Nails and Skin (And Hair)

Last week, we talked about how to take care of our hair. Since skin, and nails have similar properties to skin, we might as well go on and explore tips for taking care of them, as well.

Remember, skin and nails, like hair, are a reflection of what is going on in your body. Doctors can diagnose many conditions simply by examining the nails and skin, as well as the hair (and by looking at the eyes, teeth, and gums, as well!) So, if you would like to improve the external beauty of your skin and nails, you need to start with the essentials for overall good health: nutrition, hygiene, adequate circulation, rest, fresh hair, pure water, and exercise. If you attend to these, you get a double benefit: you will not only increase your loveliness quotient, you will feel better and have more energy to give to others, as well.

If your hair, skin, and nails are not all that you'd like them to be, start by examinging your diet. If all three are dull and weak, then consider the following: Am I getting enough protein in my diet? (Remember, your body needs protein to produce hair, nails, and skin cells. Thus, people on low-protein diets often have problems with their hair, skin, and nails. If you do not eat any animal-based protein of any kind, you will need to be extra-careful to make sure that you get what you need through sources such as nuts, beans and a grain combination, etc.)
Am I anemic? (Do not diagnose this yourself. You will need to take a simple blood test to be sure, as taking iron when you are not truly anemic can be harmful to your health. As with everything, don't go to excess. But, if you find your external apperance lacks luster, try to add a reasonable amount of healthy protein to your diet).

Do I have a thyroid problem? (Again, do not diagnose this yourself.)

Am I eating a diet that provides me with the range of vitamins and minerals that I need, particularly the B-vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and calcium? (Try to get your vitamins and minerals from food. If you want to back up your diet with a supplement, make sure the supplement is balanced. Taking high doses of one vitamin or mineral can make the rest of your body's chemistry get out of whack. And, some vitamins and minerals are toxic in high doses.)

Am I getting enough essential fatty acids through my diet? Flax oil, evening primrose oil, olive oil, and walnut oil are good sources of healthy fatty acids, as is eating fatty fishes, such as salmon. Note that evening primrose oil is beneficial for female hormone levels, but probably isn't the best thing to give to the men in your family. Also, some peope are allergic to primrose oil or to walnut oil. Also note that eating fish from polluted waters can give you a problem with too much mercury in your system, something that will surely damage your skin, hair, and nails. So, do your research and follow nutritional guidelines for eating fish or for buying pure fish oil supplements. This goes doubly if you are pregnant.

Am I getting enough vitamin C? This affects the health of your skin. Vitamin C is an essentail ingredient that the body uses in producing collagen, the protein that protects the outer layers of the skin. Frequent bruising can indicate a Vitamin C definiciency. Frequent bruising can result from other conditions as well, or may simpy be how your particular body normally responds to the little bumps of life. So, if you or a member of your family bruises frequently, seek medical attention to be sure what the root cause is.

If you have acne, you may have been told that it comes from eating chocolate, fatty foods, or refined starches or some other food. In truth, acne is one skin condition that really isn't affected all that much by our diet -- at least not in the way a lot of common myths claim. Acne results from hormonal influences that cause an overproduction of oil glands. This overproduction of the oil glands interacts with bacteria on the skin to produce the breakouts we associate with acne. Your genes, your stress levels, the type of skin tissue you have, your insulin levels, and where you are in your menstral cycle are greater factors in acne than what you eat at a particular meal. If you do have acne, it's good to eat a generally healthy diet. You do want to increase fresh goods and cut down on processed foods, as there is a possible connection between eating too many processed foods and the hormone/insulin imbalances associated with acne. But, a little chocolate now and again or a reasonable amount of healthy fatty oils or even the occasional french fry probably won't hurt you.

Many skin creams, nail products, and hair products have vitamins. minerals, or anti-oxidants in them. Do these work? Well, some of these agents do act as exfolients, which cause your skin to slough off dead cells more quickly, revealing the younger skin underneath. And, some may provide sunscreen protection. However, overall, I'd have to say the answer to the question is...maybe. Remember that externally applied cosmetic products do not have to meet FDA regulations. That means they do not have to prove claims they make about a nutrient. For example, a company may claim that the Vitamin C in their moisturizer builds healthy collagen without having to pass rigorous governmental standards of proof. So, be wary of paying big bucks for a product simply because it lists a certain vitamin or mineral in its ingredient list. It's doubtful that the vitamin or mineral would hurt your body, but it might hurt your pocketbook!

Enjoy!
elizabeth

How to Tell if You Are Making Progress in Growing Thicker Hair
Also, hair terms to help you develop your own personal hair routine

Did you know that there is a way to measure how thick your hair is? If your hair is temporarily thin due to hair damage or a problem with your health, you can measure it as it is now. Then, after you have worked on your overall health and the health of your hair, you can measure it again. If your hair measures thicker, you will know you are making progress.

If your hair is in peak condition now, you may not be able to increase the volume. But, even so, measuring the volume will give you an idea of your hair's natural type. If you work with your type, you will be able to bring out your hair's individual beauty.

So, here's how to measure your hair's volume: If your hair is long enough, put your hair into a ponytail. It doesn't matter how long the ponytail is. Perhaps, your hair is sort, and you will only half a half-inch or so of hair sticking below the ponytail band. That's ok. Also, if you have short layers you may need to make the ponytail on top of your head in order to gather as much of the layers as possible into your ponytail. Don't worry if this ponytail looks funny. You're only wearing it for a minute in order to take a measurement. If your hair is long, make a regular ponytail at the back of your head.

After you have your hair in a ponytail, get out your tape measure. Measure around the circumfrance of your ponytail.

If the measurement you get is less than two inches (5 centimeters), your hair is thin.
If the measurement you get is between two to four inches or 5 to 10 centimeters, your hair is average.
If the measurement is greater than 4 inches or 10 centimeters, your hair is above average in volume.

Do not worry if your hair measures "thin". Thin hair can be lovely when styled correctly. However, do try to improve the health of your hair. Many a woman whose hair was thin or even normal has increased the volume of her hair by taking better care of it.

If you are trying to increase your hair volume, repeat the measurement every six months or so to see if you are making improvement. Remember, it will take some time for healthy new hairs to grow long enough to be included in your ponytail. So, growing volume is a long-term project. It may take you a year or two to see improvement.

Many people mistakenly call fine hair "thin". Fine and thin are not the same thing. In fact, some women with fine hair actually measure as above average in volume when they take the ponytail test.

Here's an explanation of what it means to have fine, normal, or coarse hair: These have to do with the texture, rather than the volume of hair.

Fine means that the individual strands are narrower. If you hold up a few individual strands to the light, they may appear almost translucent. Children often have fine hair. Also, many people of Scandanavian descent have fine hair. Fine hair can be some of the most beautiful hair in the world. If it is healthy, it will have a lovely sheen and a lovely color (frequently blondish). It will be soft and pleasing to the touch. However, if it is not cared for, fine hair is easily damaged. If it is damaged, it will look scraggly and brittle. Fine hair has its own special set of hair care rules. If you have fine hair, do some research to find out how to bring out your hair's distinctive beauty.

Medium hair means that the strands are neither fine nor coarse. It probably won't be as soft to the touch as fine hair, but it will be softer than coarse hair. If you have medium hair, you probably find that your hair is easy to manage. Don't take this ease of care for granted, however. Any type of hair needs a little TLC to maintain its health. Medium hair can be any color, but will likely be anywhere from dark blonde to dark brown.

Coarse hair means that the strands are larger in diameter. Though coarse doesn't sound like a pretty word, coarse hair is usually luxious and gorgeous. Like fine hair, coarse hair has its own special set of hair care rules. Also, like fine hair, it must be well-cared for in order to reach and maintain its full beauty. While coarse hair is not limited to any one ethnic group, it is often found in people of Mediterranean, African, Native American, and South American descent. Coarse hair can be found in many colors, but it is often a beautiful jet-black.

When I say that fine and coarse hair have their own sets of hair care rules, I mean that you should learn how to work with its particular properties. I don't mean that you need to spend a lot of time on your hair. In fact, if you know what works for your hair's particular type, you should be able to care for it with a minimum of fuss.

The next thing to know about your hair is whether it is straight or wavy or curly. That would seem to be an obvious distinction. But, people often fall somewhere in between one of two categories, and they may be confused about how to best care for it. For example, my hair is somewhere between straight and wavy.

A man named Andre Walker came up with the following classification to help you tell where you are on the straight to curly scale:

Straight Hair
1a - Absolutely stick straight
1b - Straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume. Hair in general does not look wavy
1c - Straight with body wave and one or two visible S-waves (e.g. nape of neck or temples)

Wavy Hair
2a - Loose, stretched out S-waves throughout the hair
2b - Shorter, more distinct S-waves (similar to waves from braiding damp hair)
2c - Distinct S-waves and the odd spiral curl forming here and there

Curly Hair
3a - Big, loose spiral curls
3b - Bouncy ringlets
3c - Tight corkscrews

Super Curly Hair
4a - Tightly coiled S-curls
4b - Tightly coiled hair bending in sharp angles (Z-pattern)

Another factor to consider is if your hair is oily, normal, or dry. Remember, the strands of hair are not living cells, and they don't produce oilness or dryness on their own. The scalp and hair follicles are what produces the natural oils that protect our hair. Sometimes, this gets out of balance. Also, wind and sun can dry hair strands, while humidity can make hair damp.

Why is it important to understand the texture, the volume, and the amount of curl in your hair? Most hair products are geared to a particular type of hair. Also, many hair techniques work better for one type of hair than another. If you understand your own hair's qualities, you can develop a simple hair care routine that will bring out your hair's individual beauty.

Enjoy!
Elizabeth

Edwardian/Victorian Hair Care Tips from the Famous Aline Vallandri

Most of us have never heard of Aline Vallandri. But, in her day, Mademoiselle Vallandri was a famous singer who was also noted for her beautiful hair. It was described as forming "a veritable golden mantle about her and reaches to the very ground."

In 1912, she shared her hair care secrets with "Every Woman's Enclopaedia". Her insights are fun to read. It's especially interesting to compare her thinking about a woman's crowning glory with our thinking today. In the process of reading her musings, we might adopt a hint or two to help our own tresses gleam.

One thing that stands out is her day's norm for hair length compared to ours. She notes that as a child, she was not particularly noticed for having long hair. She said, "It was no longer than that of any of my companions. By the time I was thirteen or fourteen, it had reached my waist and many girls have hair as long as that."

Today, waist length hair is so rare in our culture that managing to grow thick, beautiful tresses beyond shoulder blade length attracts attention. To stand out in her day, Mlle. Vallandri had to grow her hair to the floor, a goal that most of us would not aspire to today. No matter what the length of our hairstyle is, though, we all want strong, shiny, healthy, and luxurious locks. I imagine every woman of every era has been interested in maintaining beautiful hair.

Mlle. Vallandri notes that her hair began to grow luxuriantly once she was sent to a convent to finish her education. One of the nuns there had a special lotion which she used for the hair. The nun gave Mlle. Vallandri the recipe for the potion, and she continued to use it throughout her life. Alas, Mlle. Vallandri declined to share the recipe with the readers of Every Woman's Encyclopaedia, and, thus, I have no clue what the secret ingredients were.

Mlle. Vallandri didn't feel that she was cheating her readers by keeping her hair potion a secret. She believed that every women could get a prescription from her own doctor, which if she persevered in using it, would make her hair grow thick and strong.

Hmm. If there was such a doctor around today, he'd be making lots of money!

So, we'll have to do without Mlle. Vallandri's secret lotion and look to her other hair secrets:

She said, "Greatly as I prize and value my gift, I am no slave to it, for I devote only about three quarters of an hour every day to its care. If women generally did the same, I have no doubt that in a short time they would soon notice an improvement in the condition of their hair."

Mlle. Vallandri believed the great essential for growing luxurious hair was to keep the scalp and the hair perfectly clean. However, to Mlle. Vallandri, clean hair did not mean frequent shampoos. In fact, she tried to stretch out the time between washings as much as she could. She felt that in dark, foggy weather, there was a lot of soot in the air which settled on the hair. So, she washed her hair a little more frequently in winter. However, in summer's lighter, fresher air, she was able to stretch the time between washings even longer.

Some people today are going back to Mlle. Vallandri's way of thinking. They are not so extreme as she was, but many women are trying to go a week or at least a few days between washings. I grew up during the days when we all washed and blew our hair dry every day. This may have been ok for adolescent hair, which is oilier than more mature hair and has stronger follicles. But, daily blow drying isn't the best idea for of women of adult age.

When Mlle. Vallandri did wash her hair, she let it air dry. She did not rub it with a towel, nor did she use the special hot irons that served as the hair dryers of her day. Nor did she use curling irons, which she believed overly dried out the natural moisture that is produced at the roots of a woman's hair. Her opinion was even stronger for having had a bad experience at the hands of a hair-dresser, who applied curling irons that were too hot. The irons burned a lot of the hair on the middle of her head, and she never allowed anyone to attempt using a curling iron on her hair again. I imagine that it took quite some time to air dry floor length hair. I wonder if that wasn't a reason -- in addition to her hair philosophy -- for her trying to stretch the time between washings.

I had a friend in college who would have been in sympathy with Mlle. Vallandri's attitude toward hair appliances. She had lovely, waist length tresses. She claimed that the secret of her beautiful locks was that she never, never blew her hair dry. She always let her hair dry naturally.

Rather than washing her hair frequently with water, Mlle. Vallandri sought to keep her hair clean through brushing. She owned more than brush. Once a brush had touched her hair, she did not use it again until it was thoroughly cleaned and dried. She may not have washed her hair every day, but she did wash brushes every day. She equated brushing your hair with a dirty brush to drying your face with a dirty towel. (Note to self: Clean brushes today!)

Every morning when she got up, Mlle. Vallandri's maid brushed her hair for half an hour. (Ok, the personal lady's maid is another of Mlle. Vallandri's tips that most of us will have to skip). Mlle. Vallandri's hair was so long that she had a stool made especially high just for sitting on while her maid ran the brush through her locks.

As we said earlier, in Mlle. Vallandri's day, the average woman had longer hair than the average woman does now. Hair that is labeled "long" today wouldn't have seemed so long to Mlle. Vallandri's peers. In order to keep such long hair naturally shiny and conditioned, it was necessary to brush natural oil at the scalp down the length of the hair to the ends.

Many people believe that today's shorter hairstyles have eliminated the need for long brushings. After all, even if your hair tips reaches shoulder length, that's not so far for the oil to travel from root to end. In addition, we apply conditioners and other products that substitute for our hair's natural oils. Thus, many hairdressers suggest that we should all forget the addage, "Brush your hair one hundred strokes a day". They believe that in today's world, brushing hair more than is needed to style it harms the hair.

However, other hair experts are still in favor of a good brushing to keep the scalp free of any flakiness and to stimulate the scalp. And, is there anything more relaxing than brushing your hair until it shines, either by your own hand or if you can talk dear hubby into doing it once in a while? Mlle. Vallandri notes that headaches can often be soothed by massaging the aching part and then brushing the hair.

I'm of the belief that if your hair is shoulder length or longer, daily brushings with natural hair britstle brushes can be helpful. However, as one who has baby fine hair, I believe it's important to brush hair every so gently. You don't want to break strands when you brush. A tale-tell sign that you are brushing too hard is if you hear strands "snap" as you bring the brush down the length. I've heard it said that you must treat shoulder length and longer hair as if it were fine, antique lace.

As Ms. Vallandri pointed out, dry hair is dull hair. Hair that is coated with the natural sheen that our body produces reflects the light. Thus, it appears shiny, glossy, and healthy. Greasy hair is also dull looking. So, hair that is neither too dry nor too oily is our goal.

Mrs. Vallandri said that "dressing" her hair or styling it only took fifteen minutes. That must have been quite a feat for putting up so much hair into a do.

Ms. Vallandri was a huge believer in having the ends of her hair trimmed regularly. She believed that split ends weakened the hair and that trimming them off allowed the hair to stay strong. In following the custom of her day, she had the ends singed with a lighted taper to further prevent split ends. Today, hair experts still believe in the regular trimmings, but singeing the ends is not as popular.

Mlle. Vallandri believed that if your hair is consistently too dry, it means that the little oil glands at the roots are not supplying enough nourishment. In such cases, she believed in supplementing by massaging a little brillantine into the scalp (not all over the hair). She believed that if you attend to your hair care routine, in time, your dry hair will correct itself and you can leave off the oil treatment.

Mlle. Vallandri refers to one of the Queens of France who was reputed to have kept luxiriant and youthful looking hair all of her life. Again, her secret was good brushings.

Mlle. Vallandri believed in consulting a doctor immediately when a problem with the scalp seemed worrisome. However, she did not fret over times when her hair seemed to fall out with greater frequency. She saw this as part of the normal life cycle of the hair.

Indeed, whenever we brush our hair, we loosen strands that were about to fall out anyway, and this can upset us if we don't understand that our hair is constantly falling out and renewing itself. Often, women will find that their hair is thicker during pregnancy, because pregnancy hormones affect this cycle. Three months or so after baby is born, however, they will see an increase in fall out and fear they are losing their hair.

Most likely, finding hair on your brush or comb is perfectly normal. However, if this suddenly increases or your hair is visibly thinning, you should consult your doctor. Also be aware that some medicatons, such as thyroid medicines, can interfere with hair growth.

Enjoy!
Elizabeth