Hairstyling, Hair Loss, and All the Hype

If you’re determined to try one of the new super-powerful keratin hair-straightening products, take note: Congress has just requested that the FDA take action to remove these products from the US market.

The reason: Concern over health and safety issues surrounding one of the key ingredients, a form of the chemical formaldehyde. Exposure issues have included not just an increased risk of hair loss, but also nosebleed, difficulty in breathing, and an increased risk of cancer, affecting both workers who apply the treatment, and customers who receive it.

Although the US has legislation in place to protect consumers against unsafe beauty products—it’s called the Safe Cosmetics Act—many experts believe it’s not tight enough when it comes to keeping hazardous chemicals out of the mainstream.

Indeed, 10 members of Congress including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and 7 others are urging the FDA to take immediate action to remove formaldehyde-containing hair straighteners, including the popular Brazilian Blowout treatment.

‘American consumers and workers should not be blown over by a Brazilian Blowout’s toxic fumes. High levels of formaldehyde in hair straighteners pose a serious hazard to the health and safety of hair salon patrons and workers. The Food and Drug Administration must immediately call for a voluntary recall of these potentially carcinogenic hair-straightening products and continue to evaluate whether to ban formaldehyde from hair straighteners altogether’, said Representative Markey.

‘We urgently need to close the gaping holes in the outdated federal law that allows hazardous chemicals in cosmetics products’, added Jan Schakowsky, Illinois Congress representative, who also signed the letter.

Interestingly, it should be noted that on the website BrazilianBlowout.com, the ingredients in this product do not contain the specific chemical formaldehyde, and in fact, the salons who offer the treatment frequently state on their websites that their Brazilian Blowout treatments are ‘Formaldehyde Free’.

However, in a civil lawsuit filed last month by California Atty. General Jerry Brown against GIB, the makers of Brazilian Blowout, he contends the company is virtually hiding behind false claims—and hiding the formaldehyde in their products.

GIB responded by saying that the levels of formaldehyde contained in Brazilian Blowout are low enough to warrant the ‘Formaldehyde Free’ label. They contend that when used correctly, their product is safe.

Plants to Get Past Hair Loss Problems

Waking up one day to find strands of hair on your pillow, on your dressing table, in the bathtub, and in the sink, you’d feel like tearing your clothes off, screaming like The Hulk, because you notice that patch of glaring bareness on your head.

With so many hairstyling products on the market in this age, application of some of the modern hairstyling aids can lead to excessive hair loss in women. If you are a woman wanting healthy-looking hair without excessive hair loss then below tips are for you.

Use topical home remedies. There are a number of natural home remedies that can help in the reduction of hair loss. Some of the popular applications include rosemary, sage, egg yolk, henna, yucca and lavender. Any of these can be combined with some lemon juice to ensure that you reduce hair loss effectively.

It’s your scalp that holds your hair, so make sure you keep it healthy too. Blood circulation is particularly important in this case. Massaging your scalp gently with your fingers would help. You could also take half a raw onion, massage your head with it; shampoo and rinse thoroughly afterwards.

Pygeum (Pygeum africanum): Pygeum, mixed with nettle root, acts as an inhibitor to conversion of the hormone testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which causes both male as well as female pattern baldness.

Ginkgo biloba increases the blood flow to the scalp which increases the nutrient supply to the hair follicles which helps in hair growth by stimulating the follicles. Green tea (Camella sinensis) contains catechins which inhibit the 5-alpha reeducates enzymes that convert the testosterone into the DHT hormone which is the main cause of hair loss.

We all know that heat can be very damaging to our hair and our hair is simply not geared up to excessive heat that sometimes needs to be applied to achieve straightened hair. Some people are happy to straighten their hair once a day. OK, that may look great but the long-term damage being caused to the hair is significant. When you apply heat to your hair, make sure that you prepare your hair appropriately first. But as a rule of thumb, you should avoid application of heat as much as you can and exercise caution to applying heat too frequently.

Henna (Lawsonia inermis): Also known as mignonette tree or Egyptian privet, henna is used as a conditioner for maintaining the health of the hair. It helps in healing the hair by repairing and sealing the affected cuticle.

How Balding Men Can Still Win Dates

There are many causes for hair loss in men. However, in the overwhelming majority of males with hair loss, the cause is hereditary androgenetic alopecia, more commonly known as “male pattern baldness.” The tendency for male pattern hair loss is genetically inherited from either side of the family.

The presence of the hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), in a genetically susceptible man, is necessary for this problem to occur and begins to develop after puberty. Hair on the scalp that is genetically susceptible (the hairline, crown and top of the scalp) starts to shrink in its shaft diameter and potential length, until it eventually disappears in a process known as hair miniaturization. The hair on the back and sides of the scalp is usually genetically “permanent” hair, which is destined to remain for that man’s lifetime.
What can be done for a man losing his hair that wants to keep it around? First, hair restoration surgery offers a permanent solution to lost scalp hair. Modern techniques of surgical hair transplantation can restore lost hair and replace the hairline with your own natural growing hair, which needs no more care than the ordinary washing, styling, and trimming you have always done.

Hair transplantation involves removing permanent hair-bearing skin from the back and/or sides of the scalp. There are two main techniques by which hair follicles can be harvested from the donor area: follicular unit extraction (FUE) and strip harvesting. FUE involves using a small dermal punch (e.g., 1mm in diameter or smaller) to individually dissect out follicular units directly from the scalp. Strip harvesting is carried out by excising a strip of scalp from the donor area and dissecting out the follicular units under a microscope.

These small follicular unit grafts are then meticulously implanted into the bald or thinning area of the scalp (recipient area) so as not to injure any follicles already existing in the area and at the same angle as the other hairs present. The creation of small follicular unit grafts has enabled hair restoration surgeons to create natural-appearing hairlines and results.

Second, medical treatments are now offered in the form of a pill (finasteride) and a topical liquid (minoxidil). They require a life-long treatment however to maintain their effect.
Then there is the good old-fashioned wig. Hairpieces are a non-surgical means to restore hair by covering bald areas of the scalp. There is a large variety of means for attaching these such as glues, “weaves,” and clips.