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Use of Hair Dyes, Permanents, and Straighteners and Scalp Recovery
The hair's appearance can be altered by changing its color, through dying, or its shape, by permanent waving or straightening. These procedures all cause some damage to the scalp and hair follicle with should be promptly repaired with a scalp repair cream such as Folligen. If damage becomes excessive, serious hair loss may occur after a few years.
Dyes
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Hair dyes lighten, darken and cover gray hair. Temporary hair dyes wash out after one shampoo. Gradual hair dyes produce a color change over a two- to three-week period. These dyes generally don't cause problems. Semipermanent hair dyes that wash out after four to six shampoos, and permanent hair dyes that don't wash out can cause allergic reactions. These products should be tested on a small area of skin behind the ear or inside the elbow for 24 hours before using.
Semi-Permanents have lower amounts of ammonia and peroxide, or none at all. Semi's have a wide variety of colors but the results with your specific hair type may be somewhat unpredictable as the the final tint or shade.
Permanent hair dyes are the only product that can make hair lighter or darker and should be applied by professional salons. Ammonium persulfate, sometimes used to lighten hair, can cause both irritant and allergic contact dermatitis in some individuals. It can also cause an immediate allergic reaction of hives and wheezing. Semipermanent hair dyes that wash out after four to six shampoos, and permanent hair dyes that don't wash out can cause allergic reactions. These products should be tested on a small area of skin behind the ear or inside the elbow for 24 hours before using.
Bleaching is used to lighten hair. To get to a platinum blond from dark hair is difficult but possible but professional help is recommended. Several short bleachings spread out over a number of days produce better results. Remember, bleaches can burn the scalp and can damage your eyes. Commercial bleaches such as Clorox bleach should not be used. Beauty supply store sell powder bleaches such as Clairol Ultra Blue or L'Oreal Blanc ($4)) and a bottles of developer ($3) that come in different strengths such as 20, 30, and 40 with 40 being the strongest and harshest.
The powder bleach and developer are mixed in a glass or plastic bowl and spoon to form a slurry which is applied to the hair. Sometimes the hair is covered with a plastic bag to speed the reaction but your head may become very hot. Finally, the head is thoroughly rinsed with cold water with special care taken not to get the bleaching mixture into your eyes.
Semi-permanent dyes that you can apply yourself include some interesting and good products.
Punky Color
This is made from a vegetable dye and works best in bright blonde hair. Most colors are fairly mild except for Violet, Plum and Midnight Blue which can be bright and beautiful. The reds wash out in 1-2 weeks. Strong Reds are Pillar Box, Fire and Flame. Blues fade in 2-4 weeks. The lighter blues may turn out somewhat greenish. Purple and Violet stay the longest. From the Official Wicked Hair Dyeing Page from students at Stanford University.
Result / Comments |
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| Clairol Natural Instincts | Clairol colors on hair are about what is displayed on their boxes. Clairol has fragrances that cover some of the obnoxious chemical smells. Their dyes wash out after about 25 shampoos. |
| L'Oreal Accenting Highlighting Duo | L'Oreal tries to gives two different color highlights for areas of your hair in one box. Experience is needed to get good results but the color highlights can be dramatic. |
| Kool-Aid / Jello | This is a tricky but low cost way to dye hair. It gives some great bright blue hair. It washes out fairly quickly. For use just thicken the Kool Aid or Jello with water and saturate hair with it. |
| Food Coloring | This does not work well. Water or sweat removes the color. |
| Egg Whites & Other types of Food Coloring | This is a messy but cheap way of hair dyeing. Mix egg whites with food coloring, massage into your hair, spike the hair, and blow dry. Good theme idea for college parties. |
Permanent Waving
"Permanents" make straight hair curly. A perm solution temporality breaks the disulfide bonds to allow the hair to be wrapped around a roller or into a tight curl and formed into a new texture. Then the disulfide bonds are chemically reset and the new texture is locked in-place. Hair should not be permed more often than every three months. If the perming solution is left on too long, is too strong or is applied to hair already damaged by dyes, bleaches or recent permanents, it can produce damage to your hair strand and shorten its useful life. Scalp irritation may also occur. Rub Folligen Lotion into your scalp at nighttime for the next 3 - 4 days to restore scalp health.
Hair Straighteners
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A technique used to make curly hair straight is called hair straightening. It is a difficult procedure using dangerous chemicals and should be performed only by hair salon professionals. The disulfide bonds that keep hair curly are broken by an alkaline reducing agent.
Hair straighteners are mostly creams or cream lotions containing about 2-4% of strong bases such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide or 5% calcium hydroxide plus a solution of up to about 30% guanidine carbonate. The pH is around 12. Some straighteners contain about 4% ammonium thioglycolate as the active ingredient. These caustic bases make the cream dangerous for the skin and eyes, and it has to be handled carefully by skilled personnel. The cream is applied to the hair, with a brush or by using protective gloves, strand by strand after dividing the hair into different areas. After a time, the straightener relaxes the hair and the curly hair is combed and becomes straight. Finally, the hair is washed thoroughly with pH neutralizing shampoo.
Alternatively, intense heat can also reset hair bonds, allowing curly hair to be straightened by ironing with a regular electric iron and an ironing board or flat surface covered with a smooth towel. This technique was very popular in the "long-hair" times of the 1960's and 70's. It is best to have someone else iron your hair straight to avoid the danger of burns.
Conair makes a product that helps straighten hair without the dangers of burns to the skin or hair damage. It is called Straight Styles, #SS6 that produces steam which straightens the hair as you comb through the hair.
Repairing Hair and Scalp Damage from Relaxers, Perms, and Dyes
Folligen Lotion and Folligen Solution Therapy Spray are used to restore scalp health after dyes, permanent waving and hair straighteners. The chemicals used for these purposes can be very damaging to the scalp and hair follicle. If damage is not repaired, eventually, these procedures can cause hair thinning and hair loss. Many women have reported that the use of Folligen Lotion after these procedures results in a much healthier looking hair and there is less hair shedding. Rub Folligen Lotion into your scalp at night time for the next 3 - 4 days to help restore scalp health.
In cases where hair health has been severely damaged and much hair has been lost, it may take several months of Folligen treatments to recover hair growth, but hair health can usually be restored.
Emu Oil May Also Help
Many of our customers have reported that the combination of Folligen's copper-peptides and emu oil often produce drastic reductions in hair loss and increased hair growth. Although emu oil is used by many for reducing hair loss in various parts of the world, in the USA FDA regulations discourage the marketing of emu oil for hair restoration. Recently, Dr. Michael Holick (Boston University Medical Center) reported a clinical study that found emu oil accelerated skin regeneration and also stimulated hair growth. He wrote -"The hair follicles were more robust, the skin thickness was remarkably increased...Also, we discovered in the same test that over 80 percent of hair follicles that had been 'asleep' were awakened, and began growing hair".
Hair Follicles as the Source of Hair
The Functions of Head and Facial Hair
Hair Procedures and Recovery