or does it seem to get slower each year?”

Long Hair in Hollywood

In a world of Blake Livelys and Giseles (not to mention plenty of more mature leading ladies”>, it can seem like everyone is sporting insanely long locks. But keep in mind two things. One, natural, mid-back hair growth is not as common as Hollywood would have you think. While there’s no statistic measuring the overall population’s varying hair lengths, consider a Los Angeles hair expert’s very educated guess. “Oh please, it’s so rare! So many women have extensions. It’s very, very unusual to see naturally long hair. I’d roughly estimate it’s not even 10 percent of women,” says Christophe Belkacemi, a top stylist at the Serge Normant at John Frieda salon in LA.

Growth Stages

Second, the hair’s anagen phase (aka the growth stage that is crucial to achieving great lengths”> is, like everything else in the world of beauty, seemingly wasted on the young. A P&G (makers of such hair care as Pantene and Herbal Essences”> report on the hair growth cycle found the following: “As people grow older, the period of anagen shortens. For example, the hair of someone with a five-year anagen can grow to a length of 60 centimeters before it enters the shedding phase. If their anagen period drops to three years as they age, their hair will then grow only to shoulder length before it falls out or is brushed out.” Not exactly Demi territory.

MORE: The Science of Hair Growth

There’s another new, semi-depressing finding on the correlation between hair growth and aging. Biologically, researchers are finding that hair simply changes. Another in-depth study executed by P&G found that sebum (oil”> production overall but here, specifically on the scalp, decreases rapidly starting at age 45. When hair becomes less able to keep itself hydrated, it can become coarser-looking and more susceptible to breakage. Again, not exactly conducive to growth.

Care & Growth

And that leads us to the TLC factor. In the latter study, a few findings help explain why at some point, hair basically just kind of gives up in protest. First off, the actual diameter of individual hair strands lessens, which simply means your hair may look skimpier—hardly adding to the illusion of long, cascading locks. Additionally, consider a recent Unilever North America study, which spouted the following statistic: Long hair (that is 24 centimeters long, to be exact”>, will have 19,122 split ends. Lack of conditioning and breakage from brushing means your hair won’t stand a chance when it comes to length. Talk about growing pains.

Then again, the difference between you and some of the red carpet’s finest could simply be a change in your regimen. Heat styling addicts take note: Step away from the hair dryer. The less you damage strands with high temps (heat weakens cuticles”>, the more you encourage the growth of long hair—healthier tresses more easily withstand breakage. Additionally, with a slew of new heat protectant lines now on the market—Tresemmé makes a new affordable line called Platinum Strength, which contains conditioning agents meant to mimic the natural lubrication strands lose with age—even flat iron junkies have no excuse to not pre-treat hair before turning up the heat. “Any kind of nourishing base will help protect your hair,” says Belkacemi. “I recommend doing a deep conditioning mask (Serge Normant’s Meta Velour is good”> once every 10 days. You would do a mask for your face, so why not your hair?” Think of it as applying moisturizer or primer before you apply your makeup. It should be that basic.

MORE: Thinking About Bangs? Get The Perfect Fringe For Your Face

Curls More Susceptible

And curly girls take note, too, because P&G research finds your hair is even more susceptible to damage. Make sure to incorporate hyper-moisturizing conditioning products into your daily routine, and pop biotin pills, which may help fortify strands.

Of course, at the end of the day, it might be unavoidable. You may have done all you can, yet it still stands that nothing is happening past your shoulders. While extensions may start to look enticing, think twice. Besides the astronomical cost, they tend to exacerbate the problem. Says Belkacemi, “Extensions at least give you a youthful feeling, psychologically. But they are also counterproductive because they pull on the scalp and can cause thinning and breakage.”

An even simpler, cheaper and infinitely cooler solution? You can still create the illusion of length with a great cut and the right texture. Belkacemi says an all-one-length, blunt and straight style will appear longest, as opposed to layers, which chop up the silhouette and draw the eye up. And if you happen to be blessed with the ultra long hair you grew out in your youth, don’t forget to take a closer look. While we could care less about those old-fashioned notions that say women of a certain age should wear shorter styles (and we hope you feel the same way!”>, there’s no denying that when you’re dealing with majorly frayed ends thanks to years of abuse and an increased frizz factor—yes, hair also gets frizzier with age—it may mean you’d be better off with a chic, “long” bob. It’s better to rock a style that looks healthy than just long. Demi be damned: You want your lengths, no matter what the measurement, to be great.

MORE: 3 Natural Oils That Improve Hair Health

Hairspray: It’s a word that conjures up so many images—most of them outdated.

Consider gravity-defying styles like the beehive, pompadour, über-teased bangs, and big 80’s hair; all impossible without this sticky aerosol fixative.  Hairsprays of the past did the job of holding hair in its place—perhaps too well—making these spritzes synonymous with helmet head, hard-to-wash-out lacquers, a crunchy, gummy texture and alcohol-based formulas.

But those days are over.  There are so many tricks today’s hairsprays can do—from hold to height and humidity protection—that this ‘80s staple is back in rotation.

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Is hairspray back?

“Every strand of hair has a blood supply, and reflects what’s going on in the body,” says Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of “Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty.”

Textured hair looks naturally thicker and more voluminous, which we subconsciously take to mean that the wearer has a more robust supply of nutrients, making her more sexually attractive. Just one more reason waves, curls and coils are a hot commodity!

Hollywood is getting in on the extra-sexy volume with something we like to call mermaid waves. “It’s like mermaids are the new vampires!” says celebrity stylist Larry Sims, who tends to the locks of Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington. “Mermaid waves differ from beach waves in that they’re more polished and glamorous, with a distinct Hollywood feel,” he adds.

Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence just rocked them at the SAG Awards, models at the Monique Lhuillier and Moschino Spring 2013 Fashion Week shows bounded down in the catwalk in them, and Amanda Seyfried can’t get enough of them.

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MORE: The Psychology of Hair

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If you want to get in on the action, the good news is that you can achieve mermaid waves with or without heat. Hydrated strands are essential, so use your favorite deep conditioner in the shower, or leave-in treatment once you get out. Then apply a waving spray to microfiber towel-dried strands (we like göt2be Beach Trippin’ Salt Infusion Waving Spray, $5.99 at drugstores in February.”>

Blow-dry hair if you’d like to use heat. Then wrap small inch-wide sections around a conical curler, gently finger combing through the sections once finished to soften the style, advises Sims. Or as a natural alternative, divide hair into at least two sections and braid each one. Allow the braids to air-dry, ideally overnight. Then take out your braids, gently finger comb, and show off your slamming new waves.

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MORE: Haircuts for Wavy Hair

Being able to identify plants is more than plant-nerd cool. It’s real world cool because it means that you can forage, and isn’t foraging just about the trendiest thing a nature lover can do these days?

With wild gathered food featured on the menus of the finest restaurants in the world — Copenhagen’s Noma, a restaurant serving foraged ingredients, has topped Restautant Magazine’s “World’s 50 Best” list for the third year in a row — foraging has officially moved past its pauper roots and into the realm of real-world consideration, and not only for sustenance, but for beauty products, as well.

There is a special kind of joy that comes from foraging that gets right to the heart of what makes it a wonderful pastime. It is a treasure hunt; it is beautiful way to get in touch with your surroundings and the cycles of the seasons; and it nurtures your soul to move through the landscape and see it with a different set of eyes.

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MORE: Read Leaf Magazine’s Autumn 2012 Issue

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Disclaimer: When foraging, be sure that you follow foragers’ guidelines. Know what you are picking, do not pick an area clean (leave plants to grow for the next person and the next season”>, and use with caution. Many plants have powerful medicinal qualities, and should be treated with care when ingesting or using on your body. Be sure to consider allergies.

Flip through our gallery for foraging ideas, and follow the recipe below it to distill your plants into botanical tinctures or oils, which you can then use on your skin alone, in our cold cream recipe (also below”>, or to add a dose of ski-improving punch to your bath or shower.

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Foraged Beauty Recipes

Question: Do you have a signature style? Are you presenting yourself and your hair in a way that’s true to who you really are and does it make you feel beautiful?

I think individuality often gets lost these days and that’s a shame. Even on the red carpet, everyone looks the same. Where are today’s Chers and Diana Rosses? Where are all the iconic beauty moments?

Finding your individual style and being happy with it is such a positive affirmation. Sure, not everyone can be (or would want to be”> Cher, but every woman has the power to find the hairstyle that makes her feel like she is being true to herself.

I like to promote individuality in women. The icons of beauty have stuck by their own looks. The most beautiful women in the world are the ones who have individual style and are comfortable being themselves. They’re the ones we really look at and remember.

MORE: What is Your Hair Saying About You?

When I look back in history at women who stand the test of time with their style and beauty, they’re women with a strong sense of self. At the time it might have seemed like they were being outlandish, provocative or that they were pushing buttons, but really they just knew who they were and didn’t apologize for it.

I recently worked with Kristen McMenamy on a photo shoot — she’s an iconic model from the eighties who is still modeling in her late forties. She always has (and still does”> push buttons. Right now her hair is completely gray, but she wears it long to her waist. People might say, “She’s in her forties — why doesn’t she cut it or dye it?” But if she did cut it, she would look mumsy and frumpy — she would lose herself.

We look up to her because we love people who bend the rules. We love an anarchist. We love a woman who stands up for herself and says, “This is the way I look and this is the way you are going to see me.” It’s a very attractive quality. Sometimes they make us nervous because they’re outspoken, but we need people like that in this world.

Liza Minnelli, Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross — these are women we remember.

QUIZ: How Healthy is Your Hair?

Your hair can help you project who you really are. When you look in the mirror, I want you to be able to say, “My hair represents who I am.” That’s very important because people read you by your hair very quickly.

The reason hair is so important to fashion shows is because, when the girls first walk out, the editors look at the hair and shoes straight away to decipher the message the designer is trying to get across. It’s a very quick indicator of what is about to happen.

To find your individuality and signature style, it’s very important to look at yourself differently. Try to strip away any preconceived ideas of what you “should” look like.

MORE: The Psychology of Hair

It sounds strange, but look long and hard in the mirror and sit with yourself. Pull your hair up and to the side and down and all around. Think about it: When does your hair make you feel happy? When do you feel the most comfortable? When do you feel most beautiful? Really be honest with yourself.

Experiment with your beauty — experiment with your hair. Somewhere along the way you’ll stumble upon what’s really you. If you never take chances with your beauty, with your hair color, your haircut or a new style, you’re never going to find out who you truly are. It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering change — sometimes it can be as simple as switching your part from one side of your head to the other.

It’s very hard to let yourself stick out, because we’re not sure. It’s easy to blow dry your hair instead of leaving it curly and wild because you know that if it’s straight and shiny people will say you have pretty hair. But you might have lovely wavy, coarse, thick hair that could look beautiful if left natural.

Like I said in my past column, there’s no right or wrong hair. We’re so open nowadays — natural hair, very “done” hair, sleek and straight, punk, dreads, pixie — it doesn’t matter. It’s not an era like the fifties where we’re all stuck in the same look. The only ruts we get stuck in are the ones we bring on ourselves.

The women we look at as iconic are the ones who are happy with their style, whatever it may be. That is when we think: “Wow, I wish I could feel like that.”

What a fantastic affirmation to think that someone could be thinking that about you.

Read More: Textured Hair Sweeps Fox Dance Show

When we think of hair gel, we think of Elvis, Snooki…and King Tut.

Wait. What?

Yup. Believe it or not, a new study suggests that ancient Egyptians styled their hair with a fatty compound that resembles modern-day hair gel. In fact, some of the styles were even strikingly similar to styles seen on the red carpet today. Now that’s trendsetting.

MORE: Find Your Signature Hairstyle

A research team led by Dr. Natalie McCreesh at the University of Manchester studied the hair samples of more than a dozen male and female mummies, both young and old (if you can call a three thousand-year-old mummy young”>. They found that some mummies used this “gel” on their hair both in everyday life and in preparation for death, which gives scientists new insight into two fascinating areas of study.

“We have known that hair was important to the ancient Egyptians, yet never before have we seen the use of ‘product’ to style the natural hair. Most other research has focused on wearing wigs,” McCreesh said, explaining that research suggests more noble Egyptians wore wigs. That may explain why most peoples’ ideas of Egyptian hair conjures up images of Liz Taylor as Cleopatra.

“We have also discovered that special care was taken to preserve the deceased’s hairstyle during the mummification procedure, placing significance on retaining the individual’s appearance in the afterlife.”

The gelled styles discovered on both male and female mummies ran the gamut from short and curly, to long and wavy. Some children even wore short styles slicked back and to the side, McCreesh said. Apparently mummies knew how they wanted their ‘do done, just like us!

QUIZ: How Healthy is Your Hair?

So where can we get our hands on this time-tested (literally”>, all-natural hair gel? Well, that’s where you might have to be patient. The exact recipe is still a mystery to scientists. It contains palmitic and stearic acid, but from there it gets a little fuzzy. Until then, you’ll just have to stay tuned. It seems the real secrets of the tomb are yet to come!

The Science Behind Grays

It’s long been believed that we go gray when the cells in the hair follicle (called melanocytes”> stop injecting the strands with melanin. For most people, those first errant strands start popping up sometime in the mid-30s to early 40s, but for some, it occurs even earlier than that. The result: an unpigmented hair that, despite its gray appearance, is actually white.

“Each hair follicle stops producing melanin at different times,” says Perry Romanowski, a cosmetic chemist in Chicago. “So the combination of white hairs lying against other colored strands makes them appear gray.”

But a breakthrough three years ago at the University of Bradford in Great Britain found that was only half of the gray hair puzzle. They discovered that youthful hair cells produce hydrogen peroxide that gets converted into hydrogen and oxygen. But as we age, even that system starts slowing down leaving hair to essentially bleach strands from the inside out.

Genetics also play a role, as does genotoxic stress (chemical stressors that bring about DNA damage”>, not the plain-‘ol my-kids-are-driving-me-crazy melee. A stressful life event such as divorce or illness can also trigger a condition that causes hair to shed more quickly and the regenerated hair could grow back gray.

Read More: Genotoxic Stress Turns Hair Gray

To Dye or Not to Dye?

So now that hair is essentially colorless, it should be easy to chemically add it back in, right? Unfortunately, no. “Gray hair completely lacks melanin and doesn’t have anything to back up the pigments, so the color appears washed out,” says Ni’Kita Wilson, YouBeauty Cosmetic Chemistry Expert. Think of it as white paint on a white wall versus a layer of white paint on a glass window; the color won’t be as pronounced.

Coloring gray hair may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Black and brown tones will have the easiest time reviving their strands as “darker dyes are absorbed best by gray hair,” says Romanowski. And while blondes and redheads may have to work harder to camouflage those ashy strands, grays aren’t as apparent on lighter shades as they are on deeper ones.

Read More: The Best Hair Color for Your Skintone

For locks that are about 20 to 25 percent gray, use a demi- or semi-permanent hair color that’s closest to your natural tone in order to blend away the grays with minimal damage to the hair. Both types deposit color without ammonia, but the demi-permanent color “uses a stronger concentration of hydrogen peroxide to open up the hair cuticle and inject more color,” says Romanowski. As a result, demi-permanent color lasts almost twice as long as semi-permanent. Semi-permanent color delivers a rich, shiny color but fades out in six to 12 shampoos.

If more than half of your hair is gray, go the permanent color route. Permanent hair color contains ammonia which opens the hair cuticle to allow the color to penetrate.

Many colorists advise not taking on the challenge of coloring gray hair yourself — at least not the first time. “Gray hair is not something you want to take a chance on,” says Vasken Demirjian, a hair colorist and owner of a salon in White Plains, New York. “See a colorist who has studied color and has had years of practice.” Keep in mind, too, that if things go haywire as you DIY, the color correction can cost more than a regular salon visit for coloring.

Caring for and Coloring Gray Hair

Whether you are between salon visits or starting to see a few grays pop up, products with temporary hair color can work wonders, thanks to foolproof application and a wide range of color choices. The following products conceal grays effectively and help maintain hair health.

Read More: Celebrities with Gray Hair

1. For Strays and Small Amounts of Gray. “For most people, gray hairs start sprouting around the temples and the hairline,” says Vasken Demirjian, a hair colorist and owner of Vasken Demirjian Salon in White Plains, New York. “Hair mascaras are great Band-Aids to hide grays in between colorings,” says Demirjian. Generation Klean’s Gray Disappear contains moisturizing vitamin E and panthenol and is free of parabens, sulfates and propylene glycol. Results last until your next shampoo.
2. For Touch Ups. Colorists recommend Roux’s Tween-Time Touch Up Stick because “it’s an ideal temporary fix for your hair part,” says Giselle, a hair colorist at the Riccardo Maggiore Salonin New York City. This combination of paraffin and synthetic beeswax binds color to the hair and lasts until you wash it out. To apply, dampen the stick or apply straight to wet hair.
3. For Lifeless Locks. Grays are more prone to dryness than pigmented hair. Hydration is key. To pre-empt parched, wiry strands, strengthen locks with Yarok’s nourishing treatment serum. Massage a dropperful of the avocado, apricot, yarrow and orange blossom oil blend from scalp to strand before shampooing.
4. For Large Sections of Gray Hair. You can cover a decent chunk of gray regrowth in seconds flat with Gray Away Root Concealer. The temporary color (available in four shades”> comes in aerosol form and adjusts to you hair tone. It’s also sweat-proof and stays put until the next time you shampoo. Point the nozzle toward roots and move the can continuously for even coverage. Use on dry hair for best results.
5. For Easy Maintenance. The TouchBack Plus line of color-depositing shampoos and conditioners help professional color go the distance. The wash-in tone adheres to roots and stray grays for up to three washes. Available in eight shades.
6. An Easy DIY Option. Clairol Natural Instincts is a non-permanent, ammonia-free, hair color kit that helps blend away grays while adding more depth and dimension. “I recommend it to first timer DIYers.” says Giselle. “It’s easy to do and lasts for up to 28 shampoos.” The ColorTreat conditioning treatment that’s included contains panthenol and coconut oil to strengthen locks, giving them bounce and vitality.
7. Another great option is to moisturize, protect and care for your gorgeous gray curls as they grow in. With the right treatment and without the harshness of constant coloring, your gray curls can be even more stunning than they were before! You won’t even think of covering them up!

According to a Wella survey, 92 percent of women have dyed their hair at some point in their lives. So when that gorgeous, gleaming color suddenly turns a weird shade of who-knows-what or gets crazy dull a few weeks (or days”> later, know you’re not alone. Others have suffered the same fate. But could the right shampoo have saved you from washing that amazing color down the drain or are those color-treated formulas just marketing hype? Here’s what you need to know about caring for colored strands.

The argument FOR sulfate-free shampoos

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

Here’s where it gets tricky: There’s not really any scientific proof that going lighter on the suds’ strength makes any difference to hair color preservation. “Shampoos for color-treated hair tend to be sulfate-free but there are no published studies that validate the theory that sulfates fade hair color faster than other surfactants or detergents,” says Ni’Kita Wilson, YouBeauty’s Cosmetic Chemistry Expert.

But there’s no lack of anecdotal evidence. Kyle White, lead colorist at Oscar Blandi in New York City says he can instantly tell the difference between clients who follow his strict healthy hair checklist and those who don’t (plus, abiding acolytes come in way less frequently, which is a dead giveaway they work, he says”>. “Color-safe products don’t contain alcohol, have low sulfate levels and often contain extra moisturizing elements, emollients and proteins to smooth the cuticle, giving hair luster and shine,” he says.

So does that mean you have to use a shampoo for color-treated locks? Not necessarily. If you think you’d get more benefit from a volumizing, moisturizing, curl-defining or dandruff formula, then go ahead and grab one—just look for one without sulfates to be on the safe side.

Some of the best sulfate-free surfactants to look for on the label: sodium lauryl methyl isethionate, ammonium cocyl isethionate, cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, decyl glucoside, cocamidopropylamine oxide, sodium lauryl sarcosinate, and sodium lauryl sulfoacetate. “These are mild, yet effective cleansers which provide a luxurious foam that quickly and cleanly rinses out,” says Jim Markham, color veteran and CEO and Founder of ColorProof, and the brains behind cult-favorite Pureology.

TRY: Aubrey Organics Inc. Egyptian Henna Shine-Enhancing Shampoo, $10; Beecology Honey & Botanical Sulfate-Free Shampoo, $13

MORE: Assess Your Hair Condition

Go easy on the heat—indoors and out

Put. Down. The. Hair. Dryer. “Heat is the biggest factor in color fading,” says Nancy Braun, celebrity colorist at Rossano Ferretti Hair Spa in Beverly Hills and a L’Oréal Professionnel Ambassador. “Flat irons, curling irons and blow dryers all scorch hair and open the cuticle, allowing for dyes to slip out.”

“Studies show that having a UV filter in a hair care product can reduce color fading by up to 40 percent,” says Wilson, who adds that most of these findings are based on controlled studies that only reflected washing — not the normal wear and tear that we put our hair through on a daily basis.

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

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

TRY: L’Oréal Professionnel INOAColor Care Sulfate-Free Shampoo, $25; ColorProof ClearItUp Detox Shampoo, $30

Dry shampoo may just be your haircolor’s new BFF. “As soon as hair gets wet, strands swell and pigment begins to escape,” says Wilson. “The more you shampoo, the quicker the fading.” Skip a suds-session every other day and spray a powder-based dry shampoo directly on roots to sop up grease (choose a tinted version to conceal grays or roots if you’re in need of a dye job”>.

TRY: Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray, $25; Bumble & Bumble Brown Hair Powder, $35

MORE: The Docs Talk Healthy Hair

Color-depositing shampoos have some merit—if you go easy on them.

Unlike shampoos that are formulated to go easy on dyed locks, color-depositing treatments do just what they say—add color. They give your blonde, red or brown a little somethin’ somethin’ and ward off premature brassiness, but they can’t replace real deal color, nor should they be used every day. “Color depositing shampoos literally dye the surface of hair temporarily—dropping tiny color polymers onto the hair’s outer layer,” explains White.

Wilson adds: “It’s strictly a cosmetic effect — like putting a lip stain on lips.”

Despite their fleeting payoff, most salon colorists are fans, saying these formulas keep color vibrant longer — and since they’re clearly targeted for color-treated hair, they’re likely to contain all the aforementioned healthy hair go-tos (milder surfactants, moisturizers and UV protection”>. “They replace pigments lost from shampooing or sun exposure to maintain a rich tone, ” says White, who suggests diluting them a bit by mixing one with your normal color-safe shampoo so they don’t eclipse your colorists’ hard work. “They’re a great way for clients to make minor adjustments to their color without having to run back to the salon.”

Marie Robinson, owner of the Marie Robinson Salon in New York City advocates for these tinted cleansers but warns: “If it isn’t the right tone match, it’ll alter the original, intended shade.” Don’t risk a botched color job by picking up just any bottle brown, red or blonde shade; ask a colorist what the tint is going to do your color.

TRY: L’Oreal Colorist Collection shampoos; $26; Quantum Riveting Reds Color Replenishing Shampoo, $7

When you’re looking to alter your hair color — whether that means making it lighter or darker, covering up grays or simply adding a little oomph to your current shade — there are several ways to go about it.

You can use a semi-permanent product if you want the color to last for just a few shampoos (great, for example, if you want to toss in a pink streak for a party, but want it mostly faded away by the time you get to the office Monday morning”>. If you’re looking to make a more long-term commitment, however, you’ll want to seek out permanent color. Rather than washing out, this type of dye needs to grow out of your hair — and since hair only grows about half an inch a month, it can take a while for it to disappear completely.

But somewhere in the middle lies the hair color sweet spot that many women crave. It’s called demi-permanent hair color.

“This type of product will stay in the hair for 28 shampoos,” explains Teca Lewellyn, a Procter & Gamble Beauty Scientist. “So depending on how frequently you wash your hair, it will take about a month to a month and half to gently fade away.”

How it Works

Demi-permanent hair color molecules get under the outer cuticle of the hair shaft, but unlike permanent dyes, they don’t penetrate the deeper cortex. “They basically get temporarily stuck just beneath the cuticle until they are washed out,” says Lewellyn. “The difference with permanent color is that the dye has to swell the cuticle to make it lift and allow the molecules to make their way into the cortex deep inside the hair shaft.”

Demi-permanent may not be the answer for everyone and every hair situation, but it does have several key advantages.

It can cover up to 70 percent of your grays

“It’s a great solution for someone who’s just starting to go gray and wants to experiment with color,” says Lisa Evan, a colorist at Mario Russo Salon in Boston. “It gives a very natural result because the grays will take the color differently from the other strands, which means hair ends up with an almost highlighted look.”

You’ll never have obvious roots

Permanent color invades the hair shaft and lodges itself there, well, permanently. So instead of fading away gradually, like demi-permanent color does, your hair stays whatever color you’ve dyed it, and as your hair grows, the new stuff at the roots will be the old color (or gray”>. With demi-permanent there’s no obvious line of demarcation so you don’t need to worry about touching up your roots every few weeks.

Your hair will look healthy and shiny

“Demi-permanent is much gentler on the hair than permanent color,” say Evans. That’s because it doesn’t open up the cuticle as much or penetrate inside the cortex of the hair shaft. “The integrity of the hair is better when the cuticle stays intact.”

It can enhance and add dimension to your natural color

Demi-permanent hair color contains no peroxide, which means it’s much gentler on your strands, but also means that it won’t dramatically alter the color (especially if you’re hoping to go lighter than your natural shade”>. What it can do is warm up your color, give it more life and luster, blend away your grays and deepen your shade slightly. “It’s like what happens when you polish a wood table and the brilliance of all the different shades in the wood suddenly come out,” says Lewellyn. “You’re enhancing what’s already there.”

It’s hard to screw it up

The downside of demi-permanent is that you can’t make a dramatic change (it’s not for you if you’re goal is to take your brown strands platinum blonde”>. But the upside of that limitation is that very little can go wrong. Plan to stick with a color that’s within one to two shades of what you’ve got and the result will be a beautifully enhanced version of your natural color.

You don’t have to make a big commitment

“Demi-permanent color is a great introduction to hair color,” says Lewellyn. “If you’re nervous about the process, this is perfect because it’ll fade away within a month or so.” And because you won’t get obvious roots, you’re not obligated to keep coloring your hair on a regular schedule.

A few demi-permanent colors to try at home:

• Clairol Natural Instincts: Fortified with antioxidants, this formula helps hair defend itself against free radical damage during the coloring process. In 22 shades; $9.
• L’Oréal Paris Healthy Look Crème Gloss Color: This ammonia-free formula leaves hair glossy while blending away grays. In 21 shades; $10.
• Garnier HerbaShine Color Creme: Nourishing bamboo extract conditions hair while it colors. In 18 shades; $8.