We see you Zoe Kravitz: Love the Wig

We love the budding fashion muse Zoe Kravitz. She's bold and blends non-conventional styles that still have a feminine edge despite her indie rocker exterior.

We can't help but notice that she's rocking an amazing custom made wig with Indian Hair.

At Sunny's Atlanta, Derek J is our go to man for bespoke custom wig units made with Indian hair from Sunny's. Derek recently made me my own wig a la Zoe and it's a hit. So much of a hit that Music Video director Melina, now has it.

Call (404) 355-7077 for more information on your own custom Indian Hair Wig by Derek J.

Images courtesy of bossip.com

We see you Mariah Carey: Love the Extensions

Mariah, we've yet to give you some love. We see you and love the wavy blonde hair extensions.

To achieve her look we'd recommend the following:
Short Term Look: Body Wave Clip In Extensions in color 27/613 in 16".

Long Term Commitment: 909 Body Wave Pre-Tipped Hair Extensions in Color 27/613 in 20"

Upcoming In Store Event: Atlanta

He's Gone, She's Back!!!

We invite our Atlanta clients to attend the book reading and signing with author Kerika Fields of He's Gone, She's Back this Thursday April 23 from 7-9 pm.

Champagne Cocktails will be served!

Female Hair Loss Vitamin Deficiency

A strand of hair is made up of extruded, compacted dead cells. Everything we put into our body eventually shows on our hair, usually within three to six months. This is one reason many practitioners look at the quality and quantity of patients' hair as a valuable analytic instrument. But hair itself is only the visible part of the story. Hair grows from living follicles in the skin of the scalp.

One of the things women need to be aware of is their nutrition. Vitamins are essential tools in caring for our body. Not having enough of certain vitamins can cause any number of health conditions including hair loss. Vitamin A is stored in the liver. If too much is consumed, the excess will be stored in other parts of the body. This could cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea, lethargy, headaches and hair loss. Too little vitamin A can cause coarse hair and dry skin. Food sources of vitamin A include cabbage, apricots, carrots, peaches, eggs, milk, cheese, and even fish liver oil.

Vitamin E can also impact female hair loss. Vitamin E is said to be helpful in preventing the loss of hair and in stalling the process of hair going gray. Food sources of vitamin E are green leafy vegetables, seeds, dried beans, nuts, and spinach. Inositol is a B vitamin found in citrus fruits, whole grains, liver, and in yeast. An inositol deficiency can not only cause hair loss, but eczema as well.

Vitamin H is also known as Biotin. Like vitamin E, it helps to prevent hair loss and the graying of hair. Biotin is found in food sources such as egg yolk, kidney, liver, yeast, and milk. It may also be of benefit in nail health and skin health.

Vitamin B group vitamins related to hair loss are B3, B5, and B12. Vitamin B 3 is found in meats, fish, wheat germ and brewer's yeast. Vitamin B 5 is found in egg yolk, meats, and yeast. Vitamin B6 is found in bananas, white and sweet potatoes, as well as spinach.

Consuming protein is also very good for keeping our hair healthy. Most people tend not to eat enough protein. It can be found in meat, fish, chicken, soy, and eggs. At least one serving per day should be eaten. There are trace minerals that can benefit our hair such as zinc. It is helpful to take a multivitamin that also contains such trace minerals.

Deficiencies of these vitamins and minerals can cause a multitude of health conditions. This includes hair loss. This can be prevented by taking the proper amount and eating a healthy diet. On the other hand, consuming too high a dose of them can also cause health conditions. Our doctor or a nutritionist can help us to decide what the proper amount for our needs is appropriate.

Vitamins as well as trace minerals are an integral part of maintaining healthy hair. Hair loss, women, and vitamin deficiency are preventable with the intake of the proper amounts of vitamins as well as some trace minerals. A healthy diet may not provide the daily recommended allowance and it is advised that we should take a multivitamin supplement.

Source: Article Doctor

Preventing and reversing hair loss

At the moment, there’s unfortunately no cure for womens hair loss! You can use a variety of treatments, but none of them guarantees success.
Many companies dealing with hair loss promise you a definite cure. Various hair integration and hair volumising companies also sell products supposedly curing hair loss, and claim their systems will contribute to it as well. We can assure you - they are not telling you the truth! And if you’d like more information, please check the U.S. based site http://www.hairlossscams.com/.

Below, you'll find a list of treatments that can contribute to improving a case of hair loss but, once again: none of them is a cure for baldness.
Propecia
Merck Pharmaceuticals sought to find the smallest effective quantity of finasteride and to test its long-term effects on men aged between 18 and 41 with mild-to-moderate thinning hair. Based on their research, 1mg daily was selected and, after 2 years of daily treatment, some of the male patients have regrown parts of their hair.

Minoxidil

Minoxidil was first used in tablet form as a medicine to treat high blood pressure, but it was noticed that some patients being treated with Minoxidil experienced excessive hair growth (hypertrichosis) as a side effect. Further research showed that by applying Minoxidil in solution form directly to the scalp, it could prove to be beneficial to those experiencing topical hair loss.
In controlled clinical studies of women aged 18-45, some women with moderate degrees of hereditary hair loss reported re-growth after using 2% minoxidil. Initial results occur at 4 months with maximum results occurring at 8 months.

Low-level laser therapy

A low level laser is shone directly on the scalp to stimulate hair growth through "Photo-Biostimulation" of the hair follicles. One product of these low-level laser therapies is the "Hairmax Lasercomb". There is no peer-reviewed evidence to support this claim. The Lasercomb is FDA approved only with regard to safety. The Leimo laser was recently approved by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) of Australia as a Class IIa Medical Device that regrows hair. Its ARTG number is 139 456.

Surgery

Surgery is another method of reversing hair loss and baldness, although it may be considered somewhat extreme. The surgical methods used include hair transplantation, whereby hair-producing follicles are taken from the back and sides of the head and injected into bald or thinning areas.

Hair Multiplication

Looking forward: one prospective treatment currently in development is that of hair multiplication/hair cloning. And it has been shown to work on mice!
It involves extracting self-replenishing follicle stem cells, multiplying them many times over in the lab, and microinjecting them into the scalp. It is expected by some scientists to be available to the public in 2009–2015. Subsequent versions of the treatment are expected by some scientists to be able to cause these follicle stem cells to simply signal the surrounding hair follicles to rejuvenate.

In October 2006, UK biotechnology firm, Intercytex, announced they had successfully tested a method of removing hair follicles from the back of the neck, multiplying them and then reimplanting the cells into the scalp (Hair multiplication). The initial testing resulted in 70% of male patients regrowing hair. This treatment method is expected to be available to the public by 2009.

In January 2007, Italian stem-cell researchers announced that tghey had developed a new technique for curing baldness. Pierluigi Santi of a Genoa clinic said stem cells could be used to "multiply" hair roots. He said the clinic would be ready to perform its first hair transplants on priority patients - those who have lost their hair in fires or other accidents - within a few months. “After that” he said "we'll open our doors to paying customers". Santi's approach works by splitting roots and growing new follicles.
Ketoconazole
Topical application of ketoconazole, which is both an anti-fungal and a potent 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, is often used as a supplement to other approaches.
Unsaturated Fatty Acids
Particular unsaturated fatty acids such as gamma linolenic acid are 5 alpha reductase inhibitors if taken internally.

Placebos

Interestingly, placebo treatments in studies often have reasonable success rates, though not as high as the products being tested, and even similar side-effects as the products. For example, in Finasteride (Propecia) studies, the percent of patients with any drug-related sexual adverse experience was 3.8% compared with 2.0% in the placebo group.
Exercise

Regular aerobic exercise can help keep androgen levels (particularly free testosterone levels) naturally lower while maintaining overall health, lowering stress and increasing SHBG.
Weight training without aerobic exercise may increase testosterone. One study suggests that both heavy exercise and increased fat intake, in combination, are required for increased free testosterone in strength trainers. Increased total or free testosterone would help them build and repair muscle, but may cause susceptible individuals to lose hair.

However, there is at least one study that indicates a decline in free testosterone combined with an increase in strength due to an (unspecified) strength training regime.

Stress Reduction

Stress reduction can be helpful in slowing hair loss.

Immunosuppressants

Immunosuppressants applied to the scalp have been shown to temporarily reverse alopecia areata, though the side effects of some of these drugs make such therapy questionable.

Saw Palmetto

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) is a herbal DHT inhibitor often claimed to be cheaper and to have fewer side effects than finasteride and dutasteride. Unlike other 5alpha-reductase inhibitors, Serenoa Repens induces its effects without interfering with the cellular capacity to secrete PSA. Saw Palmetto extract has been demonstrated to inhibit both isoforms of 5-alpha-reductase unlike finasteride which only inhibits the (predominant) type 2 isoenzyme of 5-alpha-reductase.

Polygonum Multiflorum

Polygonum Multiflorum is a traditional Chinese cure for hair loss. P. multiflorum contains stilbene glycosides similar to resveratrol.

Beta Sitosterol

Beta Sitosterol, which is a constituent of many seed oils, can help to treat BHP by lowering cholesterol. If used for this purpose, an extract is best. However, consuming large amounts of oil to get at small quantities of Beta Sitosterol is likely to exacerbate male pattern baldness.

Anti-Androgens

While drastic, broad spectrum anti-androgens such as flutamide are sometimes used topically. Flutamide is potent enough to have a feminizing effect in men, including growth of the breasts.
Hedgehog Agonists

In March 2006, Curis announced that it had received the first preclinical milestone, a $1,000,000 cash payment, in its hair growth program with Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, a division of The Procter & Gamble Company. The programme is focused on the potential development of a topical Hedgehog agonist for hair growth disorders, such as male pattern baldness and female hair loss. The Curis hair loss research program was shut down in May 2007 because the process did not meet the proper safety standards.

WNT Gene Related

In May 2007, US company Follica Inc, announced they have licensed technology from the University of Pennsylvania which can regenerate hair follicles by reawakening genes which were once active only in the embryo stage of human development.

What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

Women have always been quite conscious of their beauty, but this consciousness has vastly increased in today's times. Their problems too are now quite different than what they faced earlier. With enhancements in science a lot of these problems are getting solved but at the same time due to change in lifestyle many new issues are turning up. Aging skin and considerable amount of hair loss are few of the today’s issues. Let's look particularly at what causes hair loss in women.

Genetically women are different than men. The chemicals controlling the growth in women, her emotions or her external physique too are very different to those compared to men. Different hormones control body functions. One such hormone is dihydrotestosterone which is related to growth of hair. Typically, the quantity of this hormone in men is more compared to women i.e. women should have this in lesser amount. But, when this hormone is present in excess, hair loss increases.

No woman will like this term but woman balding is becoming common term today. The area of major hair loss on the head is different than that of men. Many women have a tendency to keep their hair long which can camouflage well the sparse hair areas on their head. Still the concept of baldness in women is not as common as it is in men; in any society there are a good number of men present to support each other emotionally. Rather being bald is not a big deal in men because of its commonness. This is not so in women, which causes frustration in them. The hormone dihydrotestosterone, according to scientists, is major cause of women hair loss. But the human body is so complex that there are thousands of chemicals, enzymes, and hormones controlling its metabolism. Those are interwoven; one thing affects several others directly or indirectly, resulting in very complex structure to study cause and effect of any action. Due to this, there can be a host of other chemicals in women that cause hair loss in them.

Normal hair has got maximum life of six years, after this it stays for some time and then falls down. New hair grows from the same location. It again stays for six years and the cycle continues. In today’s life we take so much synthetic medication and even our food items contain harmful chemicals. Any of these may affect enzymes controlling life cycle of hair. You can imagine how tedious it is to find out which one is affecting what.

There can be external minor causes too; like the environment, bad habits of conditioning hair and stress. Pollution, dust particles get accumulated in hairs this deteriorates health of hairs. One should keep that neat, wash regularly, use suitable shampoo, hair oils and any other conditioner. Every one’s hair has got different characteristics thus one needs to consider his/her own requirement and take care accordingly. For example oily hairs are treated differently than dry ones. Today’s women face a lot of stress too; have got many responsibilities and tensions. Stress also affects hormones, which leads to hair loss.

Source: HairRestorationTalk

Alopecia Explained by Hair Solved

Alopecia areata is a form of hair loss from areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Because it causes bald spots on the head, especially in the first stages, it’s sometimes called spot baldness. In 1–2% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp (Alopecia totalis) or to the entire epidermis (Alopecia universalis).



Types of Alopecia



Alopecia Areata Monolocularis describes baldness where it occurs in only one spot. It may occur anywhere on the head.



Alopecia Areata Multilocularis refers to multiple areas of hair loss.



If the patient loses all the hair on his/her scalp, the condition is then called Alopecia Areata Totalis.

If all body hair, including pubic hair, is lost, the diagnosis is that of Alopecia Areata Universalis.

The disease may also be limited only to the beard (Alopecia Areata Barbae).

Causes



Alopecia Areata is thought to be an autoimmune disease in which the body mistakenly treats its hair follicles as foreign tissue and suppresses, or stops, hair growth. There is evidence that T cell lymphocytes cluster around these follicles, causing inflammation and subsequent hair loss.



Some non-clinical treatment results have been observed through the ingestion of natural anti-inflammatory agents, particularly blackcurrant and borage oils in caplet form, and zinc supplement tablets.



It is not contagious but may be hereditary, and there are a few recorded cases of babies being born with congenital alopecia areata. As with most autoimmune diseases, Alopecia areata is associated with an increased risk of developing other autoimmune diseases, specifically systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE.



Diagnosis



First symptoms are small, soft, bald patches that can take just about any shape but are most usually round. Initial presentation most commonly occurs in the late teenage years and young children, but can happen with people of all ages. In most cases it affects the scalp but may occur on any hair-bearing part of the body. There may be different skin areas with hair loss and re-growth in the same person at the same time. The condition may also go into remission for a time, or permanently.



Another presentation of the condition is: Exclamation Point Hairs. These are hairs that become narrower along the length of the strand closer to the base, producing a characteristic 'exclamation point' appearance.



One diagnostic technique applied by medical professionals is to gently tug at a handful of hair along the edge of a patch with less strength than would be required to pull out healthy hair. In healthy hair, no hair should fall out or ripped hair should be distributed evenly across the tugged portion of the scalp. In cases of Alopecia, hair will tend to pull out more easily along the edge of the patch where the follicles are already being attacked by the body's immune system, than away from the patch where they are still healthy. Professionals will usually remind patients that the hair that is pulled out would eventually fall naturally. The test is conducted only once to identify the condition and rule out a simple localized hair loss condition.



Treatment



About 50% of patients’ hair will regrow without any treatment. If the affected region is small, it is reasonable to observe the progression of the illness as the problem often spontaneously regresses and the hair grows back. In cases where there is severe hair loss, there has been limited success in the treatment of Alopecia Areata with clobetasol or fluocinonide, steroid injections or cream. Steroid injections are commonly used in sites where there are small areas of hair loss on the head or especially where eyebrow hair has been lost. Some other medications used are minoxidil, irritants (anthralin or topical coal tar), and topical immunotherapy cyclosporine, each of which is sometimes used in different combinations.



Prognosis



Effects of Alopecia Areata are mainly psychological (loss of self esteem due to hair loss). However, patients also tend to have a slightly higher incidence of asthma, allergies and atopic dermal ailments and even hypothyroidism. Loss of hair also means that the scalp burns more easily in the sun. Loss of nasal hair increases the severity of hay fever and similar allergic conditions. They may also have aberrant nail formation because keratin forms both hair and nails.



Episodes of Alopecia Areata before puberty predispose one to recurrent episodes after puberty. Pitting of the fingernails can hint at a more severe or prolonged course.



Initial stages may be kept from increasing by applying topical corticosteroids. However, since the exact mechanisms are not ultimately understood, there is no known cure to date. Hair implants may help to cover bald spots, but cannot guarantee a satisfactory outcome as the bald areas might expand. Wigs should be prescribed if patients, especially female patients, mention social discomfort. However, hair integration and volumising systems (like the Enhancer) are much more efficient and guarantee much more natural look and feel, even though they are not widely available (due to monopolistic policies of many treatment studios reserving the solution only for the richest sufferers from the condition). Please read about our Enhancer system, the ultimate female hair loss solution available to everyone - regardless of your condition or economical situation.



Psychosocial issues



Alopecia can certainly be the cause of psychological stress. Because hair loss can lead to significant appearance changes, individuals may experience social phobia, anxiety, and depression. In severe cases where the chance of hair re-growth is slim, individuals need to adapt to the condition, rather than look for a cure. There is currently little provision for psychological treatment for people afflicted with alopecia.