Category Archives: Hair Facts

Females Pattern Bladness

Female Pattern Baldness

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg North Beach Sorrento Karinyup Carine Duncraig Scarborough | Female Pattern Baldness

Fun Fact! 40% of women have female pattern baldness, (hair loss), by the time they go through menopause.

Here we were thinking it was just the blokes that had to endure this. In fact, most men who will go bald will notice it starting in their 20’s. At least us women can add a couple more decades on…

Some things that can affect hair loss are lack of required minerals in our bodies, stress or shock. In all honesty we can’t always stop this happening but we can slow it down and, in some cases, stop it completely.

First things first, lifestyle.

If you are not getting all the vitamins and minerals you need, your hair will suffer. Actually, your whole body will suffer but your hair will show it first.

Your body is super intelligent and it will use any minerals and vitamins for the essential parts of your body first. You guessed it; hair is last on that list.

Secondly become aware of stress in your body and try to deal with it in a way that’s suits your lifestyle. For most of exercise is a great way to release stress.

It’s not always easy to remove stress completely these days but being aware of it can really help. For example, notice when you’re tensing up and become more mindful of releasing it.

Shock is a hard one as its often unexpected. Sometimes we can know we’ll be having a shock, in the form of something coming up like an operation which is a shock on the body.

You can lose hair a couple of months after a shock so if you know this is coming you can take supplements to reduce its impact on the body.

Unfortunately sometimes it’s just part of your life cycle and its normal to experience some thinning.

You can change your part frequently to stop your part line scalp getting too much UV. Sunlight can speed up hair loss in the part area so this is an easy fix.

As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Zinc And Your Hair

Zinc And Your Hair

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg Scarborough Nrth Beach Carine Duncraig | Zinc and Your Hair

Did you know that zinc is super important for a good head of hair?

It’s not only required for our overall health, but it’s also very essential for the growth of healthy hair. When its levels get low, your hair will suffer first.

Zinc is an essential mineral and that means that our bodies don’t produce it ourselves so we have to eat foods rich in Zinc.

In Australia we have very low levels of Zinc and as a result many of us are not getting as much as we need.

Sadly these days it’s not always enough to have a well balanced unprocessed diet, sometimes we need a good supplement.

So what part does Zinc actually play in our bodies?

We need Zinc for division and growth of every cell in our body, including our hair. It also plays a big part in keeping our immune system strong therefore preventing catching colds for example.

It also helps us heals faster, has an impact with creating DNA and is required for good thyroid function.

As you can see it’s a super important mineral for your hair and all of you. If you’re not getting enough your body will take what it has to the more important parts of your body and your hair will suffer.

A good supplement will help and in salon I have a range of fabulous high quality supplements especially designed at a good head of hair. You guessed it, it’s got Zinc in it, among other fabulous things of course.

Apotecari Mane Event is Vegan and had many activated vitamins and minerals which means your body can absorb it quickly. This is good for everyone but particularly for people that have problems absorbing all the nutrients from their food.

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

How Do You Treat Your Hair?

How Do You Treat Your Hair?

Sam Macdonald Hair | Trigg Scarborough North Beach Sorrento Carine Duncraig | How Do You Treat Your Hair

Do you treat your hair like a fragile silk scarf or a hardy linen shirt?

We need to start thinking of our hair as a material because that’s exactly what it is! Unfortunately, it’s closer to silk than linen so we may have to re-look at how we treat it.

Let’s look at the two examples:

Linen: We iron it at a high temperature because it can handle it

Silk: We try to avoid heat but if we have to it’s at the lowest setting

Linen: We can wash it in hot water repeatedly, no problem

Silk: Cool temperatures only for this delicate fabric

Our hair only grows 1-1.5cms per month.

That’s a maximum of 18cm per year and that’s not including what we’re removing with regular trims.

I should note here that avoiding these regular 6-8 week trims will only result in your hair fraying faster than it grows so its totally counterproductive. Don’t skip those trims people!

So 18cm per year means that someone with hair to their shoulders has probably had it on their heads for 3 years approximately.

Now think for a minute, what have you done to your silk scarf, (your hair), in those 3 years?

How hot is the water you wash it in? Especially in winter.

Do you use moisturisers to help replace lost moisture in the ends of your hair?

How often do you use hot tools in your hair? A normal straightener or curling iron runs at about 200 degrees or more.

Are you over-washing and removing the natural oils to frequently?

I hope this has given you some food for thought because at the end of the day your hair is the fabric you never take off…

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Vitamin B And The Importance For Hair And Scalp

Vitamin B And The Importance For Hair And Scalp

Sam Macdonald Hair | Trigg Scarborough North Beach Wembley Downs Karinyup Carine Duncraig | Vitamin B And The Importance For Hair And Scalp

We all know we need a multitude of B vitamins for a healthy head of hair but what are they and where can we get them?

B2 (riboflavin)

This super star is an antioxidant that destroys free radicals. Found in almonds, Pork, Lamb Beef, Eggs and oily fish.

B6

Essential to the metabolism of protein, (hair is protein).
Found in organ meats, lentils, nuts, cereals and soy products.

B7 (biotin)

This guy helps the body use fats, amino acids and carbs more effectively which boosts hair growth. You’ll find it in egg yolks, organ meats, peanuts and walnuts.

B9 (folic acid)

We need this for the production of DNA which supports rapid growth of all cell and tissues including hair. You’ll find it in spinach, asparagus, avocado, salmon, lima beans, beets and turnips.

B12

Vitamin B12 helps transport oxygen and nutrients to your hair. A lack of oxygen is believed to be a key contributor to hair loss. You’ll find it in clams, oysters, beef, turkey, chicken, crab, salmon and eggs.

You can eat the food above to make sure you are getting all of the B vitamins you need or if you think your diet may be lacking a supplement could help.
Activated B vitamin will absorb into the body quickly as its already active and your body doesn’t need to process it as much.

In salon I have small range of high quality supplements which will make sure you get everything you need that’s listed above and more.

Please ask me for more information on the Apotecari supplements.

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Is Your Hair Getting All The Nutrients It Needs?

Is Your Hair Getting All The Nutrients It Needs

Sam Macdonald hair | Hairdresser Trigg | Is You Hair Getting All The Nutrients It Needs

How can we tell if our hair is getting all the nutrients it needs to be the very best head of hair the you can have?

Well there are a few symptoms that could be showing up just by taking notice of you hair and scalp.

Stressful lifestyle:

I know, I know, we’re all stressed out at least a little. It is in fact possible to reduce stress just by being aware of it. You can tune into your body and when you feel it start to grow just stop what you’re doing for 60 seconds, concentrate on breathing slowly, do some stretching or just stare gently at something beautiful.

Did you know that your body uses up more vitamin B when your stressed out? An extra supplement of Vitamin B could really help you and if its an activated one, your body will absorb it nice and quickly.

Thinning hair or even bald patches:

Thinning hair can simply be a sign of age and embedded in your DNA, however it doesn’t mean that you can’t slow the process down. There is strong evidence that lifestyle can impact on this process which can indicate your body isn’t getting everything it needs.

Thinking you can get every single thing your body needs from food may not be correct as our soils don’t contain what they used to. Did you know that in Australia there is no selenium in the soil and extremely low zinc? Zinc is super important for hair and scalp.

As for small patches of hair not being there anymore, this could be alopecia areata, also known as spot baldness. This could be linked to stress and again you may need extra supplements to help get through this quicker.

Slow hair growth:

If you have noticed your hair growth has slowed down, this could be an indication of unrest in your body. Hair growth does vary from person to person but if you notice a change a supplement could help and failing that going to your health professional for more advice.

If this could be you then please don’t hesitate to contact me so we can have a look together and see what we can do to hlep.

In salon I have an amazing range of supplements for hair and scalp called Apotecari to help you get the best hair and scalp you can possibly have. I also do Trichology services in the salon so we can get to the root of the problem once and for all.

You can rest assured I can help you. Hooray!

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Scalp Analysis

Scalp Analysis

Sam Macdonald Hair | Scalp Analysis | Hairdresser Scarborough Trigg North Beach Sorrento Trigg Karinyup Carine Duncraig

You may or may not know that I not only do hair in the salon. I can also help you with any scalp conditions you may have.

I do this a few ways.

Firstly, I can look up close with my trichoscope, (microscope for the hair and scalp). With the use of the Trichoscope, can see what’s really go on at scalp level. A lot of the detail is lost when only looking with the naked eye. We often assume we simply have dandruff when it could be a number of things.

Secondly, I can talk to you about what’s happening in your life that is contributing so you have the power to do something yourself. Things like stress, diet and exercise all play a part here.

Thirdly, I can show you products that are not medical but rather using natural ingredients to try and allow your body to heal itself. I’m not personally a great believer in medications for scalp conditions, at least not at the beginning of the journey of healing your scalp. Sure, if we can’t fix it naturally then that’s the next step but often it’s something we can handle without the medications.

Things I can show you are alternatives to use on your hair to help alleviate the problems. I also have a range of supplements especially for scalp conditions if we think your diet may be lacking.

In a nut shell I’m your first port of call.

9 times out of 10 we can fix these issues or at least get them under control as not all scalp issues can be fixed for good sadly.

A scalp consultation is presently only $30 so what do you have to lose?

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Which Vitamins Are Important For Hair Health?

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg | Scarborough | Sorrento | Duncraig | Innaloo |Carine | North Beach | Hair Health | Nutrition

Which Vitamins Are Important For Hair Health?

What are the important vitamins and supplements for hair and scalp heath particularly?

This is something that comes up in the salon regularly because I always advise that I can help the hair on your head however you have to do most of the work by eating the right thing for great hair health.

I personally look at it like another of the 80-20 rules. I can’t help you if you don’t first help yourself.

So what do we need and here do we get it from?

Zinc – Zinc is important for strength and also helps the body absorb vitamin B.

Potassium – An electrolyte which helps the cells absorb and retain liquid.

Magnesium – Very important with the proteins in our bodies and as hair is a protein called Keratin, you can see the importance.

Magnesium and potassium together are very important as they allow the cells to hold and retain fluid. Imagine the difference between a grape and a sultana for a good visual.

Vitamin C – I have covered this in a previous blog, here’s the link for more info.

Vitamin C And Your Hair

Now I have some fabulous news for you here, well that’s if your not into the Keto or Paleo diet…

All these beautiful hair heath ingredients are contained in legumes. Lentils, chickpeas and beans etc.

Even if you think you don’t like legumes you can add them into things like bolognase and you won’t even know they’re there…

I personally love them but not too many days in a row!

 

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Vitamin C And Your Hair

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg | Scarborough | Karinyup | North Beach | Sorrento | Duncraig | Hair health | Vitamin C | Hair

Vitamin C And Your Hair

We all know that vitamin C is good for us but did you ever consider its impact on your hair?

I think most of has heard at some point of the role vitamin C can play in skin health and guess what there’s skin on your head under all that hair!

We’ve all heard me say this a million times  by now, healthy scalp leads to healthy hair…

Did I hear someone say something about a broken record?

As well as helping your skin/scalp vitamin C does also helps the hair itself.  This is due to the fabulous antioxidants that the vitamin C contains.

In a super simplified version, (there is so much more to antioxidants than this but that’s for another time and perhaps a Naturopath to explain), antioxidants help to counteract free radicals which are the ones we don’t want because they can dehydrate the hair.

Taking a supplement is one option but also vitamin C is in so many foods and drinks that you probably already love and enjoy. For example Gin & tonic, (don’t forget the lemon), mojitos or strawberry daiquiris, just to name a few!

I guess like with most things in life the fresher and more varied your diet, the more vitamins and minerals you’ll get.

Vitamin C is in so many foods, citrus of course but did you know that cauliflower and brussel sprouts have plenty too?

I personally put a whole lemon from my local framers markets in my green smoothie every day, pips and all.  I have heard that pips from fruit can help with menopause hot flushes and even though I’m not quite there yet, there’s no harm dosing up for a possible future right?

Pips are full of polyphenols which are fabulous for gut health anyway so get munching people!

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Whats Your Hair Made From?

Whats Your Hair Made From?

Sam Macdonald Hair | Trigg North Beach Sprrento Scarborough Wembley Downs Karinyup CArine Duncraig | Whats You Hair Made Of | Hairdresser

Whats your hair made from?

A protein called Keratin.

Keratin is the same protein that we find in our outer layer of skin, AKA the epidermis, and our fingernails.

The difference is that your hair and nails is a hard version and you skin a soft one.

Keratin in your body is there to help protect you. In your skin it protects you from UV, infection and keeps you water proof.

The hard version of Keratin is your hair, its for added protection on the top of your body which cops a lot more direct sun and UV.

Keratin is extremely insoluble in water and organic solvents which makes sense. You don’t want to melt when you have a shower!

Maybe surprisingly to you that its also what constitutes animal’s hooves, claws, scales and feathers.

Just some examples of this are tortoise and turtle shells, bird beaks and horse hooves.

Who knew that we have so much in common with our animal friends?

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.

Your Hair Can Reveal A Lot About You

Your Hair Can Reveal A Lot About You

Sam Macdonald Hair | Hairdresser Trigg Scarborough |North Beach | Duncraig | Carine | Karinyup | Sorrento

Did you know that your hair can reveal a lot about you?

It can be tested to reveal a lot about what you have been getting up to. Things like the nutrients in your body, and even drug taking.

Hair contains information about everything that has ever been in your bloodstream, including drugs. It’s one of the most commonly used types of forensic evidence.

The kinds of drugs they can test for are, cocaine, marijuana, opiates (heroin, codeine, Oxycontin plus more), methamphetamine, ecstasy as well as a few more not listed here.

It also contains evidence of nutrients in your body, as well as toxic metals and trace elements.

This can be really helpful in regards to your health. It can help with finding out if you have too much of something in your body, or perhaps not enough.

Blood and urine testing can be done to find out some of these things. The thing is though, that most of this evidence leaves your body within 3 days. Testing your hair can hold this information for up to 90 days. Have you ever noticed how some criminals shave their heads all the time? Now you know why, well one possible reason anyway!

Hair Mineral Analysis, HMA, is something you can do for yourself if you want to know how your body is going.

It tests 16 nutrient levels, 8 toxic metals (you want none of those by the way), and 14 trace elements.

Nutritional elements are minerals our bodies need to be healthy and strong. We want to have just the right amount of these. Too much or too little, could lead to health issues.

Nutritional elements include: Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorous, Iron, Manganese, Chromium, Selenium, Boron, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Sulphur, Lithium, Zinc and Copper.

Toxic elements are the things we want as little as possible and include: Antimony, Uranium, Arsenic, Beryllium, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead and Aluminium.

Trace elements are things we require but only need small amounts of. Germanium, Barium, Bismuth, Rubidium, Lithium, Nickel, Platinum, Thallium, Vanadium, Strontium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten and Zirconium.

HMA is something I can organise for you if you’re ever interested though can also be done through your health care professional.

If you’d like to book an appointment to give your hair or scalp some love. I’d be happy to talk through it’s current condition as part of your initial consultation. All the details to make a booking can be found here.