Hair Care Tips While Traveling

Taking care of your hair can be healthy as well as rewarding. Healthy and glowing hair adds to your personality and appearance. People notice when your hair is bouncy, shiny and thick. Sometime when we are sick or busy we tend to ignore the hair care regime and this happens more often when we are travelling, we are careful about everything around us but our hair. Good hair is a result of good nutrition, good health and a daily exercise regime.

While travelling you do not have the luxury to have with you all that you have in your bedroom. To have them you would need a lot of luggage and ignore precious moments of the planned trip. So it is best to make do with what you can carry with you and what you have. Here are some easy tips for proper hair care when you are on a trip or holiday.

Prioritize
Make an essential list of items to carry with you. The shampoo and conditioner is an essential item, carry smaller packs for easy packing.

Hair cut
Before your travel dates approach, try and get a maintenance free hair cut. This will eliminate effort behind your hair as well as would be easily maintained so that you have better things to do on your trip.

Hats / Scarves
Don’t forget a sun hate or a scarf in case of an unforeseen sunny day. The sun can really dry out your hair leaving it fizzy and uncontrollable.

Raincoat or rain-hat
For an untoward, unplanned shower you should be prepared not to let your hair wet. Carry a travel raincoat or a water resistant hat to keep the untimely water away from your hair

Tie up your hair
It is best to keep the hair tied up in a ponytail to ward off dust, dirt and refrain the follicle from clogging the pores on the scalp.

Don’t worry too much
If you're traveling for fun, don't think too much about your hair. Just relax and roll with it -- the people you encounter are probably far less concerned about your hair than you are.


Drink plenty of water
In our excitement we tend to forget to drink enough water through out the day. Drink at least 8-12 glasses of water to flush the toxins out and be healthy. Trips can dehydrate us so drinking water will help us maintain good health.

Finally, hair care is not a one day, one week or a month long treatment regime. One has to take care of the hair all year round. If you take care of your hair round the year, then a trip or two cannot damage your hair at all. A good healthy balanced diet, an exercise plan, drinking plenty of water is all a part of good hair maintenance. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body; similarly a healthy body leads to healthy lustrous hair. Vitamins A, C, E, biotin, B5, as well as B6 and B12 are all very beneficial to your hair. They all come from food sources. A, C and E can be food in most fruits and vegetables and biotin, B5, as well as B6 and B12 can be found in yeast, grains, eggs, liver, rice, and milk. Also a good multi-vitamin is an additional source. Along with protein, zinc and other natural sources will help your hair in looking healthier and may also prevent hair loss. Keeping a balanced diet will also be effective in making sure that your hair stays thicker and healthier.

As with most things concerning the body, prevention plays a big role when it comes to health. Caring for your hair, keeping it healthy and avoiding the problem in the first place is to treat hair loss.

Causes and Treatments of Hair Loss

Hair loss is evident when a person loses more than 150 strands per day. There are various causes for hair loss. The most common way for losing hair is mainly through washing, brushing, and combing. About 40% of the density of scalp hair has to be lost before thinning of the hair becomes noticeable. Hair loss is caused by 2 factors:

Heredity – This is the most common cause for male pattern balding. The person’s genetic make-up here is responsible for losing hair.

Illness, and their treatments - This can include high fever, thyroid disease, childbirth, inadequate protein in the diet, iron deficiency, cancer treatments, the use of certain medications, and other causes.

The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. There are different kinds of Alopecia.

Alopecia Areata

In this condition well-defined bald patches occur. It usually clears completely within 6-12 months without treatment.

Alopecia Totalis

This is an uncommon disease where all hair on the scalp is lost. The baldness here is usually permanent.

Alopecia Universalis

Here hair loss affects all parts of the body

Androgenetic Alopecia

This kind of balding is caused by heredity. It affects both men and women alike. This condition can start in during the teens, twenties or thirties.

Hair is made up of a form of protein. The same material is found in fingernails and toenails. Everyone from childhood to old age should eat an adequate amount of protein to maintain normal hair production. Protein is found in meat, chicken, fish, eggs, some cheese, dried beans, tofu, grains, and nuts. Abnormal and excessive hair loss can be due to many different causes. About 50 percent of the population experience normal hair loss by the time they reach 50. As soon as losing hair is noticed, one should consult a dermatologist.

There are many causes for hair loss such as:

Thyroid disease – Proper treatment can correct this. Both an overactive and underactive thyroid can cause hair loss.

Iron deficiency – Low iron can be detected by the pathology lab and can be corrected with iron supplements.

Childbirth – Women usually lose hair after childbirth. This happens due to the hormonal changes in the body.

Fever and other illnesses – High fever or severe illnesses and their treatments lead to hair fall. This also is not a permanent condition and can be reversed.

Inadequate protein – Vegetarians and other people who suffer protein malnutrition lose hair. This condition can be reversed by adding protein to the diet.

Medications - Prescription drugs can cause temporary hair shedding in a small percentage of people.

Cancer treatment drugs - This occurs one to three weeks after beginning chemotherapy. The patient may lose most of his hair but the hair usually grows back once the treatment ends.

Infections – Ringworm is a common fungal infection in children. Patches of hair may be lost and replaced with pink scaly skin which can be treated with medication.

Treatment of Hair loss

If stress, insufficient iron or any temporary situation causes hair loss, the hair fall or loss will stop as soon as the cause ends. If infection cause hair fall, one needs to take antibiotics or anti-fungals. For all kinds of hair loss, early treatment works the best. Choosing a good hairstyle can hide hair loss effectively. Wigs can be a good option for women whose hair loss is severe. Finally, hair transplantation has come a long way over the last decade. If well done by professional, the result is very satisfactory and as close to natural hair.

Whatever the reason for hair loss, one needs to lead a healthy lifestyle, keep the scalp clean and see the physician as soon as hair loss becomes noticeable. Very few times the treatment won’t yield results but most often hair fall can be treated and new hair can be grown. Hair is a vital part of our physical appearance and we must take care of it.

How To Effectively Use Hair Spray

Hairsprays are part of a class of personal care products that help hair to hold a desired style.
Think hard on using hairspray well! To use a spray properly is more than holding it near hair and pressing buttons.

Best Styles

Incredibly to achieve the best looking style, you must reflect on why you are using the spray and how the most fabulous results can be achieved.

So how should it be used?

• In general spray cans or bottles should be held upright 8-12 inches from the hair (aerosol sprays should be held further away than non-aerosol products).
• Always remember that most spray is inflammable and should never be directed at a heating tool such as a curling iron, hot hair dryer, or straightener.
• A single loose connection or spark could have disastrous and dangerous results. Furthermore, avoid getting spray in your eyes if inflammation has to be curbed effectively. Here we list different ways on how to use hair spray.
  

Styling

At styling time, apply hair spray as you work with locks, perhaps even when they are still wet. Brush sprays into hair and immediately bring it into a desired position – most sprays dry quickly and a delay will eventually distort your look. An additional short burst of spray can help finish the look and hold it right in place.

For Maximum Hold

In order to provide the strongest hold, style hair well and spray all over the style, possibly keeping a tricky part of the style in place while spray sets. Allow few seconds for the spray to dry well to achieve maximum hold.

For Volumizing Hair

In case you have to create greater volume with your style, apply hair spray on the underside of your hair before styling and brush it upside down for a few seconds.
This will help to lift hair off the scalp for the maximum volume. Afterwards, style hair as desired, using additional spray for hold if necessary.

Different hair sprays are recommended for different hair types

• It depends whether you prefer conventional staid styles or are daring and love punk, frizzy styles. Think about what you need to do on a particular day. Suppose you want to be outdoors on a windy day, innovate on a stronger hold than normally needed.
• Hair spray is generally used in order to keep hair stiff. Hair spray use apart from keeping the hair in a certain form does not however take away the natural bounce and is even capable of providing additional shine, which is always quite welcome.
  

The right spray

Choosing the right spray is also an art. Hairspray comes in aerosol and pump forms, what you require is strictly personal preference.
Generally, aerosol products dry faster. There are definitely some opinionated elements partial to the pump action sprays as they have less of an impact on the environment.

There are a few more guidelines on using hair spray

• One should always use hair-spray in a limited manner and in a well-ventilated room.
• Hair-spray can effectively keep hair in good shape, but they do contain ingredients that are health hazardous. Remember not to use too much of it. Also remember that a recognized brand should be used. Use it effectively and carefully.