The Shampoo Games

 Starring : Sulfate-Free Shampoo & Celebrities  

I thought I would change things up and answer a readers question, I never know what I will write about I just start looking at all things 'hair' and see what 'floats my boat', and today I wanted to answer this dear woman's question . . . . . . .

.." I have been using Pureology Hydrate shampoo for a few years now and thought that it was a great shampoo. After reading this I looked at the ingredient list and it has ALL of the bad ingredients in it!!! I am very surprised by this seeing as how it is supposed to be a very reputable brand. I was trying to read thru all of these comments and thought that I saw Pureology as one of the recommended brands?? Did I see that right? So I'm now in search for a new shampoo and conditioner and was wondering what you would recommend. I cant seem to find your recommendation list if there is one
.
                                                                                                        Anonymous  - August 21, 2012.."

 That is the downfall of having a 5 year old BLOG. And I do apologize, but when Pureology first came out it was the very best shampoo I had ever experienced - anyone in the elite hair industry had ever experienced. It was also the 1st shampoo to break the $20.00/ bottle price, which was so shocking at the time. Weird huh... only 8 years ago we were shock & awed by this fantastic piece of shampoo technology!

This Blog is 5 years old, and while that might not seem old, it is in Internet years. 5 years ago was when I had checked the ingredients on the PUREOLOGY label and they had changed - - drastically !  Pureology was bought out by a huge ass French company. Can you guess who it is? So before the story think about this.... the French, I'm told apparently they don't like us. So, I guess this is their way of getting us back? ? ! !  

 I get this same type of question from time to time from many different people about different brands of sulfate-free shampoos, & shampoos they 'thought' were of excellent quality only to find out - - they were in fact......NOT ! So, its time to clear the air, or to clear the shampoo air anyway . . .

Anonymous: The quick Answer is........we now have a store killerstrands.com  .

 The store has ONLY Sulfate-Free Shampoos & 100% of the shampoos have been vetted by me personally. We are the only store/website that truly, deeply, dearly believes in helping 'you' the public learn how to properly care for your hair.

 If I new what a difficult job it would be I probably would have never started this Blog. I now know what a "Love /Hate" relationship is. We have not grown like I thought we would. I thought the public would eat up this information. I also felt like I was taking my life in my hands....as these companies are so large they probably have numerous "HIT MEN" on staff ( and I am not kidding at all - but at least its out there now, if I happen to disappear soon be sure to call the police in my city would you please ?? !! ).

 I also believe the reason for that is because I speak so poorly against the biggest advertisers in the United States of America. Google, Yahoo, & the entire Internet, rely on advertisers and have been built on advertising dollars - so the last thing they will do is help me out. . I never thought of that in the beginning though... I was excited to learn this new thing called a BLOG. I thought because it was the Internet, that just the people would propel Killerstrands... so we all could get the word out.  The word is serious if you have a daughter.  I mean when I can get someone to truly give the 12 Steps of the program I refer to as "10,000 HEADS"  an honest > 90-day try  10,000 HEADS Protocol - they see -- exactly what I am referring to.  I have always received the most heartwarming email thanking me for the ones that do..... But I only get a couple a month, which is nothing for the amount of time that we have been at this. I know its hard, but I have found - in my years in the hair industry, that people care more deeply about their hair then they do about their parents ! ! Not their shoes....but pretty much most of their family members.  A joke of course, but you would not believe some of the things I hear.

I feel & believe with every inch of my soul that female hair-loss begins now, here in southern California at the age of 16-18 - - because of the hideous formula's these gigantor companies make & advertise on TV every single day of their young lives.  They use Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in every single shampoo commercial for hair on TV / magazines & the Internet today, why? ...its super super - CHEAP !  Remember when you were young, you never thought any commercial could be false, you never thought anything bad would happen to you....we didn't have people looking into those types of things 20-30-40 years ago. The only reason I did  ?? I kept having young, super young 15-16-17 year olds come in with very internally damaged hair. This was before Flat Irons, & those only propelled the problem even deeper. I kept trying to figure out a common denominator...of course 50 - 60 year old women would have this super radical damage from years of boxed color and way too many curling irons, heated rollers, and lousy products.....but none of these young girls used any of those things. It took me over a year to the day it finally hit me as I was driving to work ( where I would do most of my good clear thinking) in the most beautiful canyon in the world "Malibu Canyon". The one and only common denominator in the old with poor hair health & the young with poor hair health  - - - -  was shampoo. Then I spent 2 years trying to learn about the ingredients in shampoos and all about them - remember prior to the Internet as we know it and prior to GOOGLE as it is today !

I then was diagnosed with a rare & deadly bone cancer it began in my left leg and forgot about all of that for about a year or two.....But I had already made my first Gleam and my first version of 'THRIVE--N' which sold like crazy for $96.00, so you are getting it wholesale  ! But the disease started to eat at my leg  .....  I could no longer "stand" for longer than 30  minutes (I used to stand for 10-12 hours).....something you need to do in order to do hair had been taken away from me.  Therefore in retrospection of my career of doing hair and becoming ill I had figured out a long time ago that Sulfates and lousy formulation of hair shampoos and conditioners were 100% responsible for all the new hair-loss and damage I was seeing in my career on a daily basis. So I began formulating rougher versions of the products I have as Killerstrands own, in our store today. Once ill, it opened up time to take Cosmetic Chemistry courses online. Which taught me exactly how the products should be made. I wished I had time to take courses on making shampoo's... but our teacher had a heart attack and died one morning, it was absolutely horrifying he was the most brilliant chemist ever.... he just had a way of teaching that suited my style of learning I suppose.

So, as I had stated earlier, Killerstrands kind of grew out of a small portion of women on the web who were striving for solutions to the poor health of their hair.  That is the one and only reason we are still here, little by little. . . mainly our own products have kept Killerstrands alive. I keep preaching and I'm so happy to have this as it gives me something to do with now that I need to be off of my feet almost the entire day.

In the USA - 3 absolutely humungous companies have bought up all of the little companies, and what happens is, they leave the original name the same ( so I believe the general public has no idea the sale took place.... it takes about 1-2 years, for the 'press' of the 'sale' to go away ( Pureology was sold for 20 million... to who? a French company of all things  ?!?!  "L'OREAL ")      http://beautykazoo.hubpages.com/hub/Pureology-and-Loreal   Everyone I knew that were reputable in hair in L.A. dropped the line immediately, L'Oreal has a 50 year reputation for destroying cosmetic companies right and left. Every single company L'Oreal purchases in the hair industry.....they destroy. I am amazed they still are a prospering company. So, once the big corporate employees come in to the new smaller company they have gobbled up... all the employees of the big GIANT MEGATROPOLIS company begin to figure out how to cheapen down the formulas of all the products / they search for cheaper packaging, move the production to China or Mexico, all to make their profits skyrocket, so they look good to their stockholders. I mean I guess its the American way, but to me that is not the America I thought I grew up in.

 You see that is the biggest misconception to 'you' the public, everyone thinks that Pureology is the same company and the man & wife couple who began it and invented this clever technology along with one very good Cosmetic Chemist is still in existence when in fact, it is not. Jim Markham who developed PUREOLOGY, had begun with ABBA, and he got bought out with that company then he started Pureology and it was the very first time Luxury Premium hair care was made available to the women of the USA.  I hated him after he did that, every hair stylist in America did, which is really weird because I did not even know him ! Remember that shampoo?? All you need was a 1/4Inch of it - the tiniest amount - (which btw - every shampoo I carry now passes the 1/2 inch test, which is still pretty good.)  Pureology though would make the biggest richest most sudzzy hair. Its so weird but the worst thing for the structure of the hair is SUDS, but you cannot find a woman who will give up suds for health.  That is why PUREOLOGY  'was' a true piece of genius. . .  it had both....the best ingredients AND the most Suds ever.  That way you may pay a lot for a bottle of wonderfully formulated shampoo - but the RIGHT ingredients are in it - there is nothing that will cause hair loss - actually there are herbs that help cure it.... I have looked for everything in the shampoos we have in the store. You may wonder why we only carry 1 shampoo of a whole entire line, and that is because the rest of the products did not pass my tests, which I ran on myself ! yep, every one. 

We all have different body chemistry's but with me being a virgin redhead, and most everything doesn't get along with my stupid bodies make-up  - - I figure you all will be happier than clams with every single shampoo !

And just for the Hell of it the other 2 Gigantic hair company destroyers are? ? ? ? . . .  

(2) Revlon
and

(1) P & G Proctor and Gamble - who hold the grand title of being the number 1 advertiser in the entire USA. Higher than Chevy & FORD and COORS BEER  and every single other company  + any Internet company... The #1 Advertiser in the USA is Proctor & Gamble here are the hair companies that they have devoured and spit out:

• Head & Shoulders
• Natural Instincts hair color
• Aussie
• Pert
• Nioxin ! ......really? this is new
• Nice n Easy
• Wella - which is the color I used to love  - the minute I heard this, it was gone
• Head & Shoulders
• Pantene
• Sebastian
• Herbal Essence
• Fekkai - Yep Frederik Fekkai the genius hair wizard from France sold out to an American company
• Vidal Sassoon - he regretted this so much, he always remained a man of class though
• Clairol
• OLAY
• Max Factor
• PERFECT 10
• and on and on

there are more... I just get disgusted every time I try to compile this list. . . . because they also try to hide them all from the public, they don't want you to know which ones they truly own.....and how many....I mean that is the first sign of guilt ...to me . But, if you are loaded and want a sure thing in a stock... here is your pick. Women will never stop caring about their hair - period. Buy a shitload of P & G tomorrow !

Just a Comment . . .

 ....' Thank u for being the sliver of open truths in a crazy cluttered world '...

.... comment by C.L.

I say over and over that I am not a writer... "C.L." is a writer. You can tell in one sentence

I couldn't agree more with C.L.'s statement.

 I wish I had found you years ago! Talk about

 a gold mine! THANK YOU THANK YOU

 THANK YOU for providing this invaluable 

wealth of information. 

You deserve a Noble Prize!

 

Fall 2012 'Hair' Has Fall's Most Insane & Hot Trends

Fall's Most Killer Trend is Hair "Color"  &  Hair Accessories 

Now. . .....Have you seen all the amazing headbands & jewels for the hair ?

#1.) Hair Jewelry / Accessories and
#2.) Crazy Colors in every form and color : Pink - blue -  Red - Violet ....

In all my years of doing hair I wished for a season that was as jam packed as this one we are about to embark on... I swear I would dream the ideas I now see in front of my face in the Fall magazines. . I promise you I would think now "why can't we have jewelry for the hair??? Never in a million years did I think the amount of jewelry that is everywhere this season would happen in my lifetime.

So, for all of you with some guts and even for all of you without some  . . . load up on some.....feast your eyes on the most beautiful season of hair adornment there has even been.

 Crazy colors have been in for nearly 25 years..... they come in and go out almost as fast as a hurricane does. I got used to the short amount of time they would be around a long time ago. NOT THIS TIME !
They began last spring in this new and even CRAZIER CRAZY if there is such a thing. . .but I truly Thank the Lord Up Above . . . there is just something about  having  Crazy ASS COLORS on the Runways....on the biggest stars in the world.....

(photos from ELLE magazine - seems Ms. Perry has moved up in the world)

 Don't be afraid, dive right in and wear the ideas we have with pride and with a giant smile on your face.

The whole season looks to be extremely exciting as far as everything "hair" oriented. . . just check out our own sampling of some of my favorite headbands...that I have found the absolute biggest challenge to show you . . ..
HOW CAN I DISPLAY THEM SO YOU MIGHT EVEN SEE just a TENTH of how beautiful they are. Somewhere on the web I caught the name of this couple that were from India ... who were artists themselves...sounded like they met and their separated talents were combined to make a colossal brilliant line called Deepa Gurnami - just absolutely exquisite work.

Also how "timeless" they can be...
You may wear them Pocahontas style  or  regular hairband style,
if they fit one way
 they will fit the other
so you never need to worry about that. I have tried shooting them every which way and they always look like  pieces of brown ribbon......you miss the hand beading , the hand workmanship period.... which isn't fair to anyone

 . . . so I want all of you to get a glimpse of our headbands and ponytails . . . our prices for each item are dollars less than anywhere I have seen. These headbands are guaranteed 100%, you will be shocked at the quality they are truly a work of art.
 Killerstrands Store / Handmade headbands

Healthy Shiny Hair's Bloodline is the Water From Your Shower Head

There are a million and 1 Shower-Heads out there (if you cannot treat your entire water supply) you must invest in one of these

Water is extremely important within the 10,000 HEADS protocol ; it is the subject of 2 steps because of the time it spends ‘on’ and ‘in’ your body.

The water used on your hair when you shampoo and rinse is extremely important and alters both the length of your hair colour and the over all condition and health of your hair. Any process or product that results in damage to the hair strand and hair follicle needs to be changed or eliminated as we continue our quest for killer strands. This step is also made on the assumption that your tap water is as pathetic as it is in this area, if you have wonderful water–count your blessings, and you may also skip this step. For the remainder of you, it is the chlorine, most likely that you taste, chlorine is used to disinfect water, but at certain levels is not safe for drinking, showering or bathing. That water is as bad for your hair strand as it is for your taste buds.

The chlorine that is in today’s water is at dangerous levels within the bathroom, when you take a hot shower the chlorine vaporizes in the air, combines with other organic compounds in the air and forms chloroform gas, which is a strong irritant to the lungs and does cause fatigue. Besides the lungs the chlorine wrecks havoc on the hair and it appears as dried out, frazzled and depleted, it is one of the worst types of damage and very difficult to recover from. Young water polo players and swimmers come through the clinic, and with the chlorine levels in competitive swimming pools super high, the damage in these 16,17,18 year olds hair comes very close to some of the worst we’ve seen, it is almost the same as oxidation from peroxide burning where you will also see a lot of breakage and splitting. (If you have someone experiencing this problem please email the clinic KillerTrinity3@aol.com for the proper treatment suggestion, we have this solved with a fairly easy protocol).
To solve this problem of lousy water there are 3 levels of solutions, which depend on the amount of money you can spend and the type of living arrangement you have.

MALIBU 2000 WELL WATER SHAMPOO: Cheapest, easiest and works for traveling…a good clarifying shampoo. Now this can be tricky and the only brand that I have ever found (the Head Colourist at Vidal Sassoon turned me on to) is MALIBU2000. They have a number of different shampoos and protein packs, the one you want is the shampoo that says “WELL WATER ACTION shampoo” Sulfate-free. They have done the impossible, created a gentle for your colour/ hair follicle shampoo that cleanses the chlorine and other grime out of the water so it is not sitting on the hair, day in and day out.

This works when you cannot afford the shower filter, but our number 1 choice for this step is the:
SHOWER WATER FILTER: There are dozens of them out there, and everyone claims to be better than the next. The Aquasana brand seems to be the one a lot of clients end up with, you are safe with that one. Keep track of when you bought the filter and buy enough filters for the year (great gift idea for someone to get you). You save $$ if you buy filters when you purchase the shower head, but it is imperative to change the filter when recommended or it becomes useless. Another advantage to the filter: helps with the pH balance of your hair; imperative for soft, shiny hair.

WHOLE-HOUSE SYSTEMS: There are even more companies that do this than the other 2 combined. The issue regarding the chlorine in the water and the chloroform bomb the hot water creates has become well known, as it is dangerous for asthmatics and bothersome to those with lung problems, so the water industry has grown a lot in the last 10 years to help take care of the demand. Call 4 or 5 water treatment companies in your area, with Kenmore(Sears) being one of them, get estimates and tell them you are looking for water that will be as clean as Reverse Osmosis treated water and your concerns with your hair. Pick one and let us know how they do so we can start up a list of, “KILLER – water treatment companies”.

Using either of the last 2 methods will do wonders for your skin and the shower stall as well. Having that change in the water will give you softer, smoother skin and will keep your shower stall much cleaner so the purchase actually solves 3 problems, not bad for a single purchase.

Top 10 Tricks to Changing Hair Color Frequently

Top 10 Tricks to Changing Hair Color

Often & Safely...Often & Safely

• Put the "Health" of your hair number #1


• NEVER - EVER use a Boxed Hair Color Kit again


• Apply "After-Color" treatment for pH Level, following every single color service


• Follow directions on the brand of color you purchase - - we carry great color and it is not that expensive. I WANT EVERY ONE OF YOU TO BUY ONE less coffee this week, then "POOF" you will be able to afford decent hair color.


• Deep (overnight) condition once/week every week for the rest  your life


• Use VANISH, I suggest our kits...its the only Color Remover that not only works, but does not damage hair when finished, which allows the changing to continue. This is a huge secret I have let out of the bag, use it or don't do it!


• Never change entire hair color more than once in 30 days.( Pro's can do it, you cannot).


• Plan Ahead: if dark and going blond, begin the 'shampoo train' (shampooing 4-5-6 times:use lousy shampoo: in one evening: using start/stop method)-remember shampoo is most gentle method for removing hair color>yes it removes 'permanent')


• When using Lighteners (bleach) use Oil Bleach absolutely as often as possible (changing more frequently & safely > will be your reward!) We now have a great


• Plan Ahead (yes, i know its twice) doing radical hair color changes can be fun and possible if you just remember to keep in mind that you have to do something next, which is what many people forget, including hair stylists. Treat your hair kindly, if you do, it will reward you by letting you change the colors as often, as wild or as timid as you want.

I WILL NEVER-EVER USE BOXED HAIR COLOR KITS

I WILL NEVER -EVER USE BOXED HAIR COLOR KITS

I WILL NEVER -EVER USE BOXED HAIR COLOR KITS

I WILL LEARN HOW TO USE THE LEVEL SYSTEM

I WILL LEARN HOW TO USE THE LEVEL SYSTEM

I WILL LEARN HOW TO USE THE LEVEL SYSTEM

.................................Killer Chemist

Finer Points of Hair Color Application : Begining at the Basics

Killerstrands Begins at The Basics, of Hair Color That Is ...

Basics. People always talk about "going back to the basics" when they are successful. How the basics in training have gotten the Olympic athletes where they are now.

The basics in swimming? Get in the Pool .... put one arm over the other and kick like hell, seems easy doesn't it ?

I want to talk a lot more about the basics of hair color and hair health. I will be (trying) to re-organize the posts of this 5 year blog (OMG?!!) ... put the posts into chapters if you will ... more of a sequential order. Therefore, what is that called ?...... Oh, A Book .. Going Back to the Basics we are!  A Blog, is supposed to be a pleasant deviation from the rigidity of a book, which is the only reason I ever started this.  I felt maybe I would keep it up with this type of format .  I am the furthest thing from a writer.

 Hair color will never be : "I would like to be a Level 10 with silver highlights" - I and a few dozen others here in the USA could actually do that task no matter what. I pride myself in becoming a great student of Lucie.... my mentor. She can do it and so can I. The deal with it is ....we would be doing this on a hair models hair so we would never have to see her again. What I learned when I got to the outside Salon was...I needed to care about how healthy their hair was ..because you build a great clientele by having your hair color on hundreds of people's head.

 And that is what happened. 

I am missing a lot of the smaller in-between-basics I need in order to attempt to organize the Blog like a book....sort of. Yep the basics have always eluded me in life as well ... I always learn the beginning and then speed by the basics to end up in the advanced area.

So, here we go with some of the basics of hair coloring. Killer style. I'm trying to teach myself how to write shorter-to-the-point posts.

Wish me luck.   I think I blew it already !

 

The topics today...

• P & S tests : Patch & Strand Test
• ..........2nd post this week . ...will be some basics on actually mixing from the tubes

There are 2 tests in hair coloring, and if you have never even seen or heard of one, that's bad and it scares me for you. But, with the amount of clients Hair Stylists need to cram in one day to make just a decent salary is crazy, they barely get by on what they make...the only one that is getting rich is the owner.

  These both are mandatory at least here in California. 

•  the PATCH test 
•  the STRAND test

 both have their uses and I am going to just explain them and let you know why we have them and the good and bad points. Coming from the Academy of Hair that I did ..... they didn't stress these tests as they don't have them in England.. When I got out into the real world, I did them the first month....then realized - realistically there is simply not enough time. The Client couldn't be bothered 98% of the time. But, I know there are people who are sketched & sensitive to different things now, so if you are -- stand up for yourself .  My way around it all was to have every single client fill out a 10 point questionnaire before I ever touched their hair...1 question was "are you a sensitive person" (obviously not emotionally - you can't image some of the answers I received..." yeah I cry at sad movies...." ?!?!?!?)

Patch test: This test is supposed to be performed on every person that sits in a Stylists chair for hair color and especially if you have never had haircolor on previously. If you are a sensitive person like sensitive to foods, medications, pollen, you know all those types of things I would definitely either perform one on yourself, or if you are headed to the Salon, call ahead and ask them if you can come in the day before your appointment to get one. I'm fairly certain they are required in every state, if they are not....write your congressman. Seriously. If you order color from us, you may request a free patch test kit...it has all the supplies for you to do one very simply. The idea is to put the color on a part of your skin for 24 hours. No shower. Check it and presto zesto - its either a 'yay' or a 'nay'. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you could be OK with one brand, and change brands, it could be different ( that is super rare).

Another thing never trust hair colorists/stylists.....

You know how you wonder what the waiters are doing to your food in the kitchen..

I saw things in the color room that made me shudder....

If you worry about germs etc... start reading the Blog....I have never been to a Salon myself  since I was forced to quit. I have a broken collar bone/shoulder blade, never healed right, so it is soo hard to do myself.

Strand Test: much easier - but I still find so many of you not taking me up on this one... When you have had multiple kinds of hair color on your hair over the years.... you just never know what a person is going to end up with during the recolor process.. 

That is the main mission of this test.  

If you apply the intended color to just a small portion of your hair - you or I or whomever has something to work with....I cannot tell you the amount of people that call here in a panic, with many of you most of you wondering what to do because they VANISHED off all their old hair color all day......  then applied the color over the whole head of hair.....I mean it says in my directions - all the tricks to not having that happen if you are not going to follow that....boy that is frustrating. I open up the world of professional hair color to you and you don't follow it? You got me there. You win. 

 I'm taking my ball and going home then.

They act as though I am trying to trick them and there is an easier way. 

1st of all if that really were the case... why would I tell you differently, you obviously have not read a thing about us here. I was the first person to crack this theory on the web, of opening up the professional world of color/products and styling, to you, I see no world that would make sense in.

There is an easier way and I am telling you it is exactly what you find on the shelves of your local supermarket, Sally's & CVS ..... "shit-in-a-box" .

I just saw the other day....some rim-rod has made one for 4X the money & is selling them... same theory . . . . they have no theory. Just a bigger bottle, a pretty brown box.

Everyone wants to get in on the Hair Color making business, that is why Paul Mitchell bought up RENBOW and ruined the 1 true & remarkable hair color that existed on planet earth. The hair color itself is a very very profitable one, the mark-up is so high. I wrote last years statistics down so these aren't exact... but it is an over $$50 billion dollar a year business, and in these hard financial times.....P & G - (the largest hair color manufacturer in the world) business was up 4.7%.  I found this to be soooo true when I was in the Salon, when economic times were bad women would skimp on something else <> NOT on hair color.

I'm sorry but hair color is only simple and easy in 1 area .... and that is if you have 100% virgin hair. I could give consults with 1 email, life would be grand

That is when hair color is easy. The rules are short and quick ... so I would like to turn the board around and send you to the corner, because 95% of you already have color on your hair !!

So...no, jumping through hoops ... I don't know about where you live but in southern California hair color is more important than sunglasses.

Just ask Perez Hilton.

Pink.

Britney.

Cher.

Rhianna

Lady Gaga

and any one of the illegal blonde's:

Gwyneth

Kate

Scarlett

Claire

HAIR COLOR IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SUNGLASSES AND SUN-BLOCK

and you heard it here folks !

 I've failed miserably in keeping this short

I am going to try something for 2 weeks - - I am going to write 2 posts a week, 1 here in the Blog and one in the Newsletter we have been sending out. People like it and its here to stay.

So, in trying to fill in a lot of the blanks I have found I missed. That is how you will catch them.

Thanx, KC