Beauty by the Numbers
The 2016 holiday season is just around the bend.  His/Her list is long on goodies to buy for loved ones, and gifts he/she desires most. Happy reading.
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Meet the hair dealers, from growers to collectors to buyers
Anthropologist Emma Tarlo just published a new book, Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair, investigating the weird culture and business surrounding hair, from Jewish wig parlors to its use in Hindu temples to hair loss clinics. In an excerpt at Smithsonian, Tarlo tells of the hair trade, tracing the path from the growers to the sellers to the buyers: 
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Olaplex sues L’Oréal USA
The California-based professional hair care maker filed suit this month, claiming L’Oréal infringed on its patent and engaged in false advertising...
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FDA announces new sunscreen guidelines
To expedite the review and approval process for over-the-counter sun care, the US Food and Drug Administration issued new guidelines this week, outlining the data required to demonstrate that sun care ingredients are generally recognized as safe and effective.
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Safe hair care spares hair, dermatologists report
A common cause of hair loss and breakage known as acquired trichorrhexis nodosa, or TN --often more prevalent in African-Americans -- can actually be remedied through appropriate use of cleansing products, hair care and styling practices, say researchers at Johns Hopkins.
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6 Things No One Tells You About Coffee
Despite the fact that most of us drink it every day (about 2.1 cups’ worth), there’s still some essential java info that not everyone knows.
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12 Practical Healthy Eating Habits for Kids
Nurture your kids to become the best eaters they can be with our healthy eating habits that will help kids have a healthy and happy relationship with food.
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Leaving a Nasty Yelp Review Makes You an A**H***
Oh, the Internet. We love it and hate it for many reasons. One of them is the instant gratification we receive when posting on social media, like that of instant revenge. With one click, you can do so much harm. Yelp is the epitome of this. But to all the people who are out for a vendetta via Yelp, here’s a few things to consider before you put your fingers on that keyboard:
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Teen’s shocking allergic reaction to hair dye patch test which she says saved her life.
​
One hour after the dye was tested the student's ears ballooned and started weeping. The next day the reaction was even worse, and she was left unable to move her neck.  Doctors told Sophie Warren she would have DIED if the dye had been put all over her head.

Click on the photo below for the full story.

What are the reactions to PPD allergy?​

Reaction caused by the use of hair dye in mild cases usually only involves dermatitis to the upper eyelids or the rims of the ears. In more severe cases, there may be marked reddening and swelling of the scalp and the face. The eyelids may completely close and the allergic contact dermatitis reaction may become widespread.

Severe allergy to PPD can result in contact urticaria and rarely, anaphylaxis.

The Effects of Hair Parting on Social Appraisal
and Personal Development
By Catherine Walter and John Walter
 
Surprisingly, a hair part has a crucial impact on interpersonal relationships by affecting immediate character appraisal, perceived personality traits, self-perception and self-development!

The Hair Part Theory was developed by a brother-sister team trained, respectively, in nuclear physics and cultural anthropology. Their revolutionary theory is now being made available to the general public, so that all individuals can have more control over automatic and mostly unconscious assessments made of their personalities by others. John and Catherine Walter also produce the True Mirror®, a mirror that does not reverse the viewer’s image and which therefore allows an accurate self-assessment.

A left hair part draws unconscious attention to the activities that are controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, i.e. activities traditionally attributed to masculinity. A right hair part draws unconscious attention to the activities that are controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, i.e. activities traditionally attributed to femininity.

A man who parts his hair on the right, and who is striving for positive assessment in a traditionally male role is at risk for having difficulties in interpersonal relationships, since he is sending a mixed, subconscious message by emphasizing the activities of the brain traditionally attributed to femininity.

A woman who parts her hair on the left, and who is striving for positive assessment in a traditionally male role (for example, in business or politics) will be taken more seriously than a woman with a right part, who is emphasizing mental processes that are traditionally attributed to femininity.

Use the links below to access the full theory paper, as well as an analysis of United States Presidents, Vice Presidents, state Governors (in office 9/98), and the Senators and Representatives of the 105th Congress according to their hair part choice, with an emphasis on those who part their hair on the right.

Additionally, a list of famous men who wear a right part is included, since these men illustrate some of the surprising ways that a right hair part affects personality and perception of personality.

The Hair Part Theory (c)1998  
PDF version – Complete data included

The Hair Part Theory
Web Version

Lincoln - Left or Right?

Hair Part Theory – Discover the Difference!  

RadioLab:  Mirror, Mirror

The Atlantic: The Mirror of Dorian Gray

I was hanging out with a few friends recently and we were talking about hair (of course we were) and someone mentioned that there wouldn't be any more blondes in a few hundred years.   I'd never heard this before so I thought I'd research their comment.   

The Claim:  A study undertaken by the World Health Organization concluded that natural blondes are likely to be extinct within 200 years.

Well, this is completely FALSE.  

The problem is that blonde hair is caused by a recessive gene.

In order for a child to have blonde hair, it must have the gene on both sides of the family in the grandparents' generation.  

The researchers also believe that so-called bottle blondes may be to blame for the demise of their natural rivals.
 
They suggest that dyed-blondes are more attractive to men who choose them as partners over true blondes.
 
But Jonathan Rees, professor of dermatology at the University of Edinburgh said it was unlikely blondes would die out completely.  "Genes don't die out unless there is a disadvantage of having that gene or by chance. They don't disappear," he told BBC News Online.  "The only reason blondes would disappear is if having the gene was a disadvantage and I do not think that is the case.
 
"The frequency of blondes may drop but they won't disappear."  
[source: BBC News]

(Source: Science: HowStuffWorks)

SNOPES.com also debunked this claim.  

And what about redheads?  Are they going extinct?