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Category Archives: Beauty Change
The Hair Loss Conversation
I am struck so much by the unfortunate display of sadness about the alopecia conversation. I started the HairBlues.me blog 10 years ago, and still, after all this time, women, and I might add, men, and children continue to be troubled by this condition. That’s why the Alopecia industry is such a big industry: wigs, solutions, and potions that promise delivery of new locks.
When you find a moment, listen to my brief podcast about this challenge.
Just click this link to select:
https://anchor.fm/judith-guerra7.
We can get to the moon, but we have not solved this problem yet – unless we accept that “beauty” comes in all forms. The sooner we get in touch with that the sooner we will not find ourselves witnessing painful incidents of what is pre-determined as “beauty” by how one’s hair grows and looks.
Womens Hair Loss Project:
https://www.womenshairlossproject.com/acceptance/living-free-with-hair-loss/
By the way, does anyone remember the beautiful Black women in the Black Panther film who are bald?
Following is a post that I wrote on this blog March 2013 about hair loss.
Breast Cancer Beauty
Oftentimes Cancer patients face challenge with their skin and beauty care caused by the chemo, radiation, and scarring, among other things. The treatments can cause issues women may not be familiar with, nor, how to manage them. I searched the www for some support on how to manage some of the difficulties women face for which there is support.
* The Cancer Horizons website provides support with information, free products and services. These are links to websites and services, which provide free makeup sessions, wigs, and even free makeup samples. It’s all designed to support the cancer patient through the cycles of getting well. Try exploring the website yourself by clicking this link. https://www.cancerhorizons.com/cancer-products/skin-care/
You may also want to explore the
* Look Good Feel Better website which supports women navigating cancer treatment by learning how to enhance their beauty routines . The website is supported by certified professionals who volunteer their services to support cancer patients with guided lessons. Due to Covid19 – currently sessions are provided virtually. Click this link to learn more – https://lookgoodfeelbetter.org/virtual-workshops/
If you want to participate in supporting these organizations use the links below.
https://www.cancerhorizons.com/become-a-sponsor/
https://lookgoodfeelbetter.org/donors/donate/
HairBlues: To our Professionals with Gratitude
Those who rely on hair salon specialists, flexible schedulers, and beauty professionals are facing major adjustments in managing their own hair and other things at this time. We are learning all over again what brought us to the salons in the first place:Â we are not nearly as proficient at performing those beauty tasks as the professionals whom we rely on. However, rather than feeling sorry for this “beauty reality check”, it occurred to me that this might be a good time to offer sincere thanks to those specialists who take such good care of us. Have you tried lately to do your nails, hand or feet, or tried waxing your own face, or managing your hair so that it looks more than just presentable? These are not welcome challenges.
 In recent days, the people who have jobs in hair/beauty salons have not only “NOT” been able to give us luxury treatments, to which we have become accustomed, some of them may even have been stripped of their livelihoods by way of collateral damage.
After all, this is exactly the kind of work where the professional performs in close proximity with the client. With little to no “prior notice”, COVID19, has intruded itself into that very private space. Until the last possible appointments, these reliable professionals continued to entertain our shared stories, our “prepared reality”, by applying their creative talents to our faces, hair, nails, and above all to our egos. Now, many of them find themselves in the position of having to apply for unemployment benefits. Some are wondering, no doubt, how they will manage the near and distant futures of their bill payments, childcare, etc. For some it is the challenge of a lifetime.
I searched the www for some ideas on what these beauty professionals suggest that their customers do during this crisis. I am impressed with their care and attention to our needs even during this period.
Suggestions:
♦ you can manage your hair until the salons are open again.
♦ there are ways for you to maintain your hair color.
Continue reading HairBlues: To our Professionals with Gratitude
Face Rules & Beauty Secrets FYI
 As a BabyBoomer, (BB) I am often in conversation with other BB’s who are looking for ‘aging remedies’ LOL. But seriously, what are we to do? Just give in? Buy the latest and greatest product and expect a miracle to happen? Well, it turns out that there are some suggestions, which do not cost a great deal of money, and are definitely worth trying. Following are some ideas that I learned from a book a BB friend sent to me, which relate to face care.
Habits that will save your skin, which are fairly simple:
- Making sure your hands are clean before you wash your face so you don’t transfer bacteria.
- When you put cleanser on, massage it into your face and let it dissolve the impurities.
- Use cotton to wipe away your cleanser  (instead of a cloth). Someone once told me that it’s best to do this because face cloths and tissues are more rough to the skin. Especially the eye area.
- Mineral water will plump up your skin if you spritz your face after cleansing it,  and before you moisturize it. For up to 12 hours!
- Toner does refresh your skin. However, you should avoid alcohol-based toners. Choose witch hazel for oily and problem-prone skin, rose-water for dry skin, and chamomile water for normal and sensitive skin.
- Facial scrubs do help to remove dead skin cells, they also leave skin firm and smooth.
- Instead of using pads, create your own scrub: Add sugar to your cleanser and massage it on your damp skin ! Try it once a week.
In future posts, I will be covering some of the wonderful suggestions I found in this book, but if you’re eager to learn earlier, check out the book: Face 100 makeup moves, by Carol Morley and Liz Wilde.
I hope this is helpful! 🙂
A Beauty Discussion
In the past HairBlues has focused mainly on hair loss and hair care suggestions. However, in the future this blog will focus on various types of beauty issues; nails, hair color processes that promote articles about beauty, and what others define as beauty.
♦ Are tattoos taboo, or beautiful? To whom? What is “body art”?
♦ What is the false hair and human hair industry doing for and to women? Which women primarily? What is ethical human hair?
♦ Is it important that you have a particular hair salon and hair beauty specialist attend to your hair?
♦ Does it make a difference if you pay $100 or $50 to have your hair done? What do hair specialist do, that you can not get done by doing it yourself?
♦ Can women get a good haircut at a barbershop?
♦ Are some beauty salons community hotspots where discussions of various topics, and seeing friends take place?
♦ Do nail gels ruin your nails? What do some people say about ultra violet nail drying machines?
HairBlues looks forward to the coming conversations, and exchanges. We hope that you will join in. The calendar format will change to a monthly update rather, than a post every other week. We welcome your continued interest and ask that you make sure to continue to follow us, as well as hearing your ideas of topics you would like to view and learn about.
Stay beautiful !
Can Black (Kinky) Hair Be Beautiful?
Sometimes at HairBlues I like to take a “time-out” to focus on a particular topic: today’s pause is to consider (again) “what is considered Beauty”? In other posts I have discussed “Bald” as a beauty statement, and “how to deal with making your hair loss beautiful”. We’ve focused on weaves and wigs as beauty statements. In this post the focus is  on African-American (Kinky Hair), and where we are as women who wear this hairstyle as a fashion and beauty statement.
Everywhere I go these days I see beautiful  natural (kinky) hairstyles worn by both  young and mature black women. As a baby boomer, I am only a little jealous that many of those styles had not been thought of when I first strutted my Afro hairstyle :). But, after more than 40 years since black women freed themselves from the stigma of having “bad” hair, and James Brown (the Godfather of soul) made it clear that being Black was something to be proud of (which included natural, unprocessed or straightened hair worn by black women) this discussion is still going on – that is to say – black hair not traditionally combed is not necessarily considered a thing of beauty on black women.
What a wonderful thing that black women have progressed even further to feeling comfortable with “wash & wearing” their hair without combing it out. I remember when I first did that over 30 years ago how mortified my Mom (rest her soul) was that I was going outside without “picking” my hair out.
Nowadays it warms my heart every time I see a young woman who has the freedom and courage to wear her “natural” hair. But, is there a price she is going to pay for doing that? Apparently, the answer is YES – for some black women. However, an article by Demetria L. Lucas, “Why Does My Natural Hair Get No Love”, published on The Root (http://www.theroot.com), suggests that oftentimes our conclusions about “not getting any love for natural hair” may need self-reflection, as well as self-reliance.
At Hairblues we agree: Beauty after all is not only in the eye of the beholder, but in the heart and mind of the “Beheld”.
See you at the next post!
Chemotherapy Hair: Caring for & Repairing
This post is in response to an inquiry about how to care for “natural (kinky)  hair” after chemotherapy treatment… After searching for “chemo hair remedies’ on the Internet, there did not seem to be a website, which had ‘distinguished‘ natural (kinky) hair from any other types of hair after chemotherapy. As I thought about Chemotherapy, and why people must go through this formidable health challenge, I concluded that Cancer does not  ‘distinguish‘ whose body it chooses to visit. It is an unexpected, intense, and distressing experience that has a sudden and powerful effect on somebody’s emotions and physical well-being. Having said that,  I want to share with you “natural” remedies for your new growth.  I urge those of you out there who have had chemotherapy to share your ideas by making comments at the end of this post.
Getting your hair ready for Chemotherapy is probably one of the most difficult challenges a person can be confronted with.  I have heard that spiritual guidance and sheer will are some of the options those who have to deal with this test choose to help them. Of course,  family and friends are some of the other support systems one relies on. But how do you get your hair ready for this ordeal?  The Mayo Clinic website had suggestings for pre/after-treatments, which are listed below. Don’t forget to click the link provided at the end for more details.
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group based in Rochester, Minnesota, specializing in treating difficult cases (tertiary care). Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments.via Mayo Clinic – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Before (Chemotherapy) treatment
Be gentle to your hair. Get in the habit of being kind to your hair. Don’t bleach, color or perm your hair — this can weaken it. Air-dry your hair as much as possible and avoid heating devices such as curling irons and hot rollers. Strengthening your hair now might make it more likely to stay in your head a little longer during treatment.
During treatment
Baby your remaining hair. Continue your gentle hair strategies throughout your chemotherapy treatment. Use a soft brush. Wash your hair only as often as necessary. Consider using a gentle shampoo.
After treatment
Continue gentle hair care. Your new hair growth will be especially fragile and vulnerable to the damage caused by styling products and heating devices. Hold off on coloring or bleaching your new hair until it grows stronger. Processing could damage your new hair and irritate your sensitive scalp.
Be patient. It’s likely that your hair will come back slowly and that it might not look normal right away. But growth takes time, and it also takes time to repair the damage caused by your cancer treatment. Â via Chemotherapy and hair loss: What to expect during treatment
Maintaining a routine for your hair after chemotherapy:
Step 1 –Wash hair gently. The AHLC advises restricting shampooing to twice a week. Use a shampoo formulated for damaged or dry hair, followed up with a conditioner formulated for thin or fine hair. Massage your scalp gently while you’re in the shower to loosen up dead skin cells.
Step 2 – Avoid towel drying your hair. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, vigorous rubbing can damage healthy hair, as the hair is more vulnerable when it’s wet. Simply wrap a towel around your hair and let it absorb the water.
Step 3Â – Let your hair air dry. The heat from a blow dryer can damage new hair growth, says the AHLC–and it can damage healthy hair as well. The AAD advises limiting use of blow dyers and other heated styling tools in general. If you eventually start to use a blow dryer again, wait until your hair is barely damp to use it. via How To Grow Hair Back After Chemotherapy | LIVESTRONG.COM.
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Gentle Products – The two websites listed below have natural products that might be gentle for your scalp and hair type after chemotherapy. Just click the link provided.
http://www.justnaturalskincare.com/hair-black/-ALL-black-hair.html
http://www.wenhaircare.com/whyitsunique.php
Glossary:
AHLC – American Hair Loss Council
AAD – American Academy of Dermatology
I hope this is helpful 🙂
Disguising Your True Beauty
How many disguises have you created since you learned that you would be counted among the innumerable women undergoing hair loss? HairBlues has written about it before, and although hair loss by itself is not a life threatening process, it does indeed bring high concern, and anxiety to many.  The stories at the Women’s Hair Loss Project blog brings us further understanding of what it can be like to find yourself in this predicament. At the same time, there are also uplifting stories from women who have managed to get married, have productive lives, and moved on with this challenge in hand.  We hope you will too.
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At HairBlues we feel compassion for those many women who have not found their comfort level yet.  We can only hope they discover that with, or without, their disguises in reality their true beauty is within them. Surely, others really looking for true beauty will find it in them too.
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The American Hair Loss Association has given some guidelines for attacking hair loss proactively. Make sure to visit the blog when the opportunity is right for you.
♦ Oral Contraceptives are a common cause of hair loss for many women today. Women who use oral contraceptives need to be sure they are taking a low androgen index pill. Read More…via American Hair Loss Association – Womens Hair Loss.
♦ Women are in a “Catch-22” position when it comes to drug treatments for androgenetic alopecia. While many drugs may work to some degree for some women, doctors are reluctant to prescribe them, and drug companies aren’t exactly falling over themselves to test existing or new drugs specifically for their ability to prevent and treat female pattern baldness. via American Hair Loss Association – Women’s Hair Loss / Treatment.
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I hope this is helpful ! 
Working Your Look with Wigs!
Some women are so creative when it comes to re-inventing their look. It’s magical when they put on a wig and enter a room, exuding confidence. No fear of being different; no fear of being in the room. Rather they work the room! Poise! Beauty from within!  Be one of these women too with a lace type wig! Below are descriptions of the various kinds of lace wigs and what some people think about them.
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What Are Lace Wigs?
A Lace front wig is a wig that looks like the hair is growing out of your head.- Â A full lace wig is one that can be parted anywhere on the head and the hair looks like it’s growing out of your scalp.
- A lace wig is a mesh base cap wig , the mesh will have the same skin tone as your skin and when applied against your skin it will disappear. It is undetectable and the only true system where you can have an exposed hair line.
- Â A full lace wig cannot be parted anywhere unless (it) is freestyle. There is other materials such as mono o poly that also looks as if the hair is growing out of your head. via What is a lace front wig.
♣ For more information on why women like lace wigs and where to find them click the link: Nowadays, more and more women like to wear cheap lace front wigs to make them different. …Lace front wigs can help…. via The Reasons Why Women Like Lace Front Wigs? | Latest Lace Wigs Trends and News at Wighomes.com.
♣ And don’t forget to check out the Women’s Hair Loss Project to see what they have to say about wigs: I think what is pretty fantastic about Milano wigs is their partline, sharp and distinct, they look amazingly real.via Search: lace front wigs | Women’s Hair Loss Project.
I hope this is helpful ! 
HairBlues 