If you don’t have the Volluma guide, you can get it now from the sidebar, or on Dale’s blog http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/

In the Good Housekeeping article titled “Take 10 Years Off Your Hair” it suggests a couple of shampoos and conditioners that will work to help “pump up the volume” of your hair as much as 9%.

As well as these temporary products work at the molecular level in your hair, many women with more than 50% hair loss get additional help with Volluma.

While we recommend the application of just enough Volluma to make your hair look full and natural, that small amount will more than double the effective diameter of your hair shafts.

“Take 10 Years Off Your Hair” is great article you must read – get it here http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/younger-looking-hair

Educate yourself – make the best choice for you!

Christopher Denison

www.vollumaforwomen.com

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6366/is_3_18/ai_n29271264/?tag=content;col1

Many of the causes of women’s hair loss can be complex and indicative of deeper and more serious medical issues unlike men, for whom 95%, the cause is genetic alopecia.
Commit to living free from fear in every aspect of your life – strive to conquer the unknown.
Remember, knowledge is power.
When it comes to hair loss, free yourself from dread and for goodness sake, see your doctor!

Look good. Feel great!
Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com

Not only do women have more risk factors and causes of hair loss than men but they suffer more acutely from it.

Find out more about women’s hair loss at the American Hair Loss Association.

Younger women should take special note of the section on “Oral Contraceptives” and their effect on hair loss due to the elevated androgen levels that those drugs create.

It makes recommendations about the types of contraceptives women should consider especially if they are genetically predisposed to hair loss.

Educate yourself – make the best choice for you!

Christopher Denison
www.vollumaforwomen.com

Hello friends:  I spend time researching interesting and relevant articles about hair loss and I came across this interesting one.  My sister, who has multiple chemical sensitivity has been using Emu Oil as her body lotion for several years.  She finds it soothes her skin and also helps with her fibromyalgia.  So, I thought it would be something that some of you would be interested in.

http://www.naturalnews.com/022910_hair_loss_emu_oil_health.html

Look Good, Feel Great!

Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com ]]> http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/emu-oil-a-natural-nutrient-can-stop-or-even-reverse-hair-loss/feed/ 0 http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/great-news-for-trichotillomania-sufferers/ http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/great-news-for-trichotillomania-sufferers/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:39:40 +0000 Dale http://volluma.com/blog/great-news-for-trichotillomania-sufferers/

Wow, what a breakthrough from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/GeneralPsychiatry/14966

This is great news for sufferers of Trichotillomania.

Even though there is no FDA approval at this point, a 56% improvement rate looks very promising!

Look Good, Feel Great!

Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com ]]> http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/great-news-for-trichotillomania-sufferers/feed/ 0 http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/professional-style-tips-for-thinning-hair-the-art-of-highlighting-and-lowlighting/ http://vollumaforwomen.com/blog/professional-style-tips-for-thinning-hair-the-art-of-highlighting-and-lowlighting/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:05:44 +0000 Dale http://volluma.com/blog/?p=147 We all have areas that require some extra TLC to look good. When our challenging area is thinning hair, there are many ways to instantly give a boost to our hair as well as our self confidence. An integral part of achieving thicker looking hair is using colour to create depth and dimension through highlights and lowlights. Multidimensional colour not only looks great, but it also brings the focus away from the crown of your head to your face, where the attention should be!

There are two options to get highlights- at home or at the salon. If you are on a budget or prefer the comforts of home, an easy to use kit such as L’Oreal Couleur Experte will give you a base colour and highlights in an hour. A personalized colour consultation is available online to help you choose the most flattering shade along with application tips for fabulous results.

If you opt for professional highlights, seek out a colourist that will do a consultation for you before your appointment. The more they know about the look you are trying to achieve, the better. Ask for foil highlights using 2-5 shades of a similar tone for a natural look that will add dimension to your hair.

Whichever method you use, here are some helpful hints that will give you gorgeous looking hair through the use of highlighting:

1. The Two Shade Rule- Never go two shades lighter or darker than your natural colour- the results will look more avant garde than natural and will only showcase thinning hair further. If you already have hair that breaks this rule, see a professional colorist to get it back within your natural range.

2. Thin is In- Thin highlights and lowlights give a natural sun kissed look that will add visual thickness to your hair.

3. Beauty is Skin Deep- The more you work with your skin tone, the better colour results you will have. If you have warm (yellow based) skin, stay away from golden tones and go for deeper red based tones. If you have cool (pink based) skin, highlight with ash and wheat based shades rather than warm tones.

Look Good, Feel Great!

Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com

I wondered to myself how she could justify trying to treat something she didn’t understand. Taking action is great but, consulting with experts, creating a plan and sticking with it is an even better solution. Ah, the impatience of youth!

I explained that the causes of hair loss for women are many and varied and that if her thinning hairline was simply the result of a regular, tightly pulled hairstyle (traction alopecia), then wearing her hair loose for a while could reverse the problem and allow a full, natural recovery.

I further explained that the abundance and quality of hair is an indicator of overall health and that only a doctor could truly determine the underlying reason for her specific situation, possible spotting something more serious. The cause could be relatively simple and resolvable over time, like diet, stress and medications but could also be more complex like heredity (androgenetic alopecia), hormonal fluctuation and disease or even some combination. Undiagnosed, her hair problem and potentially her health, could deteriorate further.

I asked her if she wouldn’t feel better knowing what the cause was and she agreed she couldn’t afford not to go.

Look Good, Feel Great!

Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com

“Wigs” went out of style in the 1960s. Now called “Hair Systems” they are still a popular method of covering severe hair loss. Hair systems today available through professionals are made of the highest quality of human hair or synthetic materials custom colored and styled for the wearer to look completely natural. They can be full or partial and woven in place, taped, glued or clipped. Prices vary widely but you get what you pay for with the more expensive pieces being less detectable and more durable. As with any apparel, maintenance in the form of cleaning and coloring is periodically required.

A class of hair cosmetics called “Enhancers” or “Concealers” manufactured under many brand names, work by varying mechanisms to improve the appearance of thinning hair. Essentially there are three basic types of Cosmetic Enhancers for the hair, powders, lotions and sprays.

Lotions available in a limited color range are applied with the fingers or by applicator directly onto the thinning areas of the scalp. They work by darkening the scalp to the color of the hair and reducing scalp contrast.

Loose powders, available in a limited color range, are made of colored organic keratin fibers are sprinkled onto thinning hair areas. The fibers work by adhering to the hair shafts with electrostatic force, temporarily thickening them while the excess powder falls to the scalp, darkening it and reducing scalp contrast.

Compressed powders, available in a limited color range, made of emollients, conditioners, texturizers and botanical ingredients are applied by applicator directly onto the thinning areas of the scalp. They work by darkening the scalp to the color of the hair and reducing the contrast by neutralizing the scalp’s shine.

Aerosol sprays are available in a wider color range than powders and lotions with a variety of formulations depending on the manufacturer and are sprayed into the hair. They work to thicken the hair shaft by bonding microfibers directly to them with excess spray falling to the scalp, darkening it to reduce scalp contrast.

Hair thickening cosmetics should be considered by any woman with thinning hair. The advantage of these cosmetics is that they work well with almost any kind of thin (sparse) hair regardless of where in the process of losing or re-growing your hair you are. They are inexpensive, easy to apply and fit easily into an existing morning beauty regimen.

Look Good, Feel Great!

Dale
www.vollumaforwomen.com

But perhaps your situation is different. Maybe your doctor has eliminated all potential medical causes, you have tried medications that did produce results to your satisfaction and your condition is considered permanent. At any rate, you are at the end of the road trying to re-grow your hair, you long for the return of your lost confidence and you need your hair “fixed”. Could you be a candidate for a hair transplant? Possibly, and even though only 13% of transplants worldwide are performed on women, the results are excellent.

Women under certain circumstances can be helped by hair transplant surgery. The current technology for hair transplantation allows only for the redistribution of existing hair. The particular challenge for women, with the diffuse type of thinning they experience, is that they typically lack the type of dense donor area (monk’s fringe) found in many balding men. The best transplant applications for women with sufficient donor area are the re-creation or thickening of an existing hair line or to minimize a scar or area of trauma. Hair transplants are typically not performed on women suffering from Alopecia Areata as those areas are prone to spontaneous re-growth.

Once you have decided that a hair transplant may be for you, and you have rationalized that even a relatively simple surgery such as this is not completely without risk or complications, look for a surgeon certified by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) or the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS). Ask for, and check references, the results of surgery are permanent and you want to be happy with results the first time.

Ask your surgeon about their experience – how long have they been performing transplants and how many surgeries have they performed on women? What does he or she recommend for you? How many surgeries will be required? Where will the hair will be harvested from, where it will be transplanted to? How many and what type of grafts will are recommended? How long will the healing process take and what results are ultimately to be expected – can they show you what you will look like? What will they do if you are not completely happy with the results? What is the cost for surgery and any post operative care?

Remember, hair replacement surgery simply redistributes your existing hair from areas of higher density to areas of lower density and no new hair is created however, combined with topical medications and cosmetic enhancers, hair replacement surgery could be just what the doctor ordered!

As our hair loss condition progresses, we often go into denial or feel like hiding. Maybe our hair will just grow back on its own if we ignore it but unfortunately that is not the reality. Admitting to ourselves that we have a problem is the first step towards getting help leading us to the next challenge. Who treats hair loss conditions? How do you find a doctor qualified to diagnose the cause of your thinning hair and prescribe the right treatment? As women have many more potential triggers for hair loss as compared to men, first see your family physician to make the initial assessment. After the elimination of basic hormonal and medical causes, you will likely be referred to a dermatologist who specializes in treating conditions associated with the skin and scalp.

Ask your doctor to refer you to a dermatologist who is board certified with the American Society of Dermatologists. Your dermatologist will perform a battery of tests including a scalp exam, a hair pull test and possible a scalp biopsy to determine the root cause of your condition.

Quite likely, you will be prescribed Minoxidil, the same treatment that has made headlines in treating men’s hair loss but this medication is equally effective for women. The level of re-growth experienced depends largely on how advanced the hair loss is with best results typically seen after early treatment.

Work with your doctor(s) making every effort to provide all details needed by them to make a quick and proper diagnosis. Ask family members about family medical issues and be sure to disclose to your doctor any and all drugs you are taking and personal habits or lifestyles you are engaged in, no matter how embarrassing. After all, doctors are not magicians and the more quality information you can provide, the more accurate your diagnosis can be and the quicker treatment can begin.

With good communication between you and your physician and a willingness on your part to spend the necessary time and energy to work through the potential solutions to your hair loss, you will in time, find one that works. Modern medicine has come along the way in the fight against hair loss and, when combined with the right hair thickening cosmetic, your hair can look good from the beginning of your treatments all the way through to the end with no-one being the wiser to your condition.