8 hair care treatments you can make yourself

Eggs, yogurt and honey are, at first glance, all components of a tasty breakfast — but they also happen to be hair treatment ingredients, and affordable, all-natural ones at that. And they're not the only ones. Did you know, for instance, that the oils in avocados more closely resemble our own skin's oils than any product in the beauty aisle does? Or that the mild acidity in lemon is an effective — and gentler — alternative to chemical-laden products? Next time your locks need a lift, save money by using one of these kitchen fixes.

For all hair types

"The [raw] egg is really the best of all worlds," says Janice Cox, author of "Natural Beauty at Home". The yolk, rich in fats and proteins, is naturally moisturizing, while the white, which contains bacteria-eating enzymes, removes unwanted oils, she explains.

To use: For normal hair, use the entire egg to condition hair; use egg whites only to treat oily hair; use egg yolks only to moisturize dry, brittle hair, Cox says. Use 1/2 cup of whichever egg mixture is appropriate for you and apply to clean, damp hair. If there isn’t enough egg to coat scalp and hair, use more as needed. Leave on for 20 minutes, rinse with cool water (to prevent egg from "cooking") and shampoo hair. Whole egg and yolks-only treatments can be applied once a month; whites-only treatment can be applied every two weeks.

For dull hair

Styling products (as well as air pollution) can leave a film that both saps moisture and dulls shine — but dairy products like sour cream and plain yogurt can help reverse this damage. "Lactic acid gently strips away dirt while the milk fat moisturizes," says Lisa Belkin, author of "The Cosmetics Cookbook".

To Use: Massage 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt into damp hair and let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water, followed by cool water, then shampoo hair as you normally would. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For itchy scalp

To fight flakes — brought on by poor diet, stress and climate, among other factors — try a lemon juice and olive oil mixture in your hair. "The acidity in lemon juice helps rid your scalp of any loose, dry flakes of skin, while the olive oil moisturizes the [newly exposed] skin on your head," says Cox.

To Use: Mix 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons water, and massage into damp scalp. Let mixture sit for 20 minutes, then rinse and shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For limp or fine hair

To add body to hair, reach for an unlikely beauty beverage: beer! The fermented drink contains generous supplies of yeast, which works to plump tired tresses, explains Cox.

To use: Mix 1/2 cup flat beer (pour beer into a container and let it sit out for a couple of hours to deplete carbonation) with 1 teaspoon light oil (sunflower or canola) and a raw egg. Apply to clean, damp hair, let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool water. Or add flat beer only to a spray bottle and spritz onto dry hair. "When the liquid evaporates, the remaining protein residue (from the wheat, malt or hops) continues to strengthen and structure hair," says Belkin. Treatments can be applied every other week.

For dry or sun-damaged hair

Whatever your hair-dehydrating demon — hard water, sun overexposure, your trusty flat iron — nature's sweetener can help. "Honey is a natural humectant, which means it attracts and locks in moisture," says Cox.

To use: Massage approximately 1/2 cup honey into clean, damp hair, let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse with warm water. You can also add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil to loosen the honey for easier application. For extremely sun-damaged hair, trying mixing honey with 1 to 2 tablespoons of a protein-rich ingredient, like avocado or egg yolk, which will help replenish the keratin protein bonds that UV rays attack. Treatment can be applied once a month.

For oily or greasy hair

"Used properly, [cornmeal or cornstarch] is an inexpensive way to remove oil and grease," says Belkin.

To use: Pour 1 tablespoon cornmeal or cornstarch into an empty salt or pepper shaker and sprinkle onto dry hair and scalp until you’ve used it all. After 10 minutes, use a paddle hairbrush to completely brush it out. Treatment can be applied every other day.

For frizzy hair

Home beauty experts swear by avocado — and not just to repair damaged hair. Its oils (which are light and moist like our own natural skin secretions) and proteins boast the best combination of nutrients for smoothing and weighing down unruly hair, explains Cox.

To use: Mash up half an avocado and massage into clean, damp hair. Let sit for 15 minutes before rinsing with water. Amp up moisturizing power by combining mashed avocado with 1 to 2 tablespoons of a hydrating ingredient, like sour cream, egg yolks or mayonnaise. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

For residue-ridden hair

"Nothing eats through product buildup like baking soda," Cox says. Sodium bicarbonate essentially breaks down anything acidic.

To Use: Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons baking soda with small amounts of water until a thick paste forms. Massage into damp hair and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with water, then shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

Mother Nature Network

Hair Loss Prevention 101

As we age, our bodies inevitably age with us. As men, we can look forward to beer bellies, bushels of ear hair and, of course, baldness. Though men like to think that they'll have a full head of hair well past their primes, reality tells a different story. By the age of 35, about two-thirds of men will experience some appreciable hair loss while nearly 85 percent of men will have significantly thinning hair by the age of 50. It's not all bad news, though. There are ways that you can slow a receding hairline, so sit tight as AskMen gives you a crash course. Welcome to Hair Loss Prevention 101.

What causes hair loss?

Although hair loss can be blamed on your mom and dad (i.e., genetics) there are other causes—preventable ones—that include nutritional deficiency, infection, prescription drugs, chemical hair products, and even emotional stress. Taking care of these, while focusing on ways to stimulate growth, should keep you well ahead of the pack in your hair-loss-prevention quest.

Eat more fish

Not only are fish loaded with protein and minerals, but they’re also an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Both nutrients have been linked to preventing hair loss in chemotherapy patients. That holding true for healthy men hasn’t really been studied, but both nutrients offer a host of other health benefits so there should be nothing stopping you from including more fish in your diet.

Keep your iron levels in check

Iron-deficiency anemia, which is more common in women, is a well-known cause of unexpected hair loss, but the loss may be so slight that you barely notice it. Adding some iron-rich foods to your diet like pumpkin seeds, quinoa or tofu may help if you run into any problems. This is particularly important if you’re a vegetarian looking into hair loss prevention, since it can be harder to get enough iron when you have to avoid red meats or eggs.

Don’t forget your vitamin B

Also important for hair growth are B vitamins biotin, folate, B2, and B12. In fact, some, like biotin, are so important that they’re prescribed alongside medical treatments for hair loss (like Rogaine). If you think you’re lacking vitamin B or any nutrient for that matter (like iron), speak to your doctor before you get yourself tested or go down the supplements route. An even simpler solution is to structure your diet accordingly, although getting enough biotin may be a challenge.
Manage your stress

At any one time, about 85 percent of the hair on your head is in its growing phase while 15 percent is in its final “death” stages. Amazingly, certain stressful events can actually produce a "shock to the system" that alters this natural cycle causing as much as 30–40 percent of the hairs to start to die. The result: three months later, you start to shed like a dog does its coat. Although the events that cause these are usually major life stressors, like a severe illness, it’s possible that chronic, prolonged stress could have a similar, though lesser, effect. Finding ways to manage stress should therefore be a top priority for any man stressing to find ways to prevent hair loss.

Read the labels of your prescription drugs

Most men know that chemotherapy can induce hair loss, but most are unaware that there are plenty of prescription drugs that can cause hair loss as well. Blood thinners like warfarin, arthritic medications and psychiatric drugs like lithium are just a few examples of prescription meds that can induce hair loss. If a full head of hair is important to you, one easy tip to prevent baldness is to be sure to read the labels of all prescription drugs before you take them.

Keep up on personal hygiene

Though it’s not exactly a direct cause of hair loss, a general lack of personal hygiene can lead to fungal scalp infections like tinea capitis that result in patchy hair loss. By keeping your scalp and hair clean through regular shampooing, you’ll prevent any fungal infections and help prevent baldness in the process—but don’t overdo it. Too much shampooing can damage the sebaceous glands of the scalp that make sebum, which naturally moisturizes the hair and skin.

Don't hesitate to see your doctor

It’s a message that’s been said time and again, but once more won’t hurt: don’t hesitate to see your local dermatologist. Even about balding, and don’t be embarrassed. There is no question that you could possibly ask that hasn’t been asked before. Your doctor might not have all the answers, but they will be able to guide you through being tested if you’re concerned about a nutritional deficiency, and they can subsequently recommend the proper supplements if one is identified. Your doctor should also be able to provide guidance on any of the other topics we’ve outlined here.

Exercise regularly

Of all the tips to prevent baldness out there, regular exercise is arguably the most important -- at least when talking about your body as a whole, hair included. Exercise helps to relieve stress and improves circulation to the skin. Sweat, a byproduct of exercise, also helps the skin by flushing out impurities from the surface. While there hasn’t been much, if any, research on the impact of exercise on balding, look at it this way: it’s not like it will hurt your chances of holding onto your hair.

To baldly go where many men have gone before

Nothing in life is certain—even baldness. Although your genes will inevitably have the final say of whether or not there will be hair on your head at 40, don’t go down without a fight! Even if you do eventually lose the battle, you’ll be joining a club with millions upon millions of members, and who knows? Maybe you’ll stumble upon a few perks! Some women even think bald is sexy.

Foxnews

The bald facts about female hair loss

What's your party trick? Mine is to pull up my hair and reveal the big, smooth bald patch behind my left ear. It works a treat because nobody expects a 29-year-old woman to be suffering from hair loss. Surely that's the preserve of men of a certain age?

Well no, actually. Last week a survey revealed that as many as one in three women over the age of 25 suffers from some sort of hair loss, or alopecia as it is known. Trichologists are now seeing more and more females with receding hair lines, thinning locks and even complete baldness. "I have worked in this industry for 40 years," says Carol Michaelides, a senior trichologist at hair specialists Phillip Kingsley. "And where once you used to see women with hair problems twice a year, now we get them once a week."

TV presenter Gail Porter was pregnant with daughter Honey in 2005 when she noticed her hair was falling out in clumps. Within four weeks she was completely bald.

Mine started falling out when I was 19, and has been coming and going as it pleases ever since. I remember the moment that I discovered the small bald patch on the back of my head. My sister was straightening my hair when she announced that there was something I should see. It was a tiny patch, curiously smooth and strangely comforting to touch. I thought nothing of it. But within a month it had grown from the size of a five pence piece to that of a ten pound note, and within two months I had lost half of my hair.

This was strange territory. I was a young girl about to start at university. And yet when I looked in the mirror I saw the scalp of a middle-aged man. I had such a small amount of hair that, to my horror, I was forced into sporting a Bobby Charlton comb-over. How had it come to this? What was happening to me?

I went to my GP who told me dismissively that I had something called alopecia areata, where hair falls out in patches. What caused it? Nobody really knows, she said. Was there any treatment for it? No, not really. And then she gave me a look that said 'why are you bothering me with this when there are ill people in the waiting room?' (That seems to be quite a common reaction, perhaps because so little is known about why a woman's hair falls out).

So off I went, none the wiser and certainly with no more hair, though with a new sense of guilt at how vain and pathetic I was to care about something as trivial as hair. I kept thinking about women who had gone bald because of chemotherapy, and I thought that I should count my lucky stars that wasn't what had happened to me.

I learnt that alopecia areata is an auto-immune condition, like psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. The immune system rejects the hair follicle, though why this happens nobody knows. There are thought to be links to physical stress, and emotional stress may perpetuate it, but scientists don't know what triggers it, or how to stop it.

I remember being prescribed a steroid cream, which got rid of patches, only for them to appear somewhere else – it was like playing cat and mouse with hair loss. For some sufferers, their patches will disappear in months, never to return; unfortunately for others the hair never grows back. I am somewhere between the two. After six months my hair returned – it was strange, fine, baby hair – and I haven't had alopecia as badly since. I always have a patch but am fortunate in that, weirdly, the rest of my hair is so thick and long that it usually covers it.

Michaelides says that some trichologists also advise a treatment in which the scalp is exposed to UV rays. "You create mild sunburn and we think it tricks the immune system into reawakening the hair follicle."

Best advice? Try not to panic, that will only make it worse. Remember that more women have experienced alopecia than you realise.

The Telegraph

Plan ahead to combat hair loss

Barely a month goes by without another male celebrity admitting to a hair transplant. Earlier in the year, TV chef Gordon Ramsay was photographed leaving a Los Angeles clinic sporting the telltale surgical cap. Strictly Come Dancing judge Jason Gardener chose the show’s final episode to reveal his newly transplanted locks.

The latest reported fan is Michael Eavis, the 74-year-old Glastonbury Festival organiser, who has said he was inspired to consider the operation by Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United ace unveiled his replenished head on Twitter last month, telling fans that it was “still a bit bloody”.

This celebrity endorsement looks set to kick off a trend, with an estimated 10,000 men now getting surgical help to improve their crowning glory every year, and new hair-loss clinics reportedly sprouting at an alarming rate. But with at least one dentist now offering to restore follicular fortunes, how can men know if they are in the best hands? Or even if they are suitable candidates?

Hair-transplant surgery involves moving hair from an area of relative excess, such as the back and sides of the head, to the bald area at the top. Ultimately, this is an issue of supply and demand: there needs to be enough hair in the donor site to supply the demand on top. Unfortunately, not all men meet this criteria, including Eavis – judging from the extent of his baldness.

Male pattern hair loss is classified according to the Norwood scale, named after Dr O’Tar Norwood, the American dermatologist who described it in the Seventies. The scale describes seven distinct stages, from a full head and a teenage hairline to a horseshoe-shaped band at the back and sides. Men at the lower end of the scale do well with hair transplants where there is more supply and less demand.

The trouble is that male pattern baldness is progressive, so it is important to think about the future before proceeding with surgery. A man who is at stage three in his early twenties may well get an excellent result from a hair transplant at the time, but he could be destined for class seven in his forties, leaving him with a ludicrous island of transplanted hair at the front and a bald area behind. Aside from technical ability, one of the most important skills of any hair-transplant surgeon lies in making the decision when to operate, and when to say no.

The surgery itself, which involves thousands of tiny tissue grafts, is meticulous and painstaking. When hair transplants were first performed in the late Fifties, surgeons removed punch biopsies of hair-bearing scalp from the back of the head (similar to the circular holes produced by a paper punch), and plugged them into the bald area on top. The unfortunate results often resembled dolls’ hair, with small circular patches of hair growth surrounded by baldness. Techniques have moved on, and today’s transplants produce a more natural look, but they are also more technically demanding and need to be carried out by a highly skilled surgeon. A single operation requires some 4,000 to 5,000 tiny grafts of single follicular units, each containing between one and four hairs and a single sebaceous gland.

The hair is first removed from the back in a single strip, which a team of assistants carefully dissect into follicular units. The surgeon then creates incisions for the 4,000 or so grafts to be inserted, and the team of assistants delicately place the grafts one by one, in each tiny incision. It is exacting work, involving 12 to 15 professionals working between eight and 12 hours at a time.

There are relatively few centres in the world that have the level of experience and set-up to do this well, which may explain why celebrities such as Ramsay have travelled to the US, where the procedure can cost up to £40,000.

After surgery, most of the transplanted hair will fall out in the first few weeks and begin growing again three or four months later, with the final results not showing for 12 to 18 months. At the donor site, the scar from the incision usually fades to a fine white line, hidden beneath the hair that remains.

A newer method, using surgical instruments to extract hair follicles from the donor site one by one, has the benefit of avoiding the straight line scar at the back. Often marketed by clinics as the latest in “scarless hair transplants”, the technique is not universally accepted, with some specialists claiming that it damages follicles and reduces “yield”. Whether this technique eventually prevails, only time will tell.

Male pattern baldness is a source of enormous distress to many men who may be tempted by the promises of a new generation of hair clinics. However, prospective patients should think very carefully about the long-term implications and choose wisely when selecting with whom to trust their follicular fortunes.

The Telegraph

Green solutions for your hair care

I suffer from an itchy, dry scalp. I've tried several shampoos, but none has helped. When I was young, my mother washed my hair in green soft soap: is there a product like it today?

Early soap making was based on the reaction of fat (animal or vegetable) with an alkali such as caustic soda or potash. This saponification produces a mixture of soap and glycerol. Commercially, the glycerol is removed to make a harder, longer-lasting soap, but home-made ones (and traditional green soft soap) retain the glycerol, which is an emollient. The Natural Soap Book, by Susan Miller Cavitch (from Baldwins, 020-7701 4892) has some lovely recipes. It is often sodium lauryl sulphate that causes itchy scalps, so try naturally nourishing 'free from' brands such as Green People's Moisturising Shampoo (greenpeople.co.uk) or Barefoot Botanicals SOS Hair And Scalp Rescue Shampoo (0870 220 2273).

I'm a 31-year-old male who has had greasy facial skin since my teens, making my face red and prone to spots. I've tried every (expensive) treatment with little or no effect.

High testosterone levels - more specifically, excessive dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - encourage sebum production. Stress adds to the problem because the adrenaline stimulates production of male hormones, and so more sebum, making the skin greasy. This sebum then blocks pores, allowing dirt and infection. Poor hygiene and diet, constipation and sluggish liver function allow a build-up of toxins. Zinc deficiency increases the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Vitamin A and zinc boost immunity, control inflammation and facilitate skin repair. Take them daily, as well as essential fatty acids (Biocare EPA, say), which are important for good skin and balancing hormones. Reduce sugar, dairy, alcohol, caffeine and saturated fats. Adopt a wholefood diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and drink eight glasses of spring water daily. Take daily fresh air and exercise to stimulate circulation and eliminate toxins. Work to reduce stress, optimise liver, digestive and immune function, and improve diet would have more lasting benefit than topical treatments. See a naturopath or nutritionist: for a local practitioner, contact the General Council and Register of Naturopaths (01458 840072) or the British Register of Nutritional Therapists (bant.org.uk).

Guardian

How to Minimize Hair Loss During Chemotherapy

Once you've committed to treating your breast cancer with chemotherapy, there's a good chance you'll lose at least some of your hair. Side effects range from thinning to total baldness and depend mostly on the type and dosage of chemo you receive. The problem isn't limited to the hair on your head—you may lose your body or pubic hair too. The loss is usually temporary, but it's one of the side effects that women fear most. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to minimize it.

Hair-loss therapies

Several treatments have been researched as ways to minimize hair loss or speed regrowth, but none of them are 100% effective. Hair-restoration "experts" and products may make big promises; as a general rule, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You and your doctor may disagree about whether you should try one of these products. "Doctors tend to put little faith in hair-saving measures with questionable outcomes, but that doesn't mean there are not options out there that patients can try," advises Mario Lacouture, MD, director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center's Dermatologic Care Center at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Minoxidil (Rogaine)

Applying Rogaine directly to your scalp won't entirely prevent hair loss, but it's been shown to speed hair regrowth in breast cancer patients who have lost their hair, and it may even delay the loss. A small 1996 study found that while minoxidil did not prevent hair loss in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, it took longer for hair to fall out, and hair eventually grew back faster.

It isn’t cheap, however, and it can cause scalp irritation or itchiness. If you have heart disease, talk to your doctor before using Rogaine, as it may cause rapid heart rate or low blood pressure.

Scalp hypothermia

Depending on the type of chemo you're receiving, wearing a frozen gel cap or ice pack during treatment may help reduce hair loss. By chilling the scalp during intravenous chemo, blood flow to hair follicles is reduced. This, in turn, reduces the amount of the chemo drug absorbed by the follicles, which minimizes follicle damage and potential hair loss.

The process can be cold and uncomfortable, but analyses of several studies have found that the potential benefit of preventing hair loss may outweigh the downside. One small, oft-cited study of breast cancer patients taking doxorubicin (Adriamycin) suggests that scalp cooling can make a significant difference. Of the 28 participants who successfully wore a frozen gel cap during the administration of the chemotherapy drug, 12 had no substantial hair loss, while 10 showed only minor loss. Six women lost most or all of their hair, despite the scalp cooling.

There's also a potential danger with scalp hypothermia. Since the procedure reduces the dose of chemotherapy that reaches the scalp, it carries a slight risk of metastases in that area.

Lead writer: Wendy Korn
Health.com

Hair Loss – Home Treatment

Home treatment for hair loss includes hair care and hairstyling techniques that may help you cover thinning or bald spots on the scalp. This may be easier for women because inherited hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) causes a general thinning that is usually not as severe as it is in men. Hair sprays, dyes, and perms can help make the hair appear fuller.

In women with inherited hair loss, hair care and the occasional use of grooming products, hair sprays, hair color, teasing, permanents, or frequent washing will not increase hair loss. But if your hair loss is caused by hair care, then perms and dyes may contribute to more hair loss.

For both men and women, hair thinning and baldness increase the risk of sunburn and skin cancer on the scalp. When in the sun, wear a hat or use a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or more to prevent sun damage to the scalp.

Health.com