Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Female Pattern Hair Loss Gone Ballistic

There is just so little real-authentic-recent information on female hair loss . . . I look at my own work as valid as anyone’s. That may seem bold, but I am telling you from a person who has spent a whole lot of money on every single book in existence (including Text books ‘by’ & ‘for’ Dermatologists), trying to find some deep and extensive studies on FEMALE hair loss. Finding so much on MALE hair loss provokes so much frustration in me, I mean why not females? You should see what they use as their “guides”, to me they are laughable - - although I’m sure they feel as a Cosmetologist… I am laughable. A couple of the studies that are what they use today as guidelines, are so archaic to me – I mean they are using prisoners and mental hospital patients as the majority of their study groups. Logically, I would think that the meds they take would affect their hair growth/loss. . . . so why use them?
To me, when I first began studying how 1 strand of hair on the head lives its life on our head, is when I had my first revelation on how to try to get the hairs we have, to stay there and to not shed or fall to soon or too often. My hope here is - - if I can get you to understand the same concept . . . that it will help you with your issues with hair thinning or loss. It is estimated that over 50 million women suffer from this occurrence currently, and how it stands now to the medical community, they have no solution – no help at all  -- aside from Minoxidil (Rogaine).Be reassured that every pharmaceutical company on planet earth is working on a solution . . . try to be patient. Me? I came up with the 10,000HEADS --14 Step System: which has been around about 10 years. It began in a Malibu Salon – with a mere 3 Steps - - the additional steps were added after I would try different experiments on my 1100 people clientele base…my clients loved being involved in the research. If only half of the 14 Steps are followed (the last 7) I have about an 75% success rate, but - -  if all 14 are worked on – after 90 days – there is a 88% success rate – both remarkable in my opinion . No there is no 1 Step that will perform miracles, it is the synergistic quality of working on the hair strands from both the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’…. is my hypothesis. There is a Secret Supplement, which is mandatory if you truly want this system to work for you. A couple logical steps like – you must quit smoking and if addicted to any drugs/alcohol – well, of course, they must be stopped. There will most likely be a few steps you probably have never heard of… but all will both help you and your entire body move to a healthier state, so please take a look and consider it.

There are 3 types of hair on the human body, Vellus, Lanugo and Terminal. Follicles first produce Lanugo, which are soft, short and fine. Lanugo are typically shed between the 32nd and 36th week of pregnancy – although many are born with them as well. Most follicles then switch to produce small and almost imperceptible hairs called Vellus. Vellus hair is not pigmented and is commonly found on children & infants until puberty. On adults Vellus hair is usually found in places that are normally considered hairless ( forehead, eyelids, and bald scalp) and almost every other area of the body, except the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Women usually have 50% more Vellus hair than men.
Then we have the larger follicles that form TERMINAL HAIR. Terminal hairs are found on the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes at birth - - Vellus hairs are everywhere else.  Terminal hair is coarser than Vellus and with the exception of gray hair, are pigmented. All hair follicles can produce either the Terminal or Vellus hair, depending hormones, age and sex. Have you ever thought about that? Look at the hair on your arms right now….Short – soft maybe a 1/2 inch long - -  ever wondered why it doesn’t keep growing like the hair on your head? Out here in goofy California many of us shave our arms just like many do their legs….Still when the hair grows back it only grows back to 1/2 inch long. That is a Vellus hair.
So, the hairs on your head are Terminal. Terminal hair is just that…………Terminal. Which means what? It is alive and then at some point it “dies” or “expires”. Its not dead as so many people think . . . it grows, and it grows long - -  doesn’t it? The Terminal hairs which are on your head have a life span, and yes every hair on your head  - - dies. But in order for you to fully understand it I must explain the hairs’ cycle. Each complete cycle (of each & every hair) has 3 phases that are repeated over and over again throughout the life of your hair.
The 3 phases I always remember by saying the word CAT.
C : Catagen Phase………Transition Phase (lasts 2-4 weeks)
A:  Anagen Phase……….Growth Phase (long period of growth: 2-6 years)
T:  Telogen Phase……….Resting Phase (period of inactivity lasts 2-4 months)
In English, without all the technical talk . . . one hair strand: begins growing on your head….then comes a predetermined length . . . by how long the Anagen phase lasts.
So remember we are following the life of one strand of hair on your head. The first Phase is Anagen, which begins its life on your head. This is the Phase that lasts the longest and this is the one that determines how long your hair will grow to. You know how one person’s hair will grow to their waist, and yours never grows past your shoulders??? This is the reason. Her hair has a 6 year Anagen phase while yours might have a 3 year phase. Which means her hair strands while alive and growing – grow for 3 years longer than yours ( just as an example) before dying and shedding.
Scalp hairs grow faster on women than on men. Another of the long time rules about scalp hairs is:  Scalp hairs grow rapidly between the ages of 15 – 30, but slows down sharply after the age of 50. When I began having  17 - 18 - 25 year olds in my chair complaining about their unusual hairloss and begging me for help - - I began researching & reading all these longtime statistics on the matter. I became alarmed and wanted to try to figure out what in the world went wrong. . . what changed the previous statistics of female hairloss figures ??? To what they are now - with so many women complaining of the problem including women of high school and college age.


Anagen Phase :  During this phase, a new hair is produced…the hair actively manufactures new keratinized cells in the hair follicle. THE KEY TO THE ANAGEN PHASE?  This is the phase that determines the length of your hair … the longer this phase lasts….the longer your hair will be. So you want to do everything possible to get the Anagen phase to last just as long as possible. At any given time 86% of the hairs on your head are in the Anagen phase…..13% in Telogen……….and 1% in Catagen. If you apply those numbers  to the 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on the scalp the resulting NORMAL – EVERYDAY Hair loss on each of us is between 50 and 150 hairs per day . .  every day of the week. So in 1 week on average you are losing (a normal) 700 hairs, doesn’t that seem like a lot? Well, it isn’t  --  it is completely normal.         
Catagen Phase: is the brief transition period between the growing and resting phases of a hair follicle – it signals the end of the growth phase. During the Catagen phase the follicle canal shrinks and detaches from the dermal papilla. The hair bulb disappears and the shrunken root end forms a rounded club.Less than 1% of all the hairs are in this phase at ay one time although remember it is very short and lasts only from one to two weeks.     
Telogen Phase: or Resting phase is the final phase in the hair cycle and lasts until the fully grown hair is shed.  The hair is shed during the Telogen phase or remains in place until the next Anagen phase, when the new hair growing in pushes it out. This is where I realized that brushing your hair daily needed to be done. The hairs are going to shed no matter what. . . many of you think if you don’t brush your hair, then you won't lose as many hairs. Completely silly assumption. As you can see here, the hairs need to shed, once they do, then the newer hair can begin its life. About 10% of the hair is in the Teologen phase at any one time. This phase lasts for 3-6 months. As soon as the Telogen phase ends, the hair returns to the Anagen phase and begins the entire cycle again.
ON AVERAGE………….THE ENTIRE GROWTH CYCLE REPEATS ITSELF EVERY 4 –5 YEARS. 
Under normal circumstances, I hope you now see that it is completely normal to lose some hair every day.  Normal daily hair loss is the natural result of the 3 phases of the hair’s growth cycle.  The growth cycle provides for the continuous growth, fall and replacement of individual hair strands.
What this taught me was that the hair strand is ALIVE and not dead as so many people think. If it was dead it would not go through all of those phases and intricate maneuvers.     What I hoped to improve on with the 10,000 HEADS Protocol was how to keep that Anagen phase lasting longer. . .  I feel the Secret Supplement addresses that factor 100% from the inside and THRIVEN works on the outside of the hair in the Anagen phase. If you are having (unusual) hair thinning of any sort – I would really encourage you to give those 2 steps a try and truly the more Steps of the Regimen you can implement, will help those hairs on your head - -  stay right where they are.
Here is a link to THRIVEN in the store. . .  when you purchase THRIVEN . .  you receive a card that explains what the Secret Supplement is,where to purchase it, and how you can incorporate it into your life in the most successful method.



http://killerstrands.myshopify.com/products/thriven
Killer Chemist

There is No Such Thing as Gray Hair

Its an illusion, the hair is actually color-less or white
We will refer to what you are used to calling Gray hair – as WHITE HAIR for this Post and all future posts ( so we are speaking in the proper ‘Form’- I’m sure I will make mistakes – bare with me) The strands appear gray, but actually are white or color-less laying next to strands with color in them . . . that configuration gives the appearance of those hairs as gray hair. There is also the theory that as the pigment is being halted from filling those strands of hair – it goes from being a rich brown/black….to a faded color …..a faded color most of you call: …………….gray.          
                              
Visualize each strand of hair of your head as a tube ; like a plastic straw . . . when that tube is full of your natural virgin color / pigment / or melanin, you will have no “gray / white hair” appearance. As one ages that pigment begins seeping out of that tube - slowly. The rate, the amount, the speed all differ from person to person. Some never get gray – AT ALL – some begin getting it at 11 – 12 years old. The rate, the amount, the speed all differ from person to person. A lot has to do with heredity, ageing and some say stress ( I’m not a believer in that one).

White hair is also a completely different texture than pigmented hair, which is a result of there being no substance (pigment) in those strands. So if the texture has been changed, how would that affect the hair? White hair’s texture makes it resistant to permanent hair color. Typical white hair has a wiry texture and a tough compact cuticle. Remember the cuticle is what “opens” allowing the hair color IN to change the color, so if it is compact and not able to open easily - - that is just 1 of the many reasons White hair is tough to deal with. Coarse, resistant White hair can also be tricky to fully saturate with hair color…wiry gray hairs just naturally try to separate themselves from the whole hair color application by springing up here and there – which then allows them to dry out (keeping the hair color from working the solid 50-65 minutes it needs to) in order to last 4, 6, sometimes 8 weeks.
There is a unique trick to covering resistant Gray hair that I will be divulging in the book I am now working on, that I am just thrilled about finally getting to. This book is something I have wanted to write since beginning this BLOG over 3 years ago. . . it will include so many tricks and secrets I have been saving precisely for it ….at times I can’t wait to get it out to you, as I feel it will close up some of the holes I have purposefully left.
As a natural born red-head I have looked into, ‘why’ I had freckles and why I didn’t have skin that “tanned” even brown skin like everyone else. Living in southern California it was horribly frustrating to not be able to just layout in the sun and get that burnished brown skin everyone else naturally receives from having an even and flourishing amount of melanin in their skin. My melanin is spotted within my dermal layer. In hair strands melanin is made  by cells in the hair bulb called melanocytes. During keratinization, melanin is infused into the protein that becomes the hair strand
There are 2 types of melanin:

• Eumelanins – ( the darker pigments)
• Pheomelanins – ) the lighter ones….ranging from  red-brown to red-yellow to yellow    

All hair, no matter what color…,may contain both in varying degrees.

DURP and White Hair
Cool colors do NOT cover  white hair. Never use ash, it simply will not work.    White hair is lacking warmth people. Warmth is those colors that normally one would NOT WANT THEIR HAIR TO BE!  But to get that white hair to a pleasing shade, you must start by adding those obnoxious tones first. Tones like Copper, Gold, combinations like Brown/Gold – Red/Gold all will add the warmth one needs to go from White to wonder
When contemplating your formula for covering White hair bear in mind that you have to add depth and tone to white hair, because there is no pigment present.                                                                                                                                                                               

To Bleach Or Not To Bleach: That Is The Question

Level 12 Hair  =  Platinum Blond Hair

The fascination that comes with Platinum Blond Hair is something that I believe has more to do with the fact that for hundreds of years – that color of hair did not exist on people of either sex . Yes, many children are born as “tow-heads” . .  but as they age I would say 88% gradually darken to brunettes before 18 years of age, about 10% will remain a Level 7/8  and a mere 1-2% will make it to adulthood as natural light blonds. About 1% make it to adulthood as a “light” Blond and ‘none’ make it as the toe-head <> platinum blond we are talking about in this post.  I don’t ‘make up’ the statistics – I merely observe them. When things are “rare” they are more treasured. Its that way with anything …….cars, furniture, skin, jewelry, clothing – everything. . Especially beauty items such as  hair & haircolor  . . . platinum hair to men to women & to everyone… is just striking - - it is sexy – plain and simple. The Bleach and Tone process is what this process is called.
Hair Coloring just happens to be one of the oldest beauty procedures – it was used by various ancient cultures as a sign of affluence, much like it is today. When I was working the Salon in Malibu all those years, I would watch the 14 – 18 year old children of celebrities – ask for $200. – $600. procedures - - frequently. There is no way I am condemning a process in which my own children partake in as well, so please do not think I was judging.

The use of hair coloring was shown in records of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Persians, Chinese, and early Hindu peoples all mention the use of hair colorings.. Early hair dyes were made from plants, metallic compounds, or a mixture of the two. Rock alum, quicklime, and wood ash were used for bleaching hair in Roman times, and herbal preparations included mullein, birch bark, saffron, myrrh, and turmeric. Another early method of coloring hair was to apply powder. Pure white powder for hair or wigs was the show of high-class dress in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. White powder was made of wheat starch or potato starch, sometimes mixed with plaster of paris, flour, chalk, or burnt alabaster. Similarly colored powders were sometimes used as well.Think of how we have come full-circle, have you seen the products that all resemble TOPPIK ? ? For some reason since the dawn of time we have been compelled to alter our hair color. . .personally I simply find it ‘fun’ – a very non-interesting reason I suppose. When I first began my full-blown practice in the Salon (stopped educating) – I would think and I would actually tell people. . .” the joy I receive from transforming people’s lives with just their hair… is so rewarding that I wish I could do their hair free of charge”.



The reason for the admiration of this color? . . . because it is RARE. . . it is not easy to get, it is expensive to have (done correctly) and to keep up on.This is the hair color that the term “high maintenance” was developed. It is truly the most expensive hair to keep up on, people like Ms.Stefani, Ms. Aguilera will have their base re-done about every 10 -12 - 14 days in order to keep it fresh, new although mainly so there are NO ROOTS in any photos.Think about it . . . ever seen 1 photo of Gwen Stefani with roots showing? Christina?  When bleached roots are re-touched very frequently like that it must be done by skilled hands so there is no “overlap” taking place and there is a sufficient amount of pH balancing and Conditioning going on to keep the hair in “tip-top” shape. So no breakage takes place and the process can continue. All you need is the education this Blog exhibits and I am happy to announce we are finally working on a book in which all “like” Posts and all “like” Demo’s will be in the same Chapter. . . how about that prospect? Regardless of that, all the information is already here. Just do some sincere studying, reading and reviewing of all pertinent Posts to this topic. I have found many members who are truly trying to educate themselves in the Art of Hair Color, as a wonderfully challenging hobby to take up, are purchasing 1 even 2 mannequins to test their prospective hair colors on. 

I can tell you there is a completely different outside ‘visual’ assessment of a person when they have brown hair versus blond. I wish it wasn’t so, just like I wish there was no judging, no prejudice, or bias’ BUT Every single person I have ever changed from a dark hair color to …Platinum ( or any shade of LIGHT Blond, for that matter). . . has told me that their life has been completely transformed by the process. Just know that, keep that piece of information in your pocket - - because I do feel that every person should be a blond, at least once in their life. If for no other reason than for plain and simple FUN ! My one exception is natural born red-heads . . . they should NOT go platinum . . . a pretty widely known hair coloring rule that I am 100% behind.
There are so many hair stylists that will have a bad experience with the Bleach and Tone process, by leaving the bleach on too long and therefore creating lots of breakage (100% completely avoidable - btw). So many of you are afraid of bleach and there is no need to be. What IS necessary is learning how to properly use it. I am of the school that there is no better coloring tool than Bleach and I find different needs for all 3 types of Bleach: 1) Cream Bleach  2) Oil Bleach and last but not least 3) Powder Bleach. All 3 have different purposes and different consistencies . There is just no way to lighten most people’s hair “past” that God-awful stage of brass without Bleach, those hair stylists that bad-mouth Bleach and attempt to lighten hair with Tint, leave the mark of a poorly trained Stylist in most cases. So many of the people who end up on Killerstrands are the product of this situation and want to take back control of their hair and hair color - - by learning exactly how hair color works. Until I decided to open up the previously “closed” books of professional hair color rules, there was no where to go to learn this information.
 

Left side Bleach and tone . . . Right-side Bleach and NO Tone

This rare and wonderful treat of platinum hair, the next step is for me to teach and explain how to get this rare commodity in the most safe and correct method there is.
The Technical Names for the Oil Bleach System :

• 2 Step process
  
• Double-Process &
  
• Bleach and Tone

Its funny in the Vidal Sassoon Hair Academy we were taught to never use the word “bleach” – that people are afraid of that ‘specific’ word, to use the word “lightener” instead. That the fear comes from not knowing what “bleach” is (I have tested this theory out with my clients as to what they think and picture). People picture in their head the only thing they know to be Bleach…. You know > that weird clear liquid that smells horrific, which can only be put in with ‘whites’ when you do your Laundry, and if it drops on anything it removes the color immediately. . . so, understandably, its a scary concept to the public.That bleach and the bleach we use on the hair are completely different products, which is what needs to be firmly taught to everyone. They just happen to have the same name, although truly within the hair color world we always call it Lightener. . . except when referring to Oil and Cream Bleach
Hair Stylists do nothing ( I have observed) to alleviate that unknown fear – as most like to leave their clients in the dark. They act as though they have some super power knowledge of hair chemicals that they are not allowed to ‘share’ - - I continue to work towards the opposing theory of this… that has been prevalent for the last 50 years. I want the client…the public…the young and old hair color client… to have the complete knowledge of how hair color works. KNOWLEDGE ELIMINATES FEAR. I want to empower the public to: want to learn how hair color works :it is one of the most important topics to me: and is the goal of this BLOG.
No Colorist can deny the pleasure of turning hair that is dark into gorgeous – beautiful PLATINUM – TONED, hair. That transformation is absolutely the best feeling I have found in coloring hair. Why? It is taking the hair strand through all the stages of the Level System and basically hitting the GOLDMINE of not having any color left in the strands. Learning how to Bleach & Tone is the mark of a true master of Color, in my book.

This is Part 1 of my 2 part series on the Double Process of Bleach/Tone http://killerstrands.myshopify.com/products/oil-bleach-kit-exclusive-to-killerstrands
Killer Chemist