Thursday, July 12, 2007

Hair care myths : The truth and the lies

Everyone has a favorite myth about hair care — and we usually never let the truth get in the way of a good legend! This article examines some of the most widely known myths — and the reality behind them.

1. Excessive washing of hair causes hair loss/dryness.
FALSE: Frequency of washing doesn’t harm hair. Wash it as often as you like, although the recommendation is three times a week. The right shampoo for your hair type and texture will actually add moisture, body and beauty to your hair.
2. More shampoo = cleaner hair.
FALSE: Don’t waste your shampoo! A dollop of shampoo, about the size of a quarter, is usually enough for long hair. Very long hair may take a little more.
3. Conditioner helps repair split ends.
FALSE: No conditioner can “repair” damaged hair. What it can do is to smooth down the cuticle and make hair seem in better condition. A good conditioner can also prevent damage from occurring in the first place.
4. Blow-drying produces hair loss.
FALSE: Blow-drying can damage, burn or dry hair, which can cause it to fall, but the hair will grow back immediately. This is not permanent hair loss.
5. Sleeping with wet hair causes scalp fungus.
FALSE: Scalp or fungal diseases can’t be caught from sleeping with wet scalps. Scalp infections require prior involvement with infected sources such as humans, tainted hair care tools or animals. Scalp fungus (tinea capitis) mainly affects children, whose immune systems make them more susceptible to skin infections.
6. To get your hair to grow, brush 100 strokes each day.
FALSE: Brushing that much can damage the hair cuticle. NOT recommended! Actually, your hair reacts better to a comb than a brush. Brushing it will only lead to split ends and hair breakage.
7. Sharing combs and brushes can spread scalp diseases.
TRUE: Lice and other parasites can be transported from scalp to scalp through the sharing of combs, brushes and other hair care tools.
8. Cutting hair makes it grow faster and/or thicker.
FALSE: This common misconception comes from the fact that hair is thicker at the base than it is at the tip, so shorter hair appears thicker at first. Cutting your hair does not affect its normal biologically determined growth rate or overall texture. Thin, limp or fine hair will not ever grow thicker in response to a haircut. Plump up your hair by using volume enhancing hair care products, experimenting with a hair fattening blunt cut or getting a texturizing perm or color treatment.
9. Color treatment causes hair loss.
FALSE: Most hair coloring products contain chemicals that can do serious harm to the hair itself if not properly used, but it wont instigate hair loss.
10. Salon products are identical to drugstore products.
FALSE: Although there are exceptions, salon products generally contain higher quality, more expensive ingredients that are designed to consistently provide more intensive cleansing, moisturizing and conditioning results. The quality ingredients found in salon products are not usually found in drugstore brands. If in doubt, read the labels.
11. Long sun exposure favors hair loss.
FALSE: Your hair acts as a shield against the sun. Hair loss appears at the follicle level and so the sun would have to penetrate at this depth to do any damage.
12. Diet is related to hair loss.
TRUE: it's important to eat right in order to be generally healthy. However, no individual food has been proven to be beneficial or detrimental to hair.
13. Stress causes hair loss.
TRUE: Severe stress (e.g. surgery or a death in the family) can shut down hair production, causing temporary hair loss (alopecia areata). The scalp usually recuperates, though, and hair grows back.
14. Wearing tight braids, ponytails or buns causes baldness.
TRUE: Traction alopecia is a very real hair loss condition that is quite common amongst older African American women. It results from wearing tight ponytails, cornrows or buns over an extended period of time. Over time, hair breakage or loss as the result of tight, stressed styles, can become permanent. Avoid this potential problem by opting for looser styles that minimize scalp tension.
15. Smoking causes gray hair.
TRUE: According to J. G. Mosley of the Leigh Infirmary in Lancashire, England smokers are four times more likely to have gray hair than non-smokers (Science News, January 11, 1997). Even worse, smoking has been conclusively linked to accelerated hair loss.

About The Author : Michael Barrows is a web publisher specialising in niche marketing. Pick up his FREE ebook (Nearly) Everything You Should Know About Hairstyles and Hair Care at his website http://www.great-hairstyles.com/.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Tattooed women
















Some useful tips

Bed Sheets
After drying my sheets, put both sheets and one pillowcase in the other pillow case. Fold neatly in a square. Next time you change sheets, youjust take the one pillow case and all the sheets and pillow case areinside. No need to look for matches.
Clean Your Shower Glass
To clean the glass in your shower easily, apply lemon juice to the glass with a sponge. Then, take newspaper and wipe the lemon juice off theglass. It will be clean and sparkle with no scrubbing!
Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.
Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixingthoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throwbag away when done easy clean up.
Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost morecake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/caloriesper serving.
Reheating Refrigerated Bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep thefood moist and help it reheat faster.
Newspaper Weeds-Away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover withmulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardeningplastic, they will not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken pieces of glass - the fibers catch ones you can't see!
No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrelswon't come near it.
New Bike
If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof of who owns the bike.
Flexible Vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- voila -- static is gone.
Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
Reopening Envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.
Hair Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
Good-Bye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will findthose flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
Get Rid Of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," and can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
Take Baby Powder To The Beach
Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you're ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin .