April
1999
April 28, 1999
Question
Karen,
Do you have a picture of a "gypsy" shag. No
one in my town can remember what Cher's hair looked like many years ago. She had a
long shag and it was called a gypsy shag.
Thank you for any help you can give me.
Kayhal
Answer
Dear Kayhal,
My apologies. I don't remember the exact way that Cher wore her hair in a "gypsy"
shag.
I looked at several Internet Cher sites and was not able to find a photo
of her "gypsy" style.
I have included a photo of a longer shag style from The Hair Boutique hairstyle
gallery that might be similar to the shag style that you are looking for.
Best wishes,
Karen
April 18, 1999
Question
Dear Karen,
I really love retro hair styles.
Especially from th 60s. Can you recommend some styles for me to try. I would
appreciate any advice you might have on finding these styles.
Thank you so so much.
Jade Thomas
Answer
Dear Jade,
The Hair Boutique's Link section provides a list of some of the
best Retro and Big Hair Styles on the Internet.
Two of my personal favorites (although all the sites listed are
excellent) are Michael
Warner's Beauty Shoppe Archives and Marci's Retro Styles.
Michael Warner is a hairstylist whose entire shop is done in retro
furnishings. His wonderful website is full of great retro photos.
Marci's site has a wonderful section on rag curlers
and pincurls.
Best wishes,
Karen
April 17, 1999
Question
Dear Karen,
I am going to prom on the 23rd of April
and my dress happens to be very plain, could you please help me on how to "spice
up" my hair with an updo. Please send pictures if you could.
Thank you so so much.
Sally
Answer
Dear Sally,
I recently did three separate special articles on Prom hair.
styles.These Prom hair articles are currently listed on the front page of the Hair
Boutique at the bottom of
the page.
Also, there are several "dress up hair style articles" complete with photos
in the Tips
& Articles Section of Hair Boutique. The Hair Boutique has over 150
different hair care, hair styling and product review articles.
For additional "Dressy Hair Style Articles" check out the Styling
section under Tips & Articles. Under the Styling section you may want to check
out Tips 070, 075 and 072.
For style ideas you may wish to check out the Hair Boutqiue Gallery which
has over 850 different hairstyles for men, women and Brides.
Enjoy your prom.
Best wishes,
Karen
April 11, 1999
Question
Dear Karen,
First let me tell you have I have learned more about caring
for my hair in the last few weeks from visiting Hair Boutique than I knew for all my 25
years prior life experiences.
Thank you for an amazing site.
Now I want to get a little personal and ask you to share some of
your hair care secrets. I found several photos of you on the site and was amazed at
how long and beautiful your hair is.
Please forgive me if I ask too many questions. I would give
anything to have hair as gorgeous as yours.
So here goes.........How long have you been growing it long?
Do you color it blonde? What shampoo and conditioners do you really like best?
How often do you get your hair trimmed? Where do you get all the great hair
tips that you share with all of us all the time? Is your hair naturally straight?
What conditioners do you use on your own hair. Do you really test all the
hair care products you write about?
Also, could you just give me a little overview of how you care for
your hair. Your routine would be great to know.
Thank you so much Karen for taking the time to answer all my
questions. You are my inspiration. :-)
Pamela
Answer
Dear Pamela,
Thank you very much for the compliments about my hair and Hair Boutique. I am
very flattered that you want some of my personal hair care secrets. I will do my
best to give you answers to all of your questions.
How long have you been growing it
long?
I have been growing my hair to its current length since 1987. All
through my high school and most of my college years I had short or medium length hair.
Is your hair naturally straight?
My hair is naturally wavy and thick so I would just wash it and
"scrunch" it.
Of course in my early hair days I was addicted to blow dryers, and used
non-salon quality hair care products like Vidal Sasson, Revlon's Flex and Pantene.
My hair was pretty awful in those old days. Dry and slightly blow-dryer fried.
In 1987 I discovered a stylist in Dallas that specialized in helping
people grow their hair long.
I made the decision to commit to my hair and growing it as long as my
genetics would let me. This required me to let the stylist trim about 4 inches off
of my damaged ends.
With some anxiety I threw away my blowdryer and hot curlers and invested
in a good quality hair pick and brush. I switched to Bain de Terre salon products.
My hair took about 3 months to show any real improvements, but all of a
sudden it looked and felt shinier and healthier. Soon it looked even longer.
I evolved from Bain de Terre products to Aveda and started using Aveda's
Shampure shampoo and would alternate between Cherry Almond Bark light conditioner and Deep
Revitalizer.
Do you color it blonde?
In my old hair days I was addicted to Nice'n'Easy for my very platinum
blonde looks.
At the insistence of my long hair stylist, I went cold turkey off
Nice'n'Easy and let my stylist do some hair color repair with Matrix SoColor.
Now I get my hair slightly highlighted 3 or 4 times a year with
Matrix SoColor. Since my hair is naturally blonde the highlighting is a perfect
solution.
Only my roots are highlighted (using a cap method) which protects my
hair from much chemical damage.
My hair now is a cross between a honey and golden blonde which is very
close to what my hair is naturally.
What conditioners do you use on your own
hair.
I always do a deep conditioner treatment (Aveda's Beautifying Oil or
ARTec's Moisture Pak) a few days before the highlighting and within 5 days after.
As a rule, for normal use, I stick with either a home grown olive oil
hot oil treatment or I use ARTec or Aveda.
What shampoo and conditioners do you
really like best?
By the time Jeff and I started the Hair Boutique in March of 1998 I had
experimented with all sorts of different hair care products.
I became disenchanted with Aveda because of their ever escalating prices
and how difficult it was to find the products close to my home.
I tried buying Aveda off the Internet and had great luck with that
approach for awhile until Aveda blocked any Internet sites (at least the ones I knew
about) from selling Aveda at fair prices on the Net.
I started searching for a good alternative hair care line and found
ARTec's Smoothing shampoo and conditioner.
My hair had spectacular results with all the ARTec products.
ARTec is my primary hair care product line at the present. I alternate
between ARTec Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner and ARTec Kiwi Shampoo & conditioner.
Do you really test all the hair care
products you write about?
Yes, I do personally test all the hair care products I write about.
Right now I am testing the Lanza Long Hair Line and am pleased with the initial
results. I will be writing a review after I used the product for several days.
I have had some good results with Nature's Gate Chamomile shampoo &
conditioner. I also like some of the Matrix products including Vavoom. I like
KMS Flat out, Phyto's leave in conditioner formulas #7 & #9 and I like Joico's
detanglers.
How often do you get your hair trimmed?
I get my hair trimmed 1/4 inch every 8-12 weeks. I have a special
pair of trimming scissors I bought at a hair and beauty show and I trim my split ends,
when I see them, during the New Moon every month. That is just one of my own
personal superstitions about hair.
Where do you get all the great hair tips
that you share with all of us all the time?
One of my favorite things in the world is to read. I constantly
read books and magazines on hair care. All of the books that are reviewed at the
Hair Boutique are books I have personally read.
I also talk to hair care experts all the time. When I don't know
the answer to a questions I call one of them up and ask them.
In the past the Hair Boutique has been blessed to have visits from
Ouidad (curly hair expert) Mickahel (winner of Paul Mitchell awards), Mike Trobee and and
Spencer Kobren (hair loss expert) These great people help me all the time when I
have questions.
Also, could you just give me a little
overview of how you care for your hair. Your routine would be great to know.
As a general rule, I wash my hair every day in my morning shower.
I always detangle or brush my hair carefully before I shower.
I shower in lukewarm water and alternate between ARTec Smoothing shampoo
and ARTec Kiwi. I use ARTec Smoothing conditioner. (That is, unless I am testing a
new product, like I am currently with the Lanza).
I always do a cool/cold water rinse and then towel blot my hair. I
pick it dry with a special wide toothed pick. Then I apply a dab of Phyto #7 or #9
leave in conditioner. I apply a tiny dab of either ARTec or KMS to my bangs and then
blow dry and finger pick my bangs for about 3 minutes.
I wrap the rest of my hair into a soft bun, pop in a hair stick
and then go off to work.
Around 10 am I take out the hair sticks and my hair is generally dry.
I pick it our and then carefully brush it with a boar's head brush. I have a
Mason Pearson that I adore. It is small and fits into my purse.
My hair falls in soft waves and I don't have to do one more thing to it
for the rest of the day.
Once a week, usually on the weekends, I do a deep conditioning. I
will sometimes apply the Aveda Beautifying Oil to the ends and dry parts of my hair, braid
it, slip a towel over my pillow case and go to bed. Next morning I shampoo it out
with 1 shampoo application and my hair looks great for days.
About 1x a month I will do a home grown olive oil treatment. It is
extremely messy, so I only leave the oil in about 2 hours max. I also do ARTec
Moisture Pak about 1x a week and it is no muss, no fuss.
I hope that helps. Thanks for visiting us at Hair Boutique.
Best wishes,
Karen
April 11, 1999
Question
Dear Karen,
I have hair that is half & half. My ends are very
dry but my scalp tends to be oily. I never know what type of shampoo or hair care
products to use because of this combination hair problem. Can you help me please?
Annie
Answer
Dear Annie,
You have several options for dealing with this fairly common hair problem.
When you wash your hair always use lukewarm water. Excessively hot water will
tend to dry out your hair. So avoid it when you shampoo your hair.
Never use a shampoo designed specifically for oily hair. Oily-hair cleansers may
cause even more dryness to your ends. It is best to use a shampoo designed for
normal hair.
You may want to try ARTec's Kiwi Shampoo. It is chock full of great natural
ingredients and it would be an excellent choice to contain scalp oiliness.
When you wash your hair, pour a dime to quarter sized blob of shampoo on your palms and
then apply it to your scalp and upper head are.
You should concentrate the majority of the shampoo lather on the
scalp. To wash the ends, let the shampoo foam and suds gently flow down your
hair shaft. Let enough suds drain through your ends to clean them, but not overclean
them. Never apply shampoo directly to the ends.
If you want to, you can take some of the suds and carefully pat them to
the dry ends. Just remember to be gentle and careful.
Rinse completely until neither your hair or scalp feels slippery.
Apply a light "rinse out" conditioner like ARTec Kiwi but make
sure it is at least 3 inches away from your scalp. In fact, never apply conditioner
directly to your scalp area.
Make sure you rinse well.
Use a cool-cold water rinse as your final rinse. This will seal in
moisture to your ends and will also cut down any oiliness on your scalp.
Once a week use ARTec's Moisture Pak or similar deep conditioning
product and concentrate the treatment on the dry parts of your hair.
If you don't wish to use a commercial deep conditioner, you would also
benefit from weekly hot oil treatment which you can do using slightly warm extra virgin
olive oil on your dry hair areas.
If you prefer, you can use Aveda's Beautifying Oil which contains a high
concentration of jojoba oil (my personal favorite). Apply the Beautifying Oil by
using your fingertips to apply a little bit (a little goes a long way) to the dry parts of
your hair. Wrap in a towel and let it "cook" for a couple of hours.
You will be amazed at the difference.
Don't forget to have your ends trimmed religiously every 6-8 weeks to
remove frizzy split ends.
Best wishes,
Karen
April 1, 1999
Question
Dear Karen,
Over the past year I have noticed more and more hair loss. I recently went to
see a dermatologist who told me that I had a form of Alopecia. Unfortunately I did
not write down the exact type and I not find out that there is more than one type of
Alopecia.
Could you please give me a brief overview of what the
different types of Alopecia are.
Thanks so much,
Eric
Answer
Dear Eric,
Yes there are more than one types of Alopecia and they all act a little differently,
although they all relate to some form of hair loss from minor to total body loss.
The four main types of Alopecia are:
Alopecia Areata
This form of Alopecia is identified by the presence of small
patches that cover the scalp. this type of Alopecia normally starts with a patch the size
of a dime piece followed by other patches.
The patches most often take
on a pink colour with stubbly bits of hair around the edges. While this may give an
impression of new hair growing through, it is a false impression. In reality it is
hair that has broken off . The patches will continue to get larger and spread
further on the scalp.
Alopecia Totalis
Alopecia Totalis involves the total loss of all
hair over the entire scalp. This condition can start as Alopecia Areata and in more severe
cases lead to Totalis.
Princess Caroline of Monaco suffered from total hair loss a few
years ago and the cause was indicated to be severe stress. This can happen as a
result of serious illness as well.
Alopecia Universalis
Alopecia Universalis is even more severe than Alopecia Totalis.
Universalis is the loss of hair from all over the entire body. This is the most
severe form of Alopecia. Universalis can start as Alopecia Areata or Alopecia Totalis
resulting in total and complete body hair loss. This include eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic
hair.
Alopecia Androgenetica
This is the least severe form and involves the general thinning
of hair on the scalp, sometimes referred to as Alopecia Androgenetica.
For more information on these diseases of hair loss you
can refer to a recent press release
posted in the Hair Boutique articles section on hair loss in women from the American
Academy of Dermatology.
If you suspect that you
have a form of Alopecia, see a dermatologist or a trichologist for complete diagnosis and
treatment recommendations.
By submitting your question, you grant
HairBoutique.com permission to publish it. Due to the volume of mail we receive,
Karen regrets that she cannot respond to every question. To Ask Karen your questions send
e-mail to: askkaren@hairboutique.com |
