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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Few of us have hours to spend getting our hair just right every morning, but there are a few basics—from lifestyle choices to using the right products—that will give your hair the cared-for look it deserves!

The first golden rule is to eat right. A diet high in saturated fats and processed foods is not doing your hair any favors, or your body for that matter! Eat greens, nuts, berries, fresh fish and drink plenty of water on a regular basis.

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We’ve already covered the issue of flyaway hair, but what about static? There are few things more annoying than pulling off your woolly winter cap only to find your hair standing on end.
Although static plagues our hair most often in wintertime, it can also strike in any dry climate.
Basically, the drier your hair, the more susceptible you are to static. So the next piece of advice would be, naturally, to keep your hair in prime moisturized condition no matter what the season. Easier said than done!
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Not everyone wants to color their hair with chemicals or even sit through a session at the salon. Some of us would rather have a routine at home to get the most out of our hair color, without resorting to the bottle. Blonde hair can be lightened the easiest, but even darker hair can get lighter naturally.

Here are a few tips:

Lemon juice is a great and cost-effective way of lightening naturally blonde hair. Just mix lemon juice, about half a cup, and a quarter-cup of leave-on conditioner in a spray bottle. Spritz on dry hair and sit out in the sun for awhile. Don’t overdo it—a half an hour is plenty, and of course don’t sit out in extreme heat. You aren’t out there to bake your hair and skin! The idea is to sit out on a sunny day (don’t forget your sunscreen) and let your hair catch some rays. (more...)

With their new-fangled “anti-aging” hair care products, marketers are aiming to meet the needs of an increasingly older population. But can we really believe brands’ promises that their products will make our hair “younger”, or at least look younger? Well there’s certainly no denying that our hair changes as we age (see our post on hair and aging), and giving its more loving care can only be a good thing, right?
So-called anti-aging hair care products boast higher doses of vitamins, silicone and most importantly, protein. As hair ages the strands becomes weaker, and therefore more lacking in protein. The addition of protein to the hair shaft, either through styling aids or shampoos and conditioners, means it is being strengthened. (more...)