hair i am...

so we started the content posts of the week with hair removal and i will wrap up the week with the topic of hair. instead of hair removal, it's to help us understand the various hair treatments and the side effects. this is a topic applicable to not just the women but the men as well though most of the procedures are usually done by the ladies.

image from ehow

hair colouring is the practice of changing the colour of hair. the main reason for this practice are cosmetic, e.g. to cover gray hair, to change to a colour regarded as more fashionable or desirable, and to restore the original hair colour after it has been discoloured by hairdressing processes or sun bleaching. today, hair colouring is immensely popular, with over seventy-five percent of american women dyeing their hair. hair colouring involves the use of chemicals capable of removing, replacing and/or covering up pigments naturally found inside the hair shaft. use of these chemicals can result in a range of adverse effects, including temporary skin irritation and allergy, hair breakage, skin discolouration and unexpected hair colour results.

Avril Lavigne

side effects of various products result in loss of hair and in extreme cases balding. if consumed by the body by means of inhalation or digestion certain hair dye brands have shown evidence of causing constipation and other dangerous disruptions within human organs. additionally, there is ongoing discussion regarding more serious health consequences of hair colour usage, including lead poisoning. 

Hair Relaxing: before and after

next, hair relaxing, or lanthionization, is when the relaxer is applied to the roots of the hair and remains in place for a 'cooking' interval, during which it alters the hair's texture by a process of controlled damage to the protein structure. the hair can be significantly weakened by the physical overlap of excessive applications or by a single excessive one, leading to brittleness, breakage, or even widespread alopecia. when the chemicals in hair relaxers comes in contact with the scalp skin, it may cause burns and irritation on the scalp surface. if there is severe chemical burns, then red, itchy skin rash may appear on the scalp. 

Relaxers link to fibroids

in hair relaxing treatment, the chemical solution is allowed to sit on the hair for about half an hour. during this time, the chemicals strip off the natural oils and moisture from the hair. they also destroy the natural proteins of the hair. at the end, you find that your hair have become extremely dry. such harmful effects can be avoided if the treatment is followed by deep conditioning of the hair. hot oil treatments and application of hair masks are also proved to be highly beneficial for hydrating the hair.

hair weaves

finally, hair weave is a very general term used to describe human or artificial hair typically utilized for the integration with one’s natural hair. weaves can alter one's appearance for long or short periods of time by adding further hair to one's natural hair or by covering the natural hair all together with human or synthetic hairpieces. however, hair extensions and weavings can also lead to further hair loss or thinning. when the weave is done too tightly it can pull on existing hair and lead to premature shedding. weaving can also damage hair follicles causing breakage at the point of attachment.

Naomi Campbell: too much weaving?

fash'on... BAM!

azzedine alaïa

azzedine alaïa is a tunisian-born couturier and shoe designer, particularly successful since the 1980s. his parents were wheat farmers but his glamorous twin sister inspired his love for couture. a french friend of his mother fed alaïa's instinctive creativity with copies of vogue. he lied about his age to get himself into the local ecole des beaux-arts in tunis and began studying sculpture where he gained valuable insights into the human form.

Azzedine Alaia

after his graduation, alaïa began working as a dressmaker's assistant. he soon began dressing private clients and in 1957, he moved to paris to work in fashion design. in paris, he started to work at christian dior as a tailleur but soon moved to work for guy laroche for two seasons, then for thierry mugler until he opened his first atelier in his little rue de bellechasse apartment the late 1970s. it is in this tiny atelier that for almost 20 years he dressed privately the world's jet set, from marie-hélène de rothschild to louise de vilmorin (who would become a close friend) to greta garbo, who used to come incognito for her fittings.

Grace Jones

Naomi Campbell

his seductive, clinging clothes were a massive success and he was named by the media 'the king of cling'. in 1996, he participated at the biennale della moda in florence, where along with paintings by longtime friend julian schnabel, he exhibited an outstanding dress created for the event. schnabel-designed furniture, as well as his large scale canvases, are decorating alaia's boutique in paris. 

Michelle Obama

Lady Gaga

alaia refuses the marketing-driven logic of luxury conglomerates, continuing to focus on clothes rather than 'it-bags'. alaia is revered for his independence and passion for discreet luxury. catherine lardeur, the former editor and chief of french marie claire in the 1980s stated in an interview to crowd magazine that 

'fashion is dead. designers nowadays do not create anything, they only make clothes so people and the press would talk about them. the real money for designers lie within perfumes and handbags. it is all about image. alaia remains the king. he is smart enough to not only care about having people talk about him. he only holds fashion shows when he has something to show, on his own time frame.' 

alaïa was honored with a solo exhibition at the groninger museum in the netherlands in 1998, which debuted at the guggenheim museum in new york in 2000.

fash'on... BAM!