Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 27, 1994 TAG: 9403260026
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JEAN PATTESON ORLANDO SENTINEL
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But can hair-care products - which are mostly water, after all - really transform hair into one's crowning glory?
And precisely which product, or combination of products, will do the trick on any given head of hair? There are enough shampoos, conditioners, gels and sprays on the store shelves to give any shopper a headache.
In hair salons, the selection is just as wide, but the prices are often higher. Does that mean the pricier products will deliver even more shine, bounce and manageability for the buck?
To all these questions, David Cannell has a stock answer: ``It all depends.''
Cannell is the chemist who, over the past 21 years, has developed the Redken line of hair-care products, which is distributed in 40 countries around the world. In Orlando recently for Redken's annual International Salon Symposium, he took a break from discussing technicalities with the pros to offer some insights and guidelines for confused consumers.
While he believes strongly in the products he has created over the years, Cannell readily admitted that inexpensive, general-purpose products work just fine on hair that is short, natural and washed several times a week.
Most people buy hair products based on how good they smell and how cheaply they are priced, Cannell said. That is fine if your hair is neither dry nor greasy, colored nor permed.
But if you have problem hair you should look for products formulated to deal with specific conditions, Cannell said. ``Problem hair'' could include hair that has been chemically treated, hair that is unusually dry, greasy, thin or curly, or simply long hair that has been exposed for years to the damaging effects of sun, air pollution, chlorinated water and heat from hair dryers and curling irons.
What you put on your hair, and the results you can expect, depend primarily on the condition of your hair to start with, Cannell said.
``But once it is damaged by chemicals or heat, nothing can restore it to its virgin state,'' Cannell said.
The best that hair products can do is strengthen the hair, improve the way the it feels and behaves, and help protect it against further damage.
Proteins, vitamins and herbs may help improve the hair's condition a little - but there is no magic ingredient that cures all ills, Cannell said.
Each hair consists of an inner cortex and an outer cuticle, which under a microscope looks rather like fish scales, Cannell explained. When the scales lie flat, the hair is smooth and glossy. When the scales are roughed up by harsh chemicals or excessive heat, the hair becomes dull, brittle and split. The correct hair products can help smooth the scales temporarily and impart a little shine.
Thus it follows that the less you mess with your hair, the fewer and simpler the products you will need. Short, wash-and-wear hair should be clean, shiny and manageable on nothing more than a basic shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one product, Cannell said.
But when it comes to long or chemically abused hair, the better choice is a combination of specifically formulated products, he said.
In general, the products with the most specific formulations are those available in salons. They are often the most expensive because they contain more costly ingredients, Cannell said. However, products that target permed hair, dyed hair or simply dry or oily hair also are available in drug and grocery stores.
But which products to choose? Especially when you're faced with an aisle full from a dozen different manufacturers.
``Consumers are notoriously bad at diagnosing their own hair needs,'' Cannell said. Even deciding whether hair is dry, oily or normal may be beyond the expertise of most people.
Salon professionals, on the other hand, are trained to identify different hair types and problems. And experience teaches them how the various products respond to differing hair conditions.
``To get the right products, in the right balance, it really helps to consult a pro,'' Cannell said.
If you are determined to go it alone, he offers this tip: Choose products (shampoo, conditioner, mousse and spray, for example) from the same line because they are formulated to work together.
Hair-care products come in three categories: cleansing, conditioning and finishing treatments, Cannell said.
Up until the 1950s, the emphasis was on a basic cleansing product - a shampoo that was a solution of soap in water, with perhaps a little oil, fragrance and color added. To hold hair in place, men used brilliantine (remember how a little dab of Brylcreme would do ya?); women used a puff of hair spray.
``But that was back when people shampooed once a week. Especially salon clients - they'd come in for their regular wash and set, and it was expected to last all week,'' Cannell said.
But there was a problem with this kind of soap-and-water shampoo. When used with ``hard,'' or mineral-rich, water, it tended to form a nonsoluable scum that left a film on the hair and made the scalp itch.
That led to the development of shampoos incorporating synthetic cleansers that cleaned the hair without stripping away the oils.
The demand for shampoos that cleaned thoroughly but gently grew in the 1960s and '70s - which is when the trend toward casual wash-and-wear hairstyles took hold. Today, on average, American men wash their hair daily; women shampoo four times a week, Cannell said.
This frequent washing, combined with the increase in the bleaching, coloring and perming of hair and the use of hair-dryers and curling irons, spurred the development of products that would repair over-processed hair and help restore some of its original shine and flexibility.
It is estimated that more than 50 percent of Caucasian women perm their hair and almost as many use hair color. Among black women and men, the use of harsh relaxing products, which straighten the hair, is also on the rise, Cannell said.
Conditioners are formulated to help counteract the damage done by these processes, which dry and weaken the hair.
But all conditioners are not created equal, Cannell said. Most impart smoothness and shine to the outer cuticle. In addition, some are formulated to add body and bounce to fine hair; others to tame full or frizzy hair.
``There are so many variables. What you use, what results you can expect, depends on the condition of the hair and what you want to achieve. How porous is the hair? Do you want it softer or fuller? Women with fine Caucasian hair often want more body. Women with coarser, fuller Oriental hair want it flatter,'' Cannell said.
Nor are all conditioners applied the same. Most are rinsed off almost immediately. Some heavy, creamy products are designed to be left on the hair for anywhere from five to 30 minutes, allowing for deep penetration into the hair shaft. Lighter formulations - the new ``leave-in'' conditioners - are meant to remain in the hair between washings, imparting extra gloss.
Finishing products are designed to help style the hair and hold it in place. In general, a fluffy mousse imparts gentle control and is a good choice for fine hair. A denser gel offers firmer control and works well on coarser hair.
The current industry buzzwords are ``volumizers'' and ``spritzes.''
A volumizer is a light styling product that adds fullness by making each hair strand thicker. A spritz is lighter than hair spray and helps hold a style without making the hair sticky or stiff.
It is inevitable, over time, that the residue from all these products will build up on the hair, leaving it limp and dull. To strip away this grungy film, Cannell recommends one more product: a clarifier shampoo. This will leave your hair clean and ready for the next round of shampoos, conditioners and styling products.
Kind of makes one nostalgic for the time when hair-care meant a weekly wash with soap and water.
by CNB