Archive for June 12th, 2006
If it’s winter, and you’re heling her put on a coat, you might help her by lifting her hair up gently, before she puts the coat on.
Another way would be to gently wind her hair around her neck loosely like a scarf, and she puts her coat on over that.
You don’t want her to get her long hair caught under her coat, or have to sit on it.
If you are helping her into a car, you might help by gently picking her hair up and bringing it around to her front, so she can keep control of it. You don’t want to shut her hair in the car door.
Be careful in crowds, because people will come right up and start touching her hair; if one of these people has a cigarette in their hand and they aren’t paying attention..you know what might happen. So you have to be more attentive when you are in a crowd.
If you are walking down stairs together, if her hair is kneelength or longer, you might want to walk behind her, as her hair might drag on the steps behind her, and someone might come up and inadvertently step on it..painful.
If you go dancing, you should put your arm under hair, not over it.
If you are buying any clothing for them, you might want to consider getting something that will enable her to wear her hair down..fabrics like rayon, satin, silks, anything that allows her hair to slide on the fabric and not catch. It will keep it from tangling when it is down, and is much more comfortable, and you will like the way it flows and swirls more easily against this kind of fabric.
The same goes for nightwear. It’s best if she wears something like this if you plan on combing/brushing her hair….I’m really on a roll, and I’m going to tell you how to do this, as well.
First, you have to be very careful, women are very protective of their hair, the longer it is, the more careful they have to be.
If the hair is longer than mid-back, I would suggest you use a wide toothed comb instead of a hairbrush. Otherwise you might tangle it.
You could have her sitting in a chair without a back, and you could stand or kneel behind her to brush or comb it. Yo should put one hand on the top of her head to steady her head as you gently pull the comb through. You might use short strokes, not going all the way through to her nape at first. It will be easier to straighten her hair that way, Or you might even have her comb her hair out first.
Another way would be for her to bend her head forward and you comb or brush her hair starting at the nape and going forward from there. It pulls less on the scalp, and you’re not combing the more tender areas of the temple.
Another way , if her hair wasn’t too long, would be for her to be standing or sitting in a chair facing you, and you let her rest her forehead on your chest, and you can comb her hair that way. That might be the best.
If you decide to carry her off into the sunset, yo shuld first bring her hair over her shoulder to her front, before you pick her up. Anything that causes her hair to get “caught” will really make her anxious.
Bed linens should be satin if she is wearing her hair down.
If she sees you treating her hair reverently, she will like you all the more, as she considers her hair a part of herself and you are honoring her when you do these things.
This etiquette was provided by Suzy, herself having floor length hair.
June 12th, 2006
Having the right tools at hand can make the difference between a good hair day and a bad one. Following is a list of tools that you’ll want to keep handy to help you deal with any styling situation.
All are readily available at your local drugstore, beauty supply store, or mass merchandiser for a minimal investment.
Vent brush: The holes in the base allow air from your blow-dryer to pass through the brush to your hair, making drying time faster. This brush is best for working the roots, but it’s also great for adding volume to almost any hair type.
Paddle brush: The large fiat base of the paddle brush makes it excellent for styling longer locks and straightening curly hair. Look for one with a rubber base and nylon or natural bristles.
Round brush: The most popular styling tool in salons, the round brush flips hair up, turns it under, or creates volume on top while you’re blow-drying. The best round brush is one with natural bristles which are gentler on hair.
Wide-tooth comb: This is an absolute must for combing wet hair and getting rid of tangles! The wider apart the comb’s teeth, the less damage is done to the hair when combed wet.
Spray bottle: One of the handiest items to have, use it to spray problem areas rather than rewetting your hair all over. Any plastic bottle that spritzes water will do.
Hair pins or clips: Metal U-shaped hair pins work better than traditional bobby pins. Hair pins secure hair better and are easier to conceal. Use clips for pin-curl sets or clipping sections of hair back as you style it.
Ponytail holders and barrettes: Elastic holders and barrettes are necessary basics for quickly pulling your hair back.
Blow-dryer: A good blow-dryer should have a minimum of 1250 watts. Look for one with at least two speeds and three heat settings—hot, warm, and cool. Higher speeds and hotter settings remove moisture; lower speeds and cooler settings “set” the style in place with minimal heat damage and greater control. Many blow-dryers also come with attachments; look for one with a diffuser. A diffuser acts to spread out air flow, minimizing damage from direct heat. With a diffuser, it’s much easier to style hair, because the air flow doesn’t blow strands every which way.
Curling iron: A good, stainless steel curling iron can be used to create a variety of curly styles. Avoid plastic irons, which can overheat. Look for one with multiple settings and a safety switch that shuts off in case you forget. Depending on your styling needs and the length of your hair, you might also want to invest in some of the following:
• A hood attachment for your blow-dryer or a hood dryer
• A quality set of hot rollers or steam rollers
• A good pair of trimming shears
• A blow-dryer with brush, comb, and curling attachments
• A “rat” for putting up hair
• The new volume enhancing tools (attachments for your blow-dryer)
• A variety of hair accessories, including bows, ornamental clips, headbands, hats, and scarves
Here are a few essentials you might also want to keep handy at the office or when you’re on the go:
• A comb or brush
• Barrettes, ponytail holders, and hair pins or clips
• A travel-size bottle of styling spray or hairspray
• A travel-size bottle of your favorite styling product
June 12th, 2006
Taken from Autumn 1981 Hair Book published by IPC Magazines and copyrighted by them 1981, typed in and distributed by Barry.
When you read the article, keep in mind that it is from ‘81, and some things changed since then!
Really long hair - How to grow, care for, groom and style it
Practically all women, at some time in their lives, want to grow their hair really long. Disregarding fashion and casting aside ideas about perms and layer cuts, this hard core likes to wear hair straight down the back, keeping it as long as possible. Is there a secret to growing your hair long? Or does it just depend on the kind of hair you have. We talked to George Michael of new York, known as in the US as the ‘Czar of Long hair’.
Long hair makes a woman feel feminine, ladylike, attractive and glamorous. Even if she thinks the rest of her face and figure is wrong, nearly every woman thinks that long hair is the one good thing about herself- an honest-to-goodness crowning glory. Conversely quite often the first thing a woman may do when she’s going through a fit of depression and self hate is to have all her hair chopped off. Then, of course, there is the male angle. Talk to any man and he’ll probably say that he prefers long hair to short every time. Thousands of women cling desperately to rather tatty 12 inch locks, complete with split ends because ‘he’ will be furious if they have it cut short. Until recently Hairdressers hated long hair.
What hairdressers like to do most is cut hair. It gives them a very possitive pleasure to take a head of below the shoulder length hair and cut it all off…..not because of any innate sadism, just because they can show how clever they are when it comes to cutting. And cutting from long to short is a good test of their skill.
These days, hairdressers aren’t quite so scissor happy and they usually will try to give their clients what they want. But we still hear horror stories from long-haired ladies who went in for just a trim and came out with a bob!
Trimming can be a bit of a dirty word, as many of our readers letters testify. Suppose you’ve been growing your hair for months. You know it needs a trim, you’ve even read in the Hair Book that you must have it trimmed. So you go to the hairdressers and come out with hair that is the same length as it was when you started growing it six months ago. It’s enough to drive you to tears! And frequently does!
So it’s not surprising that when one hairdresser - George Micheal of new York - set out to look after long hair only, he quickly established a clientele of 36,000 women, including 4 Queens and 25 princesses. This year (1981) he opened several off shoots of his George Michael Long Hair Clinics throughout Europe, including six in House of Fraser stores in Britain. George Michael believes that long hair is one of the most sexy and enchanting possessions you can have.
‘Long, shiny healthy hair is the ultimate accessory’ he avows. ‘It’s more effective than diamonds, furs or perfume’. And those thousands of clients have stayed loyal through years of wedge cuts, boufants, frizzies, corn rows, plaits, blow drying, curling tongs and many other fashions.
‘It’s all very well for those rich ladies who can afford to go to expensive salons in New York - or London’ we hear you mutter (George Michaels London Long Hair Clinic is in Harrods) ‘But what about us, stuck in the sticks with no hairdresser in view? How do we grow our hair long?’
A lot of George Michael ‘prescriptions’ for long, beautiful hair can actually be followed at home, so read on carefully. Some of this thinking is quite at odds with what other hairdressers will tell you. But when you consider that 18 of his clients have floor length hair and another 4,000 wear it to their knees, you get the feeling that he must be doing something right!
How does hair grow
Hair grows from the follicles in your scalp - there are about 120,000 of them altogether and, interestingly, the colour of your hair will determine the number; redheads have the most. Hair grows not in a continuous process but in a random pattern. At any one time there will be hairs growing, lying dormant and falling out. It is estimated that the average life of a single hair is between four and ten years and it grows at the approximate rate of half an inch a month or six inches in the year.
Going by this theory, no one should have hair that’s longer than 60 inches but, in George Michaels ‘Secrets for Beautiful Hair’ published by Doubleday, he cites the case of a gynaecoloist in Tehran who has the longest documented hair in the world at 96 inches. His theory is that the longer you grow your hair the stronger the root will be. George Michael says that hair that’s cut in a 4 - inch style will lose 87 hairs a day, hair in a 12- inch bob could lose 26 hairs a day, waist length hair loses approximately 16 hairs a day. According to his theory, that rare phenomenom floor length hair, would lose a mere two hairs a day!
How does all this help if you’re trying to coax along your rather recalcitrant mop of hair? Of course, you have to take into account those old friends genes and heredity. The kind of hair you are born with cannot actually be changed. No wonder product in the world will turn wispy, fine hair into thick, coarse hair or vice versa. Some hair roots just don’t produce long hair. Afro hair is a good example of this. It just doesn’t seem to grow very long. Of course, you get exceptions to this rule too. So, if your long hair just doesn’t seem to be getting any longer, it could be the kind of hair you’ve got rather than poor treatment.
However, lots of people do mistreat their hair and there’s an awful lot you can do to ensure your hair grows as long as possible if really long hair is what you want
June 12th, 2006
All growing hair splits because the inside of each hair, called the cortex, loses moisture and the hair begins to unravel rather like a rope.
The only cure for split ends is to have them cut off, because otherwise they can travel up the hair and make the damage worse.
They look unsightly too, because where the hair splits the colour looks lighter and dead looking. But a lot of people are terrified of going to the hairdressers to have the split ends trimmed off because they believe (and often rightly) that they’ll actually lose a lot more hair than they bargained for. In his book, George Michael describes his special method of solving the split ends problem. You could get a friend to help you try this at home.
1. Take a small strand of hair, about half an inch in diameter. The hair should be dry.
2. Twist the strand gently until the damaged ends appear. These may be apparent along the whole length of the strand.
3. Holding a pair of sharp scissors perpendicular to the strand, snip off the split ends and damaged parts, using only the tips of the scissors.
4. Continue to move down the strand in small sections, following this method. You are not trimming length, merely split ends.
5. Go all round the head in this way. It will take between 10 and 45 minutes. Cut off only the damaged ends, nothing else.
June 12th, 2006
One of the cardinal rules Goerge Michael lays down for long hair is that it must all be one length. No fringes, layers, graduations or steps are allowed to be cut into it.
He believes in what he terms the ‘equalisation’ process - that if you cut a layer into one side of the hair, the hair on the other side of the head will shorten in sympathy.
So he makes all his clients grow out their fringes and will not allow centre partings under any circumstances.
‘But supposing it doesn’t suit me like that’, we said rather feebly and received a scornful glance in reply. ‘Long hair will suit everybody, even older ladies’, he said.
‘There are so many ways of draping it, dressing it and wearing it.’ George also believes that to cut hair into layers is a little like shattering a mirror because long, perfectly cut hair shines all down its line if its looked after properly.
So with this rather strict rule in mind, it isn’t surpising to find out that not only does the George Michael method not invulve layering, there is also a very special cutting process unlike anything you will find normally in a salon.
Before it’s cut, the hair is shampooed and dried. Every stylist works on clean, dry hair. Wet hair is hair that’s already been stretched to one eighth of it’s length and it’s extremely fragile and breaks easily because its elasticity is at a minimum.
So the Michael cutting method is done only on dry hair because the results can be seen instantly and it’s kinder to the hair.
June 12th, 2006