Hairpieces:Need some help with your hair?

Do you want happening hair?
Based on the trends identified by Trend Union, a Paris-based trend agency, Wella has put together four major themes for its annual trends forecast.Being Naïve embraces the rediscovery of spontaneity and optimism. This translates into playful hairstyles that include plaits, intricate knots and cute curls.Being Rebellious means having confidence to break with tradition. It embraces free thinking and sets aside all differences of gender, race and age. This translates into hair that is wild and untamed. Punk-like crests and bold colour define strong contrasts.Being In Love is the longing for intimacy and tenderness. Seductive curls fall loosely onto the neck and shoulders or are tied into flamboyant knots.The last trend, Being Constructive, concentrates on the essential and the quest for perfection. Hair is stylishly functional and the quality is exceptional. Styles are timeless and simple, and feature clear contours, precisely defined partings and understated styling.Keeping your hair colour has never been easier. Kérastase recently launched a range of products for women who demand lasting radiance from their hair colour. Reflections promises radiant, even and long-lasting colour by increasing the mirror-like reflections from the hair fibre. The micropolymer technology in Radiance allows hair to reflect light more effectively, and the ionic formulation targets damaged areas, resulting in brighter, shinier hair. Products range in price from R155,95 to R235,95;
Bad hair
-A bad hair day can really get you down. But why is it that on some days your hair falls into place with no effort whatsoever and on other days you wake up to hair that clearly has a mind of its own?
-Product build-up can cause hair that usually has body to lie as flat as a pancake. A clarifying shampoo will remove excess build-up and your hair should regain its natural bounce.
-Monthly hormonal changes can also stimulate the oil glands to secrete more oil, resulting in hair that lacks body.
-As for waking up with an unmanageable cowlick, remember that the shape of a curl close to the head such as a cowlick is determined by the slant of the hair follicle.It won't help to wet the ends and tug on your hair with a hairbrush; you'll have to wet your hair to the root and straighten it from there using heat.

Hairy facts

All you need to know about some of the hair treatments and products that fill many of us with apprehension.Hair that has been straightened with a straightening iron is huge fashion news, and the perm is also said to be back with a bang. Let us help you figure out what to look out for and what might work for you.
Straightening irons:

Why you should think twice Any heat treatment damages your hair. According to make-up artist and hair stylist Carl Isaacs, the biggest problem with buying your own straightening iron is going for a cheap imitation. Good straightening irons, like Ghd (priced between R1 300 and R1 800 at selected salons), controls the heat and prevents the irons from overheating and singeing the hair. Carl says it's also a good idea to apply ghd The Iron Oil to your hair before using the straightening iron. It doesn't contain any silicon (silicone boils at 40°C while a straightening iron can reach 240°C), which is especially important if you use a straightening iron regularly.Why it could work: Carl says a good straightening iron used in conjunction with the appropriate hair products could actually improve the condition of your hair by locking in moisture. It is also the best way to get wavy hair perfectly straight.



Why you should think twice?
The stiff, unnatural curls of the 1980s are enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.Why it could work? According to Paul from Terenzo Hairdressing, the products techniques are used, but the perm lotions are technologically and scientifically more advanced. Whereas the old products were more alkaline, the new ones like Redken Inner Secret – in Paul's view, the best on the market – are acid based and contain amino acids and other ingredients that leave the hair in a better condition than it was before the treatment. With regard to appearance, Paul says that spiral perms are totally out of fashion and aren't done any more. Curls are now soft and loose, and large rollers are used to create this look.Permanent wave treatments are also no longer being used to add volume to hair. Nowadays stylists use cutting techniques and hair products to add volume. Paul recommends permanent wave treatments for people with very curly hair who want a softer curl – a so-called reverse perm – or for those who have a kink in their hair and would like low maintenance waves.He cautions that if your hair has been highlighted or bleached, you should not have a permanent wave treatment.

Hairstyling secrets

Get curls and waves:
1. If you have dead-straight hair, first apply a little gel or mousse to dry hair and divide it into thin sections.
2. Using a curling iron – wait until it has warmed up properly – wind your hair around the hot element, section by section. Once you've finished each section, remove the curling iron but don't allow your hair to drop – pin the curl lightly to your head to allow it to set as your hair cools.
3. Define the curls with a light spray or styling gel.
Tip: For looser curls, use a diffuser when blow-drying your hair.
Straighten your hair:
1. Apply straightening balm or mousse to damp hair.
2. Dry your hair in sections using a hairdryer with a nozzle attachment and a large, round brush with bristles that hold the hair properly. Hold the hairdryer above the section you're drying and dry down the length of your hair.
3. Use a hot straightening iron to straighten your hair completely. First apply a few drops of serum to the bottom of the hair to protect and smooth it.
Tip: You could also apply a little serum and use a paddle brush to dry your hair straight.
Give short hair a sexy look:
1. To get more volume on top, apply mousse to damp hair and dry in sections using a large round brush.
2. Put some large Velcro rollers into the top layer of your hair for additional volume.
3. Finish off by using the handle of a thin make-up brush or comb to create a zigzag parting. This gives more volume than a straight parting because the hair is lifted at the roots.
Tip: You can give thin hair instant volume by having it cut into subtle layers of different lengths. Speak to your hairdresser.

What your hair says about you {Part 2}

Cheese girl:

"I wear a weave and to tell you the truth, I haven't really experienced a lot of stereotyping from my peers, but people who don't know me sometimes just assume that I've got money. I didn't choose this style because I wanted to be associated with the whole image, I just think I happen to look a lot better with a weave than I do with my own hair. I work in fashion where different people wear different styles, and mine's a weave." Mpumi, 25 Straight hair is generally linked to businesswomen dressed in power suits, says Prof Coplan. These women choose this particular style, he says, because it is deemed more appropriate in the mostly white environment in which they work. The problem is, of course, that as a result all black women with straight hair, particularly weaves and wigs, are thought to be wealthy... or BEE wannabes. And even if she doesn't wear a weave or a wig, if her jet-black hair is always relaxed bone straight, Miss Silky Straight is presumed to have an identity crisis because she still fries her hair by regularly dousing it in chemicals. The stereotype says she's a lawyer, businesswoman, works in the corporate or banking sector, or was born with a diamond-encrusted silver spoon in her mouth. She's rarely seen in anything other than designer togs and immaculately tailored suits. She wears heels every day, sports acrylic nails, drives a German car, and will only date high rollers like herself. But the wealthy corporate woman isn't likely to be seen with anything other than a conservative style in a neutral colour – never platinum blonde, says salon owner and stylist Brian Warfield. 'The platinum blonde hairpiece or weave is associated mostly with hood rats and prostitutes. It's not classy at all.'

Soul sista:

"Afro-centric hairstyles are about saying I know who I am and where I'm from" says Nakedi Ribane, author of Beauty: A Black Perspective The current crop of natural styles like the Afro, twists, cornrows and plaits are associated with a strong affinity with Africa, says Prof Coplan. The Afro was the style that typified the 70s African American black consciousness movement, which was all about black liberation and pride. The Afro gave women the idea that you could have long beautiful hair without having to put chemicals in it. Now, of course, we have the African Renaissance, which is encouraging pride in all things African and many people are interpreting this as a move away from processed hair. Natural hair is particularly popular, says Ribane, among artists, poets, musicians or people thought of as intellectuals and creative thinkers. Think Thandiswa Mazwai and Lebo Mashile. In stereotypical language, this honey rocks only natural hair. It doesn't matter if she has an Afro, cornrows, twists, plaits or a short schoolgirl cut; she doesn't fry her hair. The theory is that her taste in music ranges from neo-soul to jazz to 'politically correct' hip-hop. She's supposed to be well versed in all subjects related to Africa, love poetry and wear Afro-centric clothing and accessories. Soul sista is most likely an activist, designer, artist or actress. Jah Lady: "Because of my dreadlocks, people do assume the obvious. If they don't say it outright, they fish to see if I'm a conscious person, whether I smoke ganja or if I'm into poetry and listen to Lauryn Hill. "I think there is a certain awareness or state of mind you've got to have to wear dreads. Going through the whole process definitely gave me a sense of pride about my hair, because I was accepting my natural hair.' Lerato, 25 The hairstyle with probably the most universal association is dreadlocks. When you see them, you think Rastafarians, reggae and Bob Marley. But that image, says Warfield, is changing. "I think dreadlocks have become more widely accepted and don't have that stigma they once had, because people are wearing them differently. People will only assume you're a Rasta if you dress the part." "He has a point. Geri Rantseli has dreadlocks and I doubt if anyone thinks she's a Rasta in her power suit. Author Ribane agrees that dreadlocks, or locks, are now seen more as an option for wearing your hair naturally, rather than being seen as you making a political statement. But even so, locks still have Rastafarian connotations. To those versed in stereotypes, Jah Lady's Lauryn Hill-inspired dreadlocks are a mix of shabby chic and precision styling. Hers are designer locks with the thick Rastafarian edge, so they're well twisted, spritzed for sheen and dyed jet black for great colour. Like the Soul Sista, she's made an informed decision to go 'natural' and loves to associate herself with Rastafarianism. She most probably listens to Bob Marley and 340ml from Mozambique, but is also known to be quite the hip-hop head.

I am not my hair:

"I don't know if I'm making a statement because I'm bald. Shaving off my hair was about just being too lazy to deal with it any more! "But people do look at me differently now. I think they don't know what to do with me – whereas before, when I had natural hair, so much was assumed about me before I'd even opened my mouth." Yandisa, 23 If you want a hairstyle that comes with no baggage and will allow you to just be the individual you are, may we suggest you shave it all off? Honestly. A woman with a bald head, says Prof Coplan, is really saying something about her individuality. Warfield's view is that because many women see hair as their crowning glory, having no hair is seen as making a very bold statement. This look is harder to stereotype, which, of course, is part of its appeal. Is she recently bereaved and following the custom that dictates she must shave off all her hair? Or is she a breast cancer survivor who has undergone chemotherapy, like the hero of India Arie's song? Either way, she's very brave to walk around with no hair. This non-conformist could be a pantsula who loves kwaito, or a woman simply trying to model herself on Skin from Skunk Anansie – in which case we can expect to find anything from Floetry to Neneh Cherry in her CD shuttle.

What your hair says about you {Part 1}

Whether you 'shave it off', 'get in on the lock' or 'rock it straight', the hairstyle you choose has everything to do with defining who you are. David Coplan, a professor in anthropology at Wits, reckons hairstyles are a way of expressing identity. "We judge people by appearances and, to an extent, hairstyles signify something about you, so it's natural for people to make assumptions about you based on the way you've styled your hair," he says. "Hair and identity are inseparable – whether you're consciously making a statement or not, your hairstyle does express something about you." So if you've been thinking your hair is making no declaration to the world, think again.
The language of liberty:
"We choose hairstyles as a way of distinguishing ourselves from, or grouping ourselves with a particular crowd," says Johannesburg clinical psychologist Jenni Avidon. And because hair is such an important tool in expressing our identity, Prof Coplan agrees that every society has created a hair vocabulary to convey various identities. In South Africa, for example, long straightened hair is loosely associated with being Eurocentric, dreadlocks with Rastas and natural hair with being proudly African. Where do these associations come from? Largely from the people seen wearing these styles most often. They determine the cultural connections we make between their hairstyles and the clothes, cars, jobs and music they seem to prefer. But black hair also has a struggle history and a political vocabulary. Jo Bodiba, a 22-year-old industrial psychology student, part-time bartender and Yvonne Chaka Chaka's personal assistant, is proud to have been part of the 'hair revolution at Roedean' in the 90s. Rules at this posh girls' high school included a ban on braids, plaits and dreadlocks. Only natural hair was allowed for black girls, until JoBo led a group of nervous schoolgirls to challenge this rule. But the principal's shocking assertion that 'braids breed lice' stunned them. "As you can imagine, our eyes grew wide, our mouths dropped open and we were all breathless," JoBo remembers. "Well Ma'am," I ventured, "actually they don't. It's easier and cleaner for us to keep our hair like that, otherwise we have to relax it," I explained. "Relax!" she said. "What do you mean relax?" "Ma'am, as black girls our hair naturally grows hard and curly," I persisted. "For our hair to be soft and presentable, we have to straighten it with a chemical that smells like sulphur at least every six weeks at the salon, and we can't wash it every day, or it goes back to its natural state." A month passed, during which the principal researched the intricacies of black hair maintenance, before braids finally became respectable at Roedean!
...or oppression?
But policing the way black people wear their hair can be equally oppressive when hair becomes an instrument of liberation. So says a paper published by the University of Michigan, which quotes from the Hair stories of liberation told by writers Alice Walker and Gloria Wade-Gayles. Walker wrote about a connection between her 'spiritual liberation' and the delightful discovery (after an experiment with long braids made from Korean hair) that her own hair had a will of its own and a sense of humour – and she went as far as calling processed hair 'oppressed'. Wade-Gayles didn't stop there, saying 'an activist with straightened hair was... a lie. A joke.' So it's not enough that maintaining black hair is an expensive, time-consuming business, with good products hard to find here... Now our hair also has to do community service? The paper worries the root of the debate when it asks, "Does wearing your hair natural prove that you love yourself and black people more than someone with processed hair?" Babe examines some hair-raising stereotypes.

How to get extraordinary hair

Want to know what the Samy range is all about and whether it can fix your hair? Check this out...
1.Q: Can Samy rehydrate my dry, frizzy hair? A: Samy Smooth products are specially formulated with fine silicone molecules and an advanced system of vitamins and proteins to smooth, calm and re-hydrate extremely dry, frizzy and distressed hair without adding weight, residue or build-up.
2.Q: Can moisture, body and shine be restored to my hair? A: Samy Moist products are specially formulated for dry, damaged, dehydrated hair. These unique products re-hydrate, strengthen and restore incredible moisture, body and shine to hair without depositing wax, residue or build-up.
3.Q: What about curls? Can Samy make my curls look healthy? A: Samy Curls hydrates, defines and separates curls as it cleans, conditions and de-frizzes curly hair without dry-out. They are the best way to maintain manageable, beautiful healthy looking curls.
4.Q: Does Samy have finishing products to protect hair after styling? A: Samy's The Hairspray leaves hair soft and manageable. The fast-drying, weightless and anti-frizz formula provides hair with a high shine. This unique hairspray adds extra volume without sticky build-up or flaking, perfect for holding your style.
5.Q: Are there any Samy products to add volume limp hair? A: Samy's Mucho Mousse is specially formulated to add fullness and body to fine, limp, lifeless hair, while offering shine and flexibility without wax, residue or build-up. Think big! This alcohol-free formulation adds incredible body, volume, fullness and shine and is specially formulated with humectants and conditioning agents to nourish and strengthen hair. It also protects hair from the sun with a special UV light absorber.

Your hair after winter

With the onset of cooler temperatures comes a new set of haircare demands. Adding moisture is especially important at this time of year, and something many women neglect to do.As we spend less time in the sun, the natural highlights nature paints into our hair become less noticeable and hair loses its healthy, shimmering look. The cold air of winter is more drying and less humid, causing more damage than at other times of the year. Indoor heating devices create a dryer climate as well. All of this leads to duller-looking hair. Master hair designer and salon owner, Greg Amparan, offers some suggestions to keep your hair vibrant, well-moisturised and looking its best throughout the winter season:

Colour
People tend to apply more colour and highlights, and have more frequent perms in the winter. Colouring is one effective way to combat dull-looking winter hair, but highlights can look equally good. It's a sure-fire way to liven up your appearance and boost your morale!

Moisturiser

Moisture is essential for your hair, especially after it's been subjected to any chemical treatments. Look for a conditioner with cetyl alcohol. This is the best moisturising agent and is derived from coconut. Another ingredient to look for is cetearyl alcohol, which is an excellent hair moisturiser. A good moisturising conditioner is sufficient for many people. However, if your hair is very damaged or dry, look for a moisturising shampoo as well.




Lock in the moisture
Hair is much denser than skin, with cuticle layers that are difficult to penetrate. Once you've found and used a good product that moisturises your hair, you need to be sure to lock that moisture in. A cool rinse helps close the cuticles down, sealing in the moisture. Try this extra hair cocktail to lock moisture in: To flatten the cuticles, rinse your hair with apple cider vinegar. It's highly acidic and leaves hair with a fresh, clean fragrance. Let it sit on the hair for a few minutes before rinsing with cool or cold water. Apple cider vinegar contracts the cuticle, locking in not only moisture, but colour well. A vinegar rinse reduces the chances of colour fading.

Hats and hair
While wearing a hat is one of the best ways to stay warm in winter, these fashion accessories can be bad for your hair. "Continually wearing hats can lead to overworked sebaceous glands, resulting in limp, greasy locks," says Jan Przemyk, academy director for Toni & Guy salons. He advises women to make sure their hats fit correctly and also to dry-clean woollen hats regularly.