Banishing Bad Hair Days since 1997!™

Hair Plan: Two Week Stress Reduction Program

Introduction

Above & Beyond Salon

Stress can hit on a myriad of fronts ranging from road rage producing traffic jams to work environments right on the fringe of hell. Of course there's also the ever present family and romantic issues, money woes and let's not forget - bad hair - causing ongoing angst.

When stress is attacking on the follicle front, consider the following anti-stress hair program to help you chill out bad hair trips and live in harmony with your strands.

Day One - Make a Hair Plan

Head for the nearest mirror with a notebook you can designate as your own personal Hair Plan Book. Yes, go ahead and decorate it if you wish.

Get serious about putting an end to your ongoing hair stressors. Start by asking yourself for the current hair issues at the root of your bad hair traumas? Are the issues long term problems or the results of a whimsical day at the salon?

Are your current hair stressors a long term problem such as accelerating hair loss, beginning of gray strands or extreme damage from chemical abuse? Or do the hair challenges tie closer to improper daily care, less-then-perfect hair hues or out-of-sorts styles?

Once you've had time to reflect about your hair jot down your thoughts. Write down your current primary hair problem and any secondary problems such as Primary: Excessive hair breakage from chemical treatments - Secondary: Ends of hair are discolored. Hair feels sticky after shampoo.

List possible solutions to your Primary and Secondary problems. In the above example you might benefit from salon deep conditioning treatments and/or hair color correction therapy. Brainstorm with a hair savvy friend or family member on ways you might move beyond the current hair challenges. Put together a plan of hair attack with step by step actions you can take to resolve your current hair stressors.

Day Two - Create Your Expert Hair Team

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Hair related stress may be linked to having a dysfunctional hair team. After you've created your Hair Plan during Day One, think about the role your current expert hair team plays in assisting your with your current Primary and Secondary hair problems.

Write down the names (in your Hair Plan notebook) and contact information of current pros ranging from your regular hairstylist to your hair colorist, if you have one.

Do you have more than one hair technician you visit? How often do you visit your hair team for either maintenance or special treatments?

Take a little time to do some soul searching. Ask yourself if you're really loving the work your hair team does for you. How have they specifically helped you with your current hair challenges? How do you feel they have let you down?

If your current team hasn't helped, make a commitment to fire them and hire a new set of hair pros to help you overcome your current issues in your quest to achieve stress free hair.

Make a list of possible salons, stylists or other hair pros you think can help you overcome your current hair challenges.

If you don't currently have a professional hair team and take care of your own hair at home, write down your own approach. How could your current program be improved upon?

Day Three - Make A Hair Product Pro/Con List

After you've created your own personal (and private if you wish) Hair Book, and have taken inventory of your Expert Hair Team, move on to your hair care products and tools.

Open your Hair Book and start writing. Make a list of everything you use on your tresses from wet (shampoo, conditioner, styling aides) to dry products (irons, dryers, curlers). Once you've completed a comprehensive list, write the pros and cons of each. If you prefer, implement a five star rating system giving your star products and tools five stars and your bad performers one star.

Make an additional list of any hair related products or tools in the past that worked for you but you no longer employ.

Day Four - Donate, Recycle, Barter Or Trade Bad Hair Products

Once you've directed the spotlight on your hair products and tools, you should have discovered some which didn't make the cut. Don't keep any of the do-bad-hair products squirreled away in your bathroom. Pack up the rejects and donate them to a local women's shelter, list them on your favorite hair talk forum for trade or go to a consumer resell site to sell.

Better yet, pitch them or do your Green Duty and recycle the remaining products and containers.

If you know that a product or tool just doesn't work for you, why risk bad hair days using those items? It's just not worth the stress or potential damage your tresses may endure.

Day Five - Incorporate Daily Hair Affirmations

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Studies have shown that dwelling on the negative aspect of any situation ranging from brain busting work problems to hair hassles can only magnify the bad feelings.

When a black cloud of negatively descends on you about your tresses, hit the pause button in your head and instantly chant some mood lifting hair affirmations.

Spring for a book on affirmation and customize them to focus on your strands. Or you can always create your own.

Some simple but effective verses include the following:

1. I love my hair unconditionally. 2. Every day, in every way, my hair radiates vibrant health and beauty. 3. I appreciate the hair I was born with. 4. My hair is beautiful in every way. 5. My hair is - fill in the blanks. Now go and create your own fabulous feel-good affirmations and add them to your Hair Book.

Day Six - Turn A Blind Eye To The Mirror

After you've created your own personal affirmations and/or positive thinking program, avoid the dreaded looking glass. Don't undo all your great affirming by glaring in a mirror and bemoaning your follicle challenges. Keep on chanting (silently if you prefer) and avoid all your normal reflection check points while you reset your mind to the power or positive speaking and talking.

Throughout your day jot down the hair affirmations you have voiced or any other relevant happenings as a result of your chanting. Be sure to note any affirmations that felt fantastic or others which seemed difficult to repeat.

Day Seven - Take A Hair Dryer Hiatus

Many people link bad hair days to bad blow outs due to a variety of factors ranging from improper use of styling products (leave-in conditioners, gels), and tools (brushes, combs, curlers) to excessive blow dryer heat and air flow which can fry delicate tresses. Cut blow dryer stress by taking a one day break and let hair completely air dry.

At the end of your blow dryer free day grab your Hair Book and write down any new hair tricks you discovered to help you break your hair drying patterns. Did you "wet bun" your strands, letting them air dry while pinned into a loose coil? Or did you "finger pick" your damp tresses to achieve a unique tousled look?

What worked for you and what didn't?

Day Eight- Have A Scalp Massage

Scalp massages can instantly soothe savage hair roots. Whether you head to the salon or spa and let your therapist's finger pads doing the scalp walking or you do it at home, scalp massage can stimulate sluggish circulation, encourage healthy strands and help drain all types of other stresses completely from your body.

Go for maximum pampering and de-stressing by adding some fabulous essential oils designed to amp up relaxation. If you prefer, use the scalp massage in conjunction with a hot oil conditioning treatment to restore moisture and soothe damaged strands.

Just remember not to use sharp fingernails right on your scalp since studies have show that sharp nails or rough skin can leave tiny tears and rips on your sensitive scalp.

Day Nine - Enjoy A Hair Play Date

When you have fun doing an activity, like dealing with your hair, it can eliminate stress related thoughts.

Invite a few friends over to your abode for a hair play date. Ask each friend to bring their favorite products, tools and accessories. Take turns making each person the focus and play with their hair.

Change the part, clip on some bangs, a chignon or extensions or pop a wig on them. It's often our friends who can help us discover fabulous new ways to wear our strands that we might never have considered.

Consider a celebrity look-a-like contest with your play dates. The easy availability and affordability of snap-on hair extensions (real human hair & synthetic), clip-in chignons and other fabulous hair accessories, makes it easy for anyone to channel their favorite celebrity hair stars.

Don't forget to take lots of photos and attach them and your memories in your Hair Book.

Day Ten - Take A Hair Powder

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Take a break from your daily shampoo schedule which is most likely another source of frequent hair stress. Instead of cleansing your strands with water, experiment with dry shampoo products. Hair powders allow you to stretch out your shampoo cycles and allow you to bypass the entire traditional hair wash cycle.

Not only do these products offer a less damaging way of instantly removing dirt and debris without the ongoing rinse and repeat of shampoo and water, they offer other hidden advantages.

Dry shampoo is often used by celebrity hairdressers to amp up the volume for their celebrity heads. When applied properly, dry shampoo products will add texture and va-va-voom to your everyday style.

Experiment either with an existing dry shampoo, purchase a new one or make your own formula at-home. Add notes about the product or products you tried, new tricks you learned or the at-home recipe your whipped up for your locks.

Day Eleven - Make A Bad Hair Day Scrapbook

Crank up some feel good endorphins by laughing at your own Horrible Hair History. Start your laugh cycle by creating a scrapbook with photos, images or memories of your favorite bad hair day don'ts. Or if reliving those traumatic hair experiences are too spine chilling, make a list of celebrities with major hair don'ts.

According to Ten Bad Dates With DeNiro - A Book Of Movie Lists, some examples of worst hair days in the movies include Meryl Streep's bad do in 1989's Cry In The Dark, Tom Cruise's matted bald strand mess in Born On The Fourth of July and Barbara Streisand's eye sore of a perm in 1976's A Star Is Born.

Who can forget Barbara's over-the-top crimped tresses that alternated between looking fabulous and forgettable. Have a good laugh over some old hairstyles from the 60s and your own bad hair days will quickly fade away.

Day Twelve - Wrap It, Band It, Clip It

Celebrities understand the benefits of deploying a wide range of hair accessories and toys to instantly dress up their tresses, alter their hairstyle or set a mood. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have both become noted for their different hair accessory styles. Paris is known for wearing hair flowers while Nicole popularized headbands, hair scarves and forehead hugging skinny bandeaus.

Hair accessories address a wide range of hair needs ranging from functional to decorative. Headbands, barrettes, bobbies and small clips can minimize the pain of hair at awkward growth stages. A jeweled bobby pin can instantly amp up the sophistication of a hair chignon.

If you already own hair accessories make a complete inventory. Organize by accessory "type" and hair events. If you have hair jewels you no longer love consider donating, recycling or swap them on your favorite forum.

Day Thirteen - Surf The Web And Hit The Hair Mags For A Hot New Hairstyle

Surf the web to get new hair style inspiration or head to the nearest bookstore and pick up a selection of the most popular hair magazines like Multi-Media's 101 Hairstyles or MMI's Short Cuts. If you prefer, flip through your favorite fashion magazines for strand ideas.

Day Fourteen - Review/Re-access/Revise Your Hair Plan Book

Now that you've invested fourteen days working on your hair stop and review the many pages of the fabulous hair book you've custom built around your tresses. Make a note of what day you enjoyed the most. What did you learn about your hair and your goals over the past two weeks? If you enjoyed your hair book, maybe you should extend it for a few more days, weeks, months or even indefinitely.

Summary

When stress is attacking on the follicle front, consider the following anti-stress hair program to help you chill out bad hair trips and live in harmony with your strands.

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- Revised Date: 01/26/11

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