What's Inside This Month
 
5 Things to Know Before & After Coloring Your Hair
How to Maintain Your Hair While Traveling
Guys: Keep Your Hair Perfect While Traveling
Shades of Summer: Blorange Blossom
Tips to Help Your Hair Grow Faster and Longer
Guys: Grow Your Hair Without Looking Like You've Given Up
Men's Medium Length Hairstyles
Introducing: Gender-Neutral Pricing
Understanding Your Hair Through It's pH Level
Biggest Documentaries Coming Out This Year
Unimportant Things You Really Ought to Take Photos Of
Hair Fact: Towhead
Recipe: Peach-Ricotta Cheesecake
The Story of Hair - Fascinating History of Dreadlocks
In the News: Hair and Beauty

You may love your long hair, but there's one problem with those lengthy tresses—they shed and get all over the place, turning clean-up into a challenge and making your shower drain a battle zone. You could just adopt the motto "long hair, don't care" but that won't stop your stray strands from haunting your home, so it might be better to take some precautions and avoid those hairy home situations altogether.
When you have long hair, there are three main places where that normal, everyday shedding can become a big, hairy mess—the shower, the floors, and your laundry. So, here's how to deal with each.

The Shower

Before You Shower:Comb out your hair. If you can, try brushing or combing out your hair before you hop in the shower. It'll catch more of the stray hairs in advance, so you won't shed as much in the shower while you wash your hair.

Use a drain catcher—a good one. This one should seem obvious, but it's worth repeating: Invest in a good drain catcher. It doesn't have to be a fancy, expensive contraption, but it should work. If it doesn't actually catch the hairs, it's not doing it's job—and if it doesn't let the water drain properly, you'll probably get annoyed with it and stop using it. Make sure it's one that stays in place, too. This one from OXO gets high marks on Amazon.

If the Drain Becomes Clogged......

don't reach for the Drano or another chemical solution (seriously, landlords hate it because it can cause damage to the pipes, and you can read some horror stories about it on Yelp). Instead, try removing any visible hair first—you might have to snip a little with scissors if it's tangled, but try to just pull out any hair you see with tweezers or pliers.

If, after you've gotten rid of visible hair, your shower is still not draining, let baking soda and vinegar come to the rescue. Pour the baking soda down the drain, then pour distilled white vinegar over the baking soda--this tutorial will show you the specifics. (Note: Many of the commenters also suggest flushing out the drain with boiling water--LifeHacker suggests the same, just be aware that boiling water doesn't work for all pipes, so if you don't know what you're working with, stick with regular ol' hot water). You can do the hot water flush as monthly maintenance to prevent it from getting clogged again.

You can also try plunging the drain, but know that this might cause some gross, gunky water to come back up into the tub, so be prepared. Avoid using drain snakes or things like wire hangers to pull out clogs, because you can potentially do more damage than good. And, if all else fails, call your landlord or building super—or a plumber, if you don't have a landlord to answer to.

The Floors

Use Your Vacuum... Everywhere.

Nothing will remind you that your hair gets everywhere, no matter how often you clean, more than when long hairs collect in a tumbleweed on the floor. It's time to befriend your vacuum full-time, because sweeping can only do so much—it's pushing around the hair without always picking it all up. You should still sweep first, since it'll get rid of some of the hair (and keep it from clogging up your vacuum!) but really, vacuuming everywhere will change your life. On Deadspin, cleaning expert Jolie Kerr suggested investing in not one but two vacuums—an upright and a handheld model for really tackling all that hair. Use the upright vacuum at least once a week for a deep clean, and use the handheld vacuum every one to three days to keep particularly hairy spaces in check.

Using your vacuum everywhere—and frequently—means that you'll have to take proper care of it, too. Kerr said using the hose attachment can help prevent it from getting clogged, but if it does get clogged, use nail scissors to carefully snip out the hairs.

Salvaging a Hairy Carpet:
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If you've vacuumed your hairy rugs or carpet to no avail, you'll have to put in a little extra elbow grease. SF Gate has a super helpful tutorial for de-hairing your rugs—you just need a spray bottle, water, fabric softener, and either a stiff-bristled brush or a flexible squeegee to get the job done. Simply fill the spray bottle with water and mix in a few drops of fabric softener, spritz the carpet to dampen it, and then brush it or or scrape it with the squeegee to lift and collect the hair. Once it's out, vacuum as usual to catch any extra strays.

The Laundry

Before the Wash Cycle:

​Anyone with long hair—or who lives with someone with long hair—knows that long locks and laundry don't always play nice together. Strands of hair somehow get woven into fabric, tangled around sleeves and balled up and stuck to all your favorite clothes. It's a bit of a challenge to prevent, but Reddit user KT_ATX shared some helpful tips in this thread: Use dryer balls, and make it a point to shake out items before you put them in the wash. Also, when you can, stick to smaller loads as opposed to totally filling the washing machine. And if you can stand it, wash your socks separately—since they tend to pick up hair and dust bunnies from the floor, you can prevent that from transferring over to the rest of your clothes. User billbixbyakahulk also commented that you should make sure your lint trap is cleaned out every time you use the dryer.

When Everything's Already Hairy...

There isn't really a quick fix for what to do when there's already hair stubbornly tangled up in all your sweaters—if that happens, you'll need a lint roller, some patience and maybe some tweezers, but you'll get through it. It's also a good idea to keep a lint roller by your door or your mirror for quick hair removal if you notice some shedding after you get dressed—it'll prevent it from getting stuck in the fibers later on.

This article first appeared on Apartment Therapy

The history of hair brushes do not have a definite inception date. The one thing that is known is that they were all made from natural materials. Handles were formed from wood, bronze or copper. The bristles could be anything stiff. Animal hairs, such as wild boar or horse, were rigid enough for brushing. Porcupine quills were even stiffer. Shards of sea shells, stones and bone could be sized to untangle a snarl or knot. One theory is that the paint brush used for millions of years was slowly transformed into a hair brush. When someone decided to drill holes in a handle and somehow add bristles that stayed, is still unclear.

Portraits and sculptures of ancient Greeks and Romans showed tidy, braided or styled hair. Unearthing Egyptian tombs revealed hair brushes along with combs and mirrors. Their carvings and paintings on walls and pyramids also showed neatly kept hair or wigs. To this we assumed was due to some style of a hair brush. In ancient times, grooming was necessary to reduce the amount of head lice. Brushing hair or producing wigs to look refined was a luxury only afforded by the prominent people of that time.

As society grew and became more civilized, the need for a hair brush was more for aesthetics, rather than for general grooming, but it still remained in favor for the wealthy. Hair brushes were commonly given to new brides and new mothers. They were a popular gift for a husband to give a wife. An ornately designed set that contained a hair brush, a comb and a mirror were enjoyed.

Eventually the demand for hair brushes increased. William Kent founded the first hair brush manufacturer, Kent Brushes, in 1777 in Great Britain. It took as many as 12 people to complete one hair brush. The bristles were hand stitched. They still remain one of the oldest companies in Great Britain. Another Englishman invented the automatic brush boring machine in 1885. This way more brushes could be manufactured at a faster rate. Mason Pearson also created a pneumatic rubber cushioned brush that same year. This style still remains popular.
 
Hair Brushes in the United States

The United States had their fair share of hair brush innovators. Hugh Rock was the first to patent a hair brush design. He was known to create beautiful gift sets with metal handled brushes with matching combs and mirrors. Quite often they had scalloped edges to add to their beauty. Samuel Firey put in a patent in 1870 for his elastic wire teeth. He combined them with natural bristles to get the best of both worlds. In 1898, a patent for synthetic bristles was presented by Lyda Newman. She also created detachable handles and air chambers for ventilation. These air chambers, known today as vented brushes, still work well for today’s hair blow drying society.

In 1906, Alfred Fuller shared the hair brush by selling door to door. He created a better brush and created his Fuller Brush Company. His goal was to make a long lasting brush that was affordable by all. As his company grew, his products grew to keep up with the modern world.

Modern Hair Brush

Now hair brushes are in every home and thankfully they are not just for the wealthy any longer. Handles are still made by wood, but plastic ones are light weight and less expensive. Nylon bristles, both with and without tiny balls on the end, are manufactured today. Hair brushes can be found in all sizes, shapes and colors today and many at affordable prices. They are available for different uses, for example, everyday brushing, styling and to be used with blow dryers.

The Future of Hair Brushes

Today there are an enormous variety of hair brush types available. There are flat brushes, round, half round, and vented to name just a few as well as brushes made for specific hair types, such as straight, wavy or curly.  Most hair brush companies design a new brush for each of these specific functionalities. For the average person and even professional hair stylists and salon owners this can be a confusing and expensive endeavor. So we came up with a unique idea, create hair brushes that will work great for the maximum number of these different functionalities and hair types in each brush. That is why Brigitte’s Brushes are designed with tips and bristles in the same brush, which allow them to work well with all types of hair including wet, dry, and tangled hair. The history of the hair brush may not be well known, but the future seems crystal clear, check out one of our brushes and experience the future.

This article first appeared on Brigitte's Brushes

A flat iron is used for more than straightening and smoothing hair. With the proper technique, you can use your flat iron to create waves, curls and so much more!
Sam Villa & Andrew Carruthers, Education Director demonstrate how to use your iron to create today's modern looks. In the video above, you'll learn how to create flat waves, push waves and also how to use your flat iron as if it were a curling iron to create beautiful, soft curls.

Tools & Products For Success

• Flat Iron - you will want a flat iron with a rounded body, especially as you create curls in the hair
• Wide Cutting Comb - used for sectioning the hair and combing through to distribute your product
• Sectioning Clips - our new dry sectioning clips don't leave marks in the hair! Perfect for the Flat Wave technique
• Heat Protection - a thermal heat spray that protects your hair from the heat of the iron

In the video below you will learn how to create a flat wave (looks like an "S" wave or finger wave), soft curls, and push waves.                         

This article first appeared on SamVilla.com