It’s no secret I colour my hair, but I do like to pretend that this is my natural hair colour. When my regrowth starts to show, I have some tricks to try and hide it.

One of the problems I had on my last trip was traveling for so long; I missed my regular hair appointment – 1st World Problems, right? I did think about seeing someone else, but I’m pretty loyal to my hairdresser Stevie English and just couldn’t trust a stranger with my hair.

By the end of my travels I had to get pretty creative with my hairstyles. I also found some products that are so helpful in hiding regrowth as well.

Here are my tips on hiding your regrowth and pretending that this really is your natural hair colour.

1. Embrace hats and accessories
I love hats, and that’s a good thing because they’re your first weapon to hide your regrowth.

Whenever I wear a hat, people often say to me “oh, I could never wear a hat; I’m not a hat person.” But I think you just haven’t found the right hat yet.
It sometimes takes a little bit of confidence to wear something different on your head. I say embrace it and just go for it! Find a great shop and try on a bunch of hats until you find the one that you really like. I promise it won’t be the last hat you buy.

I found this hat on my travels and it’s a souvenir I bought home from Cuba. I wear it every summer now and I always pack it when I’m travelling. It came in as a real lifesaver to hide my hair growth at the end of this trip.

One problem I do find is that you sometimes have to remove your hat when you go inside. But if you choose a smaller hat, you can leave it on anywhere. And if you’re worried about hat hair, I have a great trick I’ve shared here.

2. Learn how to wear a scarf
If you saw my humidity hairstyles post, you saw I recommended packing a silk scarf to wrap around your pillow. That scarf can do double duty and create an awesome hairstyle for you as well.

I like to try and wear it as a bandana style or wrapped around a bun, turban style. Either way looks great and helps to cover your regrowth.

The best thing about a scarf or a bright accessory is that it draws attention away from your roots and people noticed the accessory instead.

3. Go big
The higher the hair, the fewer roots you can see.

Forget your hair straighteners and reach for your curlers instead.
I embrace my natural curl a lot more once my regrowth is noticeable. That little bit of extra height will hide the regrowth and puts more focus on the ends of your hair.

4. Wear your hair out
I know that as soon as your regrowth starts to show, you want to hide your hair away, but you should wear it out.

When your hair is pulled back, you actually emphasise the root. Instead, leave your hair out and put the focus on the ends of your hair.

Try to remember that you’re noticing your regrowth more than anybody else. They don’t know what you look like straight from the salon.

5. Disguise it
Did you know that there are tinted dry shampoos? Batiste makes a great range of tinted dry shampoos to help hide that pesky regrowth or those greys starting to poke through. It’s a total saviour for those final few days before getting your hair coloured.
​
I don’t know about you, but it can seem to me that my hair isn’t growing at all and then overnight it’s like it has grown an inch! I notice the regrowth suddenly and I can’t believe I let it get so bad. I hear myself moaning into the mirror: “I’m sure it wasn’t like that yesterday…”

I hope these disguises for your regrowth save you time and stress, and help you to persevere until you can get your hair back to its proper colour again.
 
This article first appeared on Hair Romance

Show Highlights

• The low status of the barber profession in the 19th century
• The high status a black slave barber could gain in the white community
• The tensions that existed between black barbers and their white customers
• How one slave barber ended up financially supporting his master
• How freed black slave barbers became some of the wealthiest men in the African-American community
• The political influence many black barbers had in the Republican Party after the Civil War
• How black barbers created the luxury barbershop in the 19th century
• What black leaders like Frederick Douglass thought of successful black barbers
• The apprenticeship process the Knights of the Razors developed to train future black barbers
• How the apprenticeship system helped cement the centrality of the barbershop in the African-American community
• The successful black barbers who started the first insurance companies for African-Americans
• Why white men preferred to get their haircut by black barbers despite the influx of white European barbers in the late 19th century
• How state licensing in the late 19th century helped lead to the segregation of the barbershop
• How the invention of the safety razor contributed to the decline of the barbershop in the late 19th century
• Why the barbershop had a stronger toehold among African-American men than with white men
• And much more!

Getting curls to last a long time can be a challenge, especially among those with finer softer hair.  Andrew Carruthers, Director of Education for Sam Villa, shares the top 4 reasons curls fail and offers solutions for making them last all day long.

“If you set yourself up for success, you can have lovely curls with great hold, it all comes down to product, the blow dry, hair texture and the cooling process,” says Carruthers.

4 Reasons Curls Don’t Hold:

1) Product is a must. 
Curl resistant hair (fine and soft) does not respond well to products with oil and silicone, it needs volumizing and thickening products with a dryer lighter touch. Try drying hair until it’s barely damp and then apply a massive amount of a strong hold texturizing product (he uses Redken guts 10) so hair is soaked, and then finish drying.  This creates a great foundation for curl. Before curling hair with an iron, stay away from waxes, oils and silicones. Instead use a product specifically designed for heat styling (he uses Redken iron shape 11)  to provide thermal protection and hold, without being heavy or weighing hair down.

2) The blow dry is a key factor. 
Use a strong blowdryer (he uses Sam Villa Artist Series Professional Blow Dryer) for maximum control.  For added tension and stretch for a very polished finish, use a polishing paddle brush (Carruthers uses a Sam Villa Artist Series Polishing Paddle Brush.)  Don’t over work the hair - if it’s stretched too much the curls will not be full or have bounce.  For a very organic curl, rough dry hair without any brush.

3) Add Texture. 
Really healthy soft hair does not hold curl well because the cuticle is closed so tightly it’s hard to reform into another pattern. Use a texturizing iron (Carruthers uses The Sam Villa Signature Series Textur Professional Texturizing Iron) that has plates with ridges, so when hair is compressed, it expands the cuticle creating an optimal foundation for larger curls that last longer.

4) Cool. 
After curling the hair with an iron, hold the curls in hands and let cool before letting them fall. This locks in the curl pattern so it doesn’t fall or stretch out. It actually takes 30 minutes of cooling for bonds to completely reform, so for marathon curls, after curling with wand, roll the section, clip and cool for 30 minutes.

​This article first appeared on Modern Salon

​Options for Better Hair …

As a famous comedian once jokingly said, “God only made a few perfect heads … all the rest she covered with hair!”

As one ages, it’s only natural for hair to wane. Very few individuals have rich thick hair well into their senior years. Most science points to the decrease in natural hormones. Hair retention is most certainly controlled by your individual genetics, however there are other conditions that may influence the overall health of your hair. Your diet, the weather, toxins, pollution, and your overall approach to hair care are influence your hair retention and health.

Protein is not only a key ingredient to hair itself, but also as a progenitor of hair. Deficient protein in the diet can result in loss of hair, brittle or fragile hair, and loss of hair color. At least 45 grams of protein daily should be included in your diet: eggs, fish, lean meat, poultry, beans, tofu, dairy products,

Zinc deficiency can cause hair loss. Multivitamin or zinc supplements can go a long way toward giving your body what it needs without a lot of hassle. Foods that are rich in Zinc are:

• Nuts: almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, and walnuts,
• vegetables
• fruits
• leafy green salads
• plenty of clean, filtered water

​

Omega 3 Fatty Acids stimulate hair follicles growth and the sebaceous (fat) glands around them. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in:

• flax seed
• cold-water fish, such as salmon, sardines, and herring
• yogurt
• cottage cheese

Laser and light therapy: Although the science is light and the treatment regimens vary widely, many thousands of people are treated every year with varying degrees of success. Some swear by it and some swear at it, because it is not cheap.

Pills and potions flood the market-place, each one claiming success. “Buyer beware” comes into place here, look for real research, not just testimonials.

Shampoo: How often to shampoo your hair varies greatly; it depends upon your hair type and texture, activities in which you participate, and how often you use hair products. Oily hair requires more frequent washing and dry hair mandates less frequent washing. One must buy the right product for their own hair: curly, dry, oily, straight, artificially colored, bleached, etc. … Check the labels on the bottle, the formations do not vary much, but the ingredients in the better brands do seem to make a difference. Avoid shampoos with harsh ingredients, such as ammonium lauryl sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate. Experts suggest that one can over-shampoo or shampoo incorrectly. The standard rules of thumb are:
​

• Avoid using very hot or very cold water
• Don’t wash your hair more than once a day.
• Use only enough of the product to cover your hair.
• Hair is three times more susceptible to breakage when wet, so don’t dry vigorously with the towel.
• Wait till almost dry before brushing or combing, preferably with a wide-tooth comb to detangle.

Conditioning: Experts seem to agree that conditioning your hair after shampooing keeps your hair softer, shiny, and manageable. They may disagree, however, as to whether a shampoo with built-in conditioner is as good as a separate one, and whether you should condition after every shampoo.

Hair maintenance tips:

• Get regular haircuts (every 10 to 12 weeks) keeps hair healthier and prevents split ends
• Air drying is better than hair dryers
• When using a hair dryer, start on low heat, avoid high heat for prolonged periods of time if possible
• Change locations of hair pins and clips to avoid localized breakage
• If you dye your hair, choose a shade that’s within three shades of your natural color
• Avoid frequent hair color changes and stripping
• Scalp massage increases blood circulation and may promote hair growth

Diet and exercise:

• Heating a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables gives your hair all the essential nutrients – vitamins and minerals – to get healthy and stay that way
• Things to avoid for healthier hair:
•     over consumption of alcohol
•     low-calorie and crash diets
•     decreased thyroid hormone
•     excessive stress

Detoxification, if started early enough may make a difference to people who have been exposed to toxins and heavy metals. Blood and hair testing can reveal many surprises and therefore require many different solutions to detoxification and treatment which may lead to healthier thicker hair.

Here are a couple other sites you might want to check out.

Healthlin.com
EnCognitive.com

This article first appeared on World Health.net