Hair Care Products: Does the Brand Name Really Matter?

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Posted on 3rd April 2012 by shearpointe in hair care products |hair growth |hair loss produts

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We’ve all experienced those moments in the supermarket, pharmacy or department store when its time to choose a new hair care product. We begin to ask ourselves, “What’s the difference between these two brands?” and follow it up with, “is the difference really worth that much more? It’s all soap anyway, right?” Well, in fact choosing the store brand, or other significantly less expensive hair products can actually make a difference in performance. Bargain shopping is always a wise route, but when it comes to hair treatment, cheaper is not always better.

In a conversation with professional hairstylist, Nicole Brown, she described situations that she often encounters with her clients concerning saving money. One of these situations includes clients being concerned with trying to save on hair care. One particular client said that one of the things that she would do was wash her hair at home first before coming into the salon for her appointment. At home, the client would use cheap products to wash her hair. Brown warned her client on several occasions about the dangers of washing her hair with cheap, uncertified products. Doing so can damage and break your hair. The client didn’t listen and continued to go on compromising the quality of her products. Unfortunately, over time her client’s hair began to break off dramatically and became weak and thin. Her long hair had to be cut short to give it time to rebuild itself.

Choosing the right hair care products if you are wearing a wig or hair replacement system can be even more challenging, since you are now dealing with non-growing hair as well as your own natural growing hair. In this instance, it is wise to consult with your hair replacement studio or clinic for a recommendation. They are familiar with your own natural hair type, as well as your wig or hair replacement system, your lifestyle, your level of personal activity and a host of other factors, and can make a professionally informed recommendation that you will be happy with and can live with for a long time.

Inexpensive (i.e. cheap) products can keep money in your pocket in the short-term. Maintaining healthy hair, particularly if you are wearing a hair replacement system, a hair integration, or wig not only ensures that your hair will look it’s best, but it also ensures that your investment in yourself and your hair is being well taken care of.

Treating Yourself and Your Hair

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Posted on 9th March 2012 by shearpointe in DHT Sensor |hair care products |hair growth |hair loss solutions |wigs

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Keeping your hair healthy and shiny takes planning and commitment. It’s really easy for your hair to get the short end of the beauty stick. But, if you take just a few extra minutes during your hair care routine, it can make a different in the way you look and feel. Try some of the suggestions below to give yourself and your hair a special treat.

Shampoo Less. Avoid washing your hair every day. Washing is an important part of hair care, but if you do it too frequently you could end up damaging your hair. Aim to wash your hair every other day or even every three days if you can. “Hair looks its best when the natural oils from the scalp are allowed to reach the ends,” says Sally Hershberger, executive style director for John Frieda/Sheer Blonde. Even though the shampoo bottles advise you to “rinse and repeat”, washing only one time will get your hair as clean as it needs to be.

Brush Gently. After you’ve found a brush that is right for your hair type, texture, and density, brush your hair gently. After you’ve washed your hair, run your fingers through it to untangle the knots. Allow your hair to dry and then take a wide-toothed comb and run it through your hair, beginning close to the ends and away from the roots. Begin at the ends and work your way up. “Anything more than that is unnecessary friction, which can lead to breakage,” says Amy J. McMichael, M.D., an associate professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Treat Dandruff. If those little white flakes are getting the best of you, don’t mask them. Treat them. Dandruff is obviously not a life threatening disease, but it can worsen if it’s not treated. Start by visiting your local drug store and purchase two or three shampoos designed to treat dandruff. You may have to experiment a little bit until you find one that works for you. Once you find the product that rids your hair of dandruff, make sure you keep searching for at least one more product that works, too. Often, your favorite shampoo will stop working if you’ve used it too frequently. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to have an alternate shampoo at the ready.

Consider purchasing a quality wig. Picture exactly how you’d like your hair to look. Think of every little detail—color, texture, length, cut, feel. You could have your perfect dream hairstyle at the snap of your fingers. Quality human hair wigs range in price, style, and texture. Purchasing a wig that is made specifically for you could be the one saving grace that gets you through bad hair days and makes you feel better.

Having beautiful hair is a huge self-confidence booster. Similarly, when your hair is not as shiny, full, or sexy as you’d like, your self-esteem can take a major hit.

Sometimes busyness can trick you into thinking you don’t have time to take care of your hair. However, if you take just a few minutes every day to give your hair some TLC, you can move closer to the type of hair that you want.

Not All Lasers Are Created Equal

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Posted on 14th February 2011 by shearpointe in hair growth |laser hair therapy

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We received the following information from Leonard Stillman at Lexington International and wanted to share it:

NOT ALL LASERS ARE THE SAME AND NOT ALL BRANDS OF LASERS ARE THE SAME

There has been a lot of publicity about lasers and their use in all areas of medicine, from surgical uses to uses for cosmetic indications such as hair growth, hair removal, wrinkle effacement and cellulite reduction. Recently, there have been an ever increasing number of home use laser devices introduced that make all sorts of unproven claims.

The action of these lasers is dependent on the TOTAL output of laser wavelength they emit and is NOT dependent on the number of lasers used to give this output. In fact, if a laser is designed for hair growth, total laser output has to be specific at 655 nm to be effective. For a laser to destroy or remove hair, they have to have a higher wavelength output in the visible light spectrum of around 800 nm. And of course, lasers used in surgery to remove lesions have to have an even higher wave length of over 1000 nm to work. So you can see that just a little higher wave length than that which is required to work for a specific condition, can actually cause a different reaction as between hair growth and destruction.

It is important to know these facts about lasers and what they are used for because there is so much conflicting information on the web about lasers and what they can do. The big “buzz word” in hair growth is the allegation that the more lasers a device has, the better it will work to grow hair. As mentioned above, this is not true as it is the TOTAL energy output that is important and NOT the number of lasers it takes to deliver this energy. In fact, more lasers in a device could in fact be delivering too much energy and cause hair loss rather than hair growth because of excess energy delivery.

So how do you know what is the best laser to pick for treating a specific condition, particularly for home use? The answer is simple – you should ONLY consider any home use medical device that has specific FDA clearance for marketing. While there are a lot of home use devices available on the web making all sorts of claims, there are very few that have FDA clearance. As an example, while there are many devices advertised for hair growth, the HairMax LaserComb is the ONLY home use laser phototherapy device that has FDA clearance for marketing for the promotion of hair growth. Likewise, while there are many devices that claim efficacy for hair removal, only a couple of them have FDA clearance. It is that simple……DO NOT buy any home use device that does not have FDA clearance, period!

So why is this FDA clearance so vital? The reason is that this means that a 510(k) submission has been submitted to the FDA for the device and has been reviewed by that agency to assure that the device is safe. In many cases, as with the HairMax LaserComb, efficacy has been proven in well controlled clinical studies and these studies were pivotal in the clearance of the device by the FDA.
In addition to this review and clearance, the FDA requires and monitors strict manufacturing and quality control standards. This oversight assures that the energy put out by these devices ALWAYS complies with the energy output for which they were cleared for marketing. Using any other devices that do not have this clearance means you do not know how they are made and in some cases you do not even know who makes them since they use a mail drop address. FDA clearance for marketing is specific to the specific brand and is NOT transferable to other devices of its kind. There is no such thing as an “FDA approved brand of laser”!
So while the various lasers on the market, particularly in the home use category can be confusing, it is easy to eliminate most of those advertised for consideration because they DO NOT have FDA clearance SPECIFIC to their brand. Be sure to do your research and assure that the company marketing the device you are considering has spent the resources to achieve FDA clearance for marketing the right to make claims for efficacy. Only in that way can you be confident that they will do what they are designed to do and are a high quality product.

We hope that you will post to clarify the information about lasers for hair growth.

Leonard Stillman, Director of Professional Services at Lexington International, LLC manufacturers of the HairMax LaserComb.

This posting is not for commercial purposes but to provide further information about laser phototherapy for treating hair loss.