While hair loss and thinning hair are often a worry for men, it’s often their mothers who are blamed for their condition. But is there any truth behind the old myth that the genetic traits for baldness and thinning hair are passed down from mother to child? Not necessarily. When a child is born, he or she has a set of genes from both parents—those that determine eye color, hair color and other traits. The dominant gene will most often than not come through, but this depends on factors of farther down your family tree as well. (more...)

Most people don’t need to be told that the hair you are born with is not the same hair that you will grow old and die with. Consistency, color, thickness and how your hair feels to the touch will all change throughout your life.

So what causes our hair to go through all of these stages?
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‘Dirty-dishwater blondes’ are in a tough spot—their hair is blonde, but not necessarily luminous, especially in winter, when sunlight is rarely around to lighten up one’s natural color.

Here is a recipe using natural ingredients that works without the sunshine additive (unlike lemon masks).
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How many of us have walked out of the salon wishing we had a hat to cover up the damage? It’s not often that we find a hairstylist that gives us the cut of our dreams or the color that matches our skin type to a T.

Here are few pointers for finding the ideal hair stylist and colorist:
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What brought you into the world of hairdressing?
Passion, perseverance and people. My first real connection was with Claude Maxime, who was a famous hairdresser and styled Brigitte Bardot’s hair—she invented the “Bardot bun”. I worked with her for five years. The second person was Norwegian fashion designer Per Spook. I styled the models for all of his collections and when he moved to Louis Féraud, I styled those collections as well.

What inspires your work?
I’m inspired by what goes on in the street and through my travels. My favorite regions are the Middle East and Asia. (more...)

In the early days of hair coloring, women used dyes found in nature to enhance their natural color or cover up the gray, but today most of us color our hair in a far from natural way. The home hair-coloring kits widely available in drugstores and supermarkets have a high chemical content, so those with fragile locks beware! (more...)

Where did you get your start in hairdressing?
The Alexandre Zouari ‘brand’ got its start with a company called Lorca, which was the firm that launched the concept of “brushing” (French term for styling hair with a brush and blow-dryer). I started there in 1969, and later took a few years off to do some modelling and acting. I then was an associate in a salon on the Avenue Marceau [in Paris’ chic 8th arrondissement]. When I started there were 10 employees and I grew the business so that after just three months there were about 40 of us, and we had a very glamorous international clientele.
In 1984 I returned to the world of couture where I stayed for five years working with an Italian designer, and I was then contacted by Shiseido to work with them as a stylist. (more...)

Most of us have heard, at one time or another, that the best way to have healthy, shiny and vibrant hair is to change shampoos on a regular basis. But what if you’ve finally found your dream shampoo and really don’t feel like changing? Dream shampoo or not, when you wash your hair everyday, or at least on a regular basis (most of us do!) your shampoo will build up on your hair shaft, as will conditioner and styling products.
This isn’t to say that your products are lacking in quality—even the best products applied on a regular basis will create build-up on your hair. Changing shampoos doesn’t actually get rid of this build-up, but as each shampoo’s ingredients differ, changing products will give it a “new” wash. (more...)

How your hair looks and feels is a pretty good indicator of your general state of health.
If you have periodic hair loss, don’t run for cover—the average person loses between 50 and 100 hairs a day. If you experience a sudden bout of hair loss, or are losing significantly more than usual over an extended period of time, consult your doctor or hair specialist, a trichologist.
A number of factors come into play when it comes to hair loss or thinning hair—diet, certain kinds of medication, mineral and hormonal imbalances or deficiencies, auto-immune diseases, genetics and, last but certainly not least, stress.
Your hair also changes along with your body’s hormonal fluctuations—ever notice how your locks are fuller at certain times of the month and thinner at others? (more...)

If you hear about a miracle method to get your hair to grow twice as fast as it does naturally, chances are you’re being hoodwinked. How fast your hair grows cannot be controlled externally, and there is little you can do to alter it.

There are numerous claims that supplements, including Vitamins A and D and biotin can speed up hair growth. Feel free to experiment with these kinds of supplements, natural or otherwise, but be sure to choose those formulated to boost growth, and not to combat hair loss.
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