Welcome back,
I hope you have had a fabulous week and managed to keep the children entertained during half term. Today you can sit back and relax with your little bit of me time. This week we have a question that pops up from time to time that we are going to uncover it to see if it is in fact a myth or if there is any truth in the idea.
SHOULD WE ALTERNATE OUR SHAMPOO?
You've heard it before 'you should change your shampoo every so often' or 'your hair gets used to a shampoo and conditioner so you should change it' and many more along these lines.
This idea comes from the observation that sometimes your hair may start to look dull and lifeless, no longer have shine and lack lustre or becomes dry, brittle and fragile, I bet you've had this happen in the past. You mention this to a friend who suggests altering your shampoo and they recommend one they have been using lately that they love so you give this a try and within a few weeks the same thing happens again. Why is this?
Our hair, much like our skin, is effected by many elements and has 3 main causes that effect it's condition and shine factor. Heat, Chemical and Environmental. Also just like our skin it shows these changes by the way it looks and feels.
HEAT DAMAGE
Heat damage is due to heat appliances like your hair dryer, straighteners, tongues, wand, crimpers and styling aids. You should always ensure you are protecting your hair from the heat being used, The best way I describe this to my clients is to think of your skin... would you place the straighteners plate on your skin when its hot? No, of course not, not without having something in the way to stop it burning, this is what thermal protection is to your hair. It's a protection from all heat sources applied directly to your hair between washes.
CHEMICAL
Chemicals like colours, relaxers, perms and colour removers can cause stress to your hair and without the correct knowledge of how to rebalance the hairs levels this stress can begin to cause damage to the hair structure. Especially if over processing occurs.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Basically the atmosphere, wind, rain, sun (UV rays) etc can also effect our hairs condition, All of joico contains protection again UVA and UVB rays because this factor has a much larger impact than we realise on our hair.
Taking all this into consideration this is why in my salon we are a prescriptive salon and we assess your hair on every visit to ensure the product you're using is still meeting your hairs needs and is still fit for purpose. It is my belief that all salons should be prescriptive but not all see the importance sadly. However you will be hard pushed to find any salon that only has one shampoo for all, as one shampoo does not suit all hair types and meet the needs of every head.
So the question still remains - why does our hair go dull or lifeless and sometimes feel dryer?
Usually it's down to how we have been treating it, If it is going dull this is usually a product build up created by heavy silicones within non-professional ranges or the dryness can be because many use harsher surfactants within their non-professional ranges. Joico are my chosen range for many reasons, one reason is because they use very mild surfactants in their products and all of their ingredients are water soluble meaning with every wash nothing is left on your hair that shouldn't be so cannot create a build up. So if your hair changes in it's needs this will be due to changes to the environment or your regime then you may need to alter your shampoo at this point but your stylist will be best to advise on which to use. If your hair does not change then you do not need to alter a thing. Many of my clients have been using the same shampoo for years and not needed to alter some have a couple they alter between depending on how they have treated their hair and what it's needs are.
So I hope that has answered the age old myth about whether or not you should be switching up your shampoo's or not.
Thank you for taking the time out to have a read of this weeks instalment and I look forward to seeing you again next week. Until next time : Happy Hair Day Nikki Iannetta.
If you skimmed - here are the important bits
- Hair can alter much like our skin - Hair condition can be effect by heat appliances, chemicals and environmentally - Prescriptive ranges are designed to meet your specific hair needs - Your stylist should be assessing your hair every visit to ensure you're still using the best product for you current hair needs. - No salon will have a one shampoo for all and as no two heads of hair are the same and have different needs. - If your hair is going dull it's probably your shampoo contains heavy silicones and is causing a build up - If your hair is dry it's probably due to your shampoo containing harsh surfactants - Joico use mild surfactants and contain water soluble ingredients so do not build up on the hair - If your hair is happy don't change your shampoo if it's in need of something speak to your stylist.
Hello!! This week I wanted to talk about the new craze that hit the market the back end of 2017, I thought it was nuts and paid no attention due to it being tresemme's idea (when I type that name my laptop wants to correct it to 'tiresome' which I find very adapt and amusing but thats for another day, Today, I want to talk fact, I like facts and science and science is fact so lets talk about hair and what effect this method really has on our hair and why you should stop doing it. Why is everyone shampooing after conditioning these days? We've had many a strange idea pop up over time. This is another of them and I have been scouring the internet to find some 'real talk' about the effect of conditioning before shampooing. What the believe is vs what the reality is and what really happens when we do this. I've seen it a million times. Mainly from non-professionals all talking about the reverse shampoo effect. This means conditioning before your cleanse. 4 weeks ago we talked about the correct way to cleanse your hair and scalp and now we're discussing the effect of doing this in reverse. Switching your routine is believed to create a voluminous, light weight feel to the hair and loved by all those fine heads out there, those with thicker coarser hair types are advised to condition, cleanse, condition. The teachings I've seen discuss how conditioning prior to shampooing can prime the hair ready for cleansing, but somehow magically keeping the nourishment from the conditioner and the shampoo knows not to cleanse it back off again, when that is a cleansers role. You may be able to hear my skeptical tone here. We have previously chatted about the importance of your conditioner and what it's real purpose is, and, why it's the final step to the cleansing process. It all comes down to the PH levels of our hair which control the cuticle layer (outer, protective layer) of the hair, rebalancing and neutralising or lowering any alkalinity within the hair to allow them to lye smoother creating a shiny, healthy , touchable finish, resetting our hair closer to it's correct, natural PH. Whilst cleansers clear our hair of any product build up, grease (natural sebum) and oils, anything that is lying on the hair, Most salon professional cleansers are minimally above or within the higher range of the natural hairs PH to allow it to open our cuticles slightly and pulls away any grime, dirt or product build up. Without following with a conditioner we are not rebalancing our hair. Which will leave it fluffy and feeling thicker, or even have a little more texture, however this also means it will be more knotty, tangly and rough feeling in some cases. Most fine haired ladies and gentlemen don't use conditioner, to help it feel thicker that and avoiding going greasy too quickly. But what is the real story here? Is it that all hairdressers are mad advising us we need both or can we really skip this step? So, I've explained what a conditioners purpose is and what a cleansers (shampoo) role is, so when we switch them up by doing the conditioner first, we are washing off our conditioner and leaving our hair cuticles raised by opening them up to the elements without any protection. If our cuticles are left raised our hair is prone to damage, it looks dull and lifeless and will not hold a style. Also it cannot protect our internal structure including colour molecules and our colours could fade a lot quicker. Finer hair is weaker and more prone to damage than thicker hair types meaning it actually needs a good condition more than most and ALL hair types need to be conditioned too. It's like toning without moisturising, your skin feels tight, dry and taught. You need to condition last. Fine hair contains 50% less protein than thicker hair types which is why it's prone to breakage and needs caring for more so if you think about it. The key to looking after your hair is knowing what it needs. The person who knows this is your stylist. I have found my JOICOs Body-lux range to be a big hit as this range is specifically designed for finer hair types wanting to create volume and lightweight finish whilst protecting and looking after their hair. Those of my ladies who are still undecided about conditioner do love our leave in treatments as they are super lightweight! So in conclusion, My thoughts on this idea are fairly straight forward... it's rubbish, but it is born through a need, a need that joico have cracked with body-lux. So if you're looking for volume and care we have you covered, they increase the density of your hair cleverly ensuring all your hair is protected.
I look forward to next week and I'll see you then Until next time : Happy Hair Day Nikki Iannetta xx |
AuthorHi there and welcome to The Hairy Truths. Archives
July 2018
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