​ETHIOPIA

“Ethiopian women love butter,” says model and activist Gelila Bekele, who was born in Addis Ababa. For centuries, women in Ethiopia have relied on raw, unsalted butter to nourish dry hair. “Moisture for black hair has taken myriad forms depending on availability and location,” says Noliwe Rooks, an associate professor of Africana and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies at Cornell University. “Coconut oil, ghee, and Vaseline were all key depending on where one was in the African diaspora. In some cultures, mud and clay are used to lock in moisture.” Bekele still uses raw butter in her hair today. “I apply it directly to my scalp once a week, massaging until the butter melts, and let it sit for a few hours or overnight. And the benefits are beyond hair care — it moisturizes skin.”

Of course, with so much diversity within the country, there are tons of hair secrets to mine. “Ethiopia has over 80 different ethnic groups; hair signifies something different to each tribe,” says Bekele. “They all have their own special traditions, like brides wearing silver or gold beads, partially shaved heads with intricate braids to signify youth, or using red clay to twist the hair or paint scalps.” And many women in Ethiopia dye their hair, but not with foil strips and chemical fumes. Women from the Hamer tribe use raw butter and fresh ochre, made of red clay paste, to paint their hair a deep terracotta color. They then twist their newly colored hair into thin locs called goscha. The twists are meant to signal health and vitality. Many of the hairstyles in Ethiopia are so intricate that women have even been known to preserve them by sleeping on a wooden headrest.

​A version of this article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Allure.

Pinterest loves this haircut, and you will too.

Short haircuts for curly hair can be tricky thing. Chop too short and your curls won’t show off their full spiral. If strands are too long, curls could get weighed down and lose their bounce. Needless to say, we’ve been on an exhaustive hunt for the best haircuts for curly hair for quite some time. We searched high and low to find the ideal length, style, and cut; and we’re pretty sure we finally did.

We’re calling the style pictured here the curly shag and it’s going to make you want to book an appointment with your stylist, ASAP. The cut falls just above the shoulders and is characterized by lots of layers and a heavy part. We absolutely love how it frames the face without overwhelming—or giving us the feeling we would constantly be tucking it behind our ears or pinning it back.

When it comes to shoulder-length cuts for curly hair, it’s easy to fall prey to the triangle look—you know, the one that juts out from the top of the head in a triangle shape coming just above the shoulders. A mere mention of the triangle is enough to send any curly-haired woman into a full panic before chopping her locks. Avoiding the not-so-flattering look is completely doable, though. The key is plenty of layers. The stylist expertly crafted layer after layer to give curls the most spiral potential. We love how each curl lays gently on the other without stacking outward, instead, gently curving around the face. 

We even love the heavy part, which is again made possibly with the use of plenty of layers. The dramatic look gives the curls an almost tousled, woke-up-like-this effect that we absolutely love—and that will garner plenty of compliments when you take it for a spin.
​

Whether your hair is long and thick or short and fine, we've got you covered.

Ever read a how-to guide for styling different types of hair and been like, “Uh, yeah, I guess I’m this hair type, uh, I think…?”

Well, great news then, we gathered up four Domino editors with different hair types, and consulted the experts at Spoke & Weal salon in New York's Soho neighborhood to investigate all things hair—from texture and type to easy fall styles (that will work year round).

We spent an entire day with Jon Reyman, the master hairstylist and founder of Spoke & Weal, while he talked us through the basics, answered all of our questions, and led the looks for each editor.

First thing first, what hair type are you? According to Reyman, there are three option: soft/fine, medium, or coarse. Here's how to tell.

SOFT HAIR

“Soft hair is slippery, it doesn’t hold bend well, although it may be naturally curly. The hair may become greasy quickly, and in many cases it’s more flat and limp," says Reyman. "Soft hair is hard to create volume, too. You can have soft curly hair, or soft straight hair. Lots of people with fine hair are focused on adding volume.”

Are you softy at heart? Here are your guides to curling and straightening your hair.

MEDIUM HAIR

“Medium hair is in-between coarse and soft,” says Reyman. “This hair type may not take a lot of work to style bigger or smaller; it’s flexible and usually easy to work with.”

So you’ve got medium hair, that’s great news! Here is your go-to guide.

COARSE HAIR

“Coarse hair is more rough, dry, fluffy, and most people want to make coarse smaller or softer,” says Reyman. “Coarse hair usually takes longer to blow dry and to style, because hair usually has lots of natural volume.”

Coarse hair guide is right here—you’re going to love it.

This article first appeared on domino

​Turn heads with this time-saving sultry bombshell hair style. Look like you’ve just emerged from the pages of a Victoria Secret catalog and make the street your catwalk. You don’t have to see your stylist every morning or spend a lot of money on expensive products and tools by following these effortless steps, you can achieve Victoria Secret model hair at home.

While You’re Washing

When prepping over a sink or in the shower, skip the conditioner this time, or go very sparingly-focusing only on unruly ends. Conditioner smooths the hair shaft helping it lie flat which is not what you want when you’re pumping up the volume on this look.

If skipping conditioner scares you off because of the frizz factor, focus on the brush you’re using. The wrong brush could be your main culprit in taming an unruly mane.

A special ionic brush or any made with boar bristles is ideal and the bigger and rounder the better for this look. Using a few different sizes can help make the look more natural.

Be sure to include a little heat protector before blowing out. It’s important to blow dry using maximum heat because damp hair causes frizz. There’s a wide range of products to choose from to protect hair from heat styling damage, Keratin offers a color safe styling cream.

For lightweight volume, try a bit of mousse focusing on roots and ends to achieve better style hold, using sparingly throughout the rest of your hair. This will give you a voluminous blow dry effect without weighing down strands in heavy product.

How to do a Hollywood Hair Blowout

Now that your hair is clean and perfectly prepped, it’s time to turn the air on. Be sure you’re equipped with the best tool for the job, a hair dryer with different heat settings can help.

Many of the hair dryer models these days offer features like negative ions that help diffuse frizz and maximize shine without slathering on conditioner and lots of product.

Do the Kelly Kapowski

For this preliminary quick dry, flip your hair in the opposite direction to the way you usually wear it giving you an exaggerated Saved by the Bell look, stay with me here this isn’t the final stage.

Before brush styling, finger comb and flip and dry to remove most of the moisture for this step. Drying upside down can help add extra body too. Come back up for air when hair is mostly dry and full of body–don’t worry about the look yet, you just want max hair volume.

Splitting Up

When hair is no longer soaking wet and manageable, it’s time to break it up into smaller sections. Use duck bill clips to organize hair into sections, and a concentrator attachment on your blow dryer. Most models come with, or you can find universal attachments to fit like the Diane Universal Dryer Concentrator.

This is where your round brush comes into play. Pull small sections of hair taut around brushing upward and spinning, focusing the hot concentrated air downward to set the style. For a general hair tutorial on round brushing check out Zinniah’s tips:         

The most important factor to focus on when round brush drying is to make sure your roots are dry, if they are still damp when you set your style, your look will lose shape throughout the day and fall flat. As you finish heat drying a section blast each with a brief shot of cold air to set the sexy style.

As you wrap the hair around the brush and release it, as an option you can pin the curl into shape with bobby pins or soft duck bill clips, to lock in longer lasting style. Large velcro hair rollers also work to hold hair in place and set while you focus on other sections.

Start from the bottom finishing up at your crown sectioning it off into a pentagon shape. When blow drying the crown sections always ensure you are brushing hair upward and away from your face rolling the brush to dry curls facing a backward direction for the best volume.

Your Crowning Glory

Focus on the very front crown piece for the bangs, even if you don’t have any, this section will frame your face and complete the look. Spend a little extra time here and save it for last once the rest of your hair is set in pinned curls or hair rollers.

Show some love here, splitting the final front crown piece section into two and spending extra blow dry attention shaping round loose curls and waves.

Once all the hair is set in clips, use a volumizing hairspray for hold. Give the sprayed curls about 10 minutes to set while you do your makeup or decide on the perfect outfit to compliment this bombshell look.

Start unpinning from the nape of your neck and work your way up releasing all your curls finishing with another spritz of hairspray. Loosely tousle curls for a more relaxed look and shape around the face for your desired look.

Bombshell Blowouts for Days

To keep your hair looking Bond girl for days: avoid any water works. Stay equipped with an umbrella for rainy weather and pull on a shower cap when showering to protect your style.

Look but Don’t Touch

Admire your hair goals from afar, excessive touching can promote oil production and undo all your hard work. Day old hair can help add to volume so don’t rinse and repeat so soon. To nix oil buildup spray on a little dry shampoo on your roots.

 
This article appeared on The Right Hairstyles

Hair is not immune to the aging process; just like the rest of our body, it changes as we get older. Strands very gradually get finer in diameter and are unable to grow as long as they once could. The degree of change is in large part down to the genetic hand we are dealt, but it is also reliant on hormones, diet and general health.
 
30s
20s and 30s are the most common time for women to have children, and this can impact the hair. 6 - 12 weeks after giving birth, approximately 50% of women experience a type of hair shedding known as ‘post-partum hair fall' – and this is in fact one of the most common hair concerns for women in their 30s. However, it can happen to a woman of any age who is having a baby.

While the overall thickness of the hair can drastically decrease, post-partum hair loss is temporary; the shedding should stop and growth resume as usual. Eating a healthy diet and managing stress levels can help the hair to recover as fast as possible.
 
30s/40s
Ferritin (stored iron) deficiency is also a common issue for women in their 30s and 40s – and remains common up until menses stops at menopause. Ferritin is needed by the body to produce hair cell protein and a deficiency can cause excessive daily hair shedding, as well as loss of length – particularly around the temple areas. To improve and maintain ferritin levels, try to eat red meat at least twice a week. Dietary supplements containing Iron, Vitamin C and Vitamin B12 can also be very helpful such as Philip Kingsley Tricho Complex – and are essential where ferritin levels are already below normal levels.
 
40s
Volume reduction can occur at any age, but for the majority of women it usually becomes noticeable in their 40s. It is not that woman in this age group have less hairs in number than they used to, each hair is simply slightly finer. Daily application of stimulating anti-androgenic scalp drops can help to slow down the thinning of individual strands. To immediately improve the appearance of thickness, use a thickening protein spray when styling.
 
50s
The average age of menopause is around 52. While subtle changes to the hair can and often do occur long before this, menopause speeds up these changes. As the body produces less oestrogen, and the percentage of androgens (male hormones) increase, the hair's diameter and the length to which it will grow gradually decreases. Again, daily application of stimulating anti-androgenic scalp drops can help to slow down the thinning of individual strands – and applying thickening protein sprays throughout the length of the hair can give the appearance of more body.

Finer hairs are weaker, so it is important to take extra care when styling so as not to snap strands. Choose a brush that is gentle – the best are cushioned at the base with rounded, plastic prongs.
 
60s +
Sebum (oil) secretion tends to diminish in our 60s and 70s plus and this can make the hair dry and brittle. To restore moisture, strength and elasticity, use a weekly intensive pre-shampoo conditioning treatment.

Hemoglobin levels also tend to decrease during our 60s+ and this can affect the hair. Improve hemoglobin levels by taking a daily supplement containing Iron and Vitamin C.
 
This article first appeared on ukhairdressers