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Hair Care54 QUIBBLER FASHION

So, I have a bone to pick with all of you hair-having people. If you’re reading this and you’re bald, you’re unique and perfect, and I love you. But if you have hair? Long hair, short hair, I don’t care, please listen to me. I have seen you, at the pool or on the beach. Abuse your poor, poor wet hair by violently rubbing it dry with a towel. I have seen people joking about how disgusting it is to remove your hair from the bathroom drain. I have seen it all, and I am here to tell you to treat your hair better. Don’t want to have to call a plumber because your drain is filled with hair? Treat your hair better. Don’t want to have to clean your hairbrush every time you brush? Treat your hair better. How? Let me enlighten you.

Before I do, however, let me tell you a bit of your hair. Or, well, about hair in general.

All of your hair is dead matter; the only part alive is the part in your skin where it grows and pushes the hair out. Your hair exists out of three layers: the outside is the cuticula, which exists out of little overlapping ‘shields’. If these all lie neatly flat, your hair is wonderfully smooth and shiny. The layer underneath that is the cortex, which ensures the hair’s strength and resilience. The core of the hair is called the medulla, which contains the pigment determining the colour of your hair. The oils your skin produces helps your hair retain its shine as well as fighting off infections.

Your hair grows in three stages: the anagen stage, during which your hair actively grows; the catagen stage, during which your hair no longer grows, but the cell activity in your hair papillae continues; and the telogen phase, during which this activity also halts. Eventually, your hair is pushed out of your skin, and the cycle starts anew. The anagen stage takes about two to four years, the catagen phase about 15-20 days and the telogen phase about 90120 days. About 98% of your hair is in the first stage, 1% in the second and 6% in the third. This cycle is repeated about 24 or 25 times during your lifetime.

The characteristics of your hair are decided before you are even born. During the 16th week of pregnancy, the baby already has body hair! During the 20th week, head hair starts to arrive, as does the pigment, which will eventually decide the child’s hair colour. This hair falls out during the first few weeks of the baby’s life. Frequently alongside the mother’s hair. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, the hormones ensure that the hairs stay in their ‘growth stage’ more extended than usual. About twelve weeks after giving birth, when the mother’s hormones are finally calming down a bit, the hair arrives in the ‘rest’ phase, at the end of which the hair is pushed out of the scalp. What then seems to be excessive hair loss is just the body catching up. So there is no need to worry! It is still wise to avoid getting a perm when pregnant. Your hair is changing during this period so that the results can be unexpected. Once you grow older, the structure of your hair changes. Pigmentation contributes to the softness and subtleness of your hair, so grey hair tends to break more easily and become rougher. This new structure is also more likely to absorb dust and smoke from the air, giving a yellowish or stained look. A chelating or clarifying shampoo can help solve this problem. Richer shampoos will help to prevent your grey hair from drying out.

Your hair is a delicate thing. It’s like that one kid in class who is allergic to everything (if you are that one kid, I am sorry, that must suck). Hair can’t handle too much heat and sunshine. During long holidays or sailing trips or otherwise days where your hair is constantly underneath the burning sun, it might be wise to cover your hair with a shawl or scarf. Not just for your hair’s sake, but also because it is kind of impossible to put sunscreen on your scalp and a burnt scalp is, trust me, Not Pleasant. Your hair also isn’t a fan of salt or chlorine, so make sure you properly rinse out your hair after swimming in the sea or pool by showering with clean, sweet water. Tie your hair together during windy days to avoid knots. During winter, make sure your hair is protected against the cold wind and against the drying effects of moving from shallow temperatures outside to very high temperatures inside. Make sure the humidity in your house isn’t too low.

WASHING

If you, like me, have long hair, you probably know the nightmare of your hair after taking a shower, being impossibly tangled because of the way you have rubbed your shampoo into your hair. And even if you have short hair,

this way of washing will make it so much easier to style it once it’s dry. Instead of gathering your hair on the top of your head; then massaging in the shampoo with your whole hand, try this:

Put some shampoo on your hand. Spread it over the top of your hair whilst moving as if you are carefully gathering your hair for a low ponytail at the nape of your neck. Form claws with your hands. Press the pads of your fingers (not your nails!) to your scalp and make quick little circles for a few seconds at a time. Lift your hands off of your head, move them and repeat. Do this over the entire top of your hair and hairline. To clean the hair next to and behind your ears, make little crab hands with your hands and make the same circles. The rest of your hair will be washed through the soap, water washing down from the top of your head. When rinsing, make the same ‘ponytail gathering’-movement. Any hair that does get loose and gets tangled up between your fingers are you are combing through; you can stick on the wall of your shower rather than letting it stream down into the drain. Since both the wall of your bathroom and the hair itself will be wet, it will stick and not stream down. At the end of your shower, you can gather this hair by tracing ever-smaller circles on that wall, after which you can simply throw the hairs in the bin. It is much less disgusting than trying to remove hairs from your shower drain, and you run less of a risk of the hairs getting down the drain and causing it to be clogged.

Do not over-wash your hair. The oils produced by your skin are suitable for your hair, and washing your hair too often removes the nutrition the oils bring. There is information available online about how to ‘train’ your hair, so you need to wash it less often.

For those with short hair, this same principle applies too. Just because your hair is short doesn’t mean you get to ruffle and truffle it without any consequences. Your hair, when wet, is in its

most fragile state. There is no need to treat it violently.

Additionally, if possible, choose a shampoo that fits the type of hair you have. Do you know those labels on the bottles saying ‘for dry hair,’ etc.? Yeah, those aren’t complete nonsense.

If you use conditioner, gather all of your hair to one side. Put your conditioner in the palm of your hand, and make a very loose fist around the accumulated hair. Move the fist down, spreading the conditioner as you go. Repeat this a couple of times to ensure all of the conditioners has been spread over your hair. Then, using your hands, carefully comb through your hair. Let it soak in for a bit (Protip: also don't know what to do when you're waiting till you can rinse out your conditioner? Do standing up push-ups against the wall of your bathroom! Be careful you don't slip, though.) Rinse out by again carefully moving your relaxed fist down, and, if necessary, repeat these steps by gathering your hair to the other side.

Dry hair feels dry (no shit, sherlock), looks dull and keeps getting tangled. It is difficult to comb or brush. It’s usually pretty thick at the roots but quickly gets thinner towards the tips. There are usually a lot of split ends. It can be caused by washing your hair too much or using too much heat on your hair. Improper use of hair dye or bleach can also result in dry hair. You can counteract this by using a shampoo that feeds your hair and use a conditioner that strengthens it. For this hair Please note that, by me being white, most type, it is essenof the advice in this article that I got from tial to leave it personal experience is for caucasian or to air-dry rather caucasian-like hair. Do you have tips, tricks and advice for other hairstyles? We would than using a hairdryer. love to hear and learn from you! Sub- Oily hair, aside mit your article over at the link in the /r/ from being oily, TheQuibbler sidebar so we can feature your looks very limp. excellent knowledge in our next edition! It can be caused by excessive brushing, the constant touching of your hair or the presence of a lot of saturated fats in your diet. A mild, non-aggressive shampoo is the solution. A light perm can also help since that raises the hair at the roots and, therefore, lessens your scalp’s oil production. Eating less fat and fewer dairy products can help as well.

Combined hair is fat and thick at the roots but thin and dry at the ends. It can happen when you dye, perm or bleach your hair, or when your hair gets too warm - for example, if you live in a sunny area or frequently use heat-based hairstyling products. Use mild shampoos and conditioners, don’t over-use products intended for either dry or oily hair.

Additionally, it might sometimes help to change which shampoo you use. After a while, your hair can build some sort of resistance against your regularly-used shampoo, making it less effective. When in doubt, always use the mildest shampoo possible. Don’t use laundry detergent, soap or other non-shampoo products! It might feel cheap and frugal, but they have a fundamental Ph that ruins your hair’s natural Ph balance. And don’t throw away shampoo that doesn’t lather or doesn’t create much foam! The amount of froth you see when you wash your hair has nothing to do with how effective the shampoo is. The foam is just something the manufacturer adds to your shampooing experience. Try not to wash your hair whilst bathing: dirty bathing water isn’t appropriate for cleaning your hair, and the stagnation of the water makes it difficult to rinse properly.

DRYING

Drying your hair, too, is a most delicate affair. There is no need to throw a towel over your hair and then just violently rub it to catch the water. After turning off your shower, remove all excess water by gathering your hair into a low ponytail again (sorry guys, it’s just the quickest and most effective way of collecting your hair. With one hand, hold the hair together. With your other, carefully push the water out by making an ‘okay’ sign with your pointer finger and thumb around your hair and softly squeezing as you pull down. By using your other hand to hold your hair together, the stress this causes will not be suffered at the roots of your hair, minimising hair loss.

Try to avoid drying your hair with a hairdryer. The heat will damage your hair. However, using a dryer at a proper distance, or using a cold dryer, can be better if your hair naturally dries very slowly. If your hair retains water for too long, it's not good either. If you use a dryer, then make sure you use cold air. Make sure to clean the filters of your hairdryer as well regularly. Dry section by section: separate your hair into two main parts, and each time take a little bit of hair from one piece to dry completely. Use your hairbrush to hold your hair at a straight angle (without pulling too much). You can turn your brush down at the tips to create a little volume. Hold the dryer downwards from the roots. This will flatten your cuticula and give your hair more shine.

If you have curls, angle your hairdryer up rather than down. You can also use a diffuser which allows you to place your hair on the mouth of the dryer. To maximise your beautiful curls, you can use your hands to ‘knead’ your hair up whilst drying.

However, air-drying your hair is still an underrated option. I have pretty long hair, so airdrying can be a bit annoying since the back of everything I wear just becomes a soaked mess, and I can’t always wear a towel as a cape and run around the house like a superhero. I usually french-braid my hair. Then, loop the end of my braid through my hair at the top of my braid. This isn't a permanent solution though, since it makes the hair dry slower and its not good for your hair to retain moisture for too long. I highly recommend starting your air-dry by making a towel hat for any hair that’s past shoulder-length. And not one of those mad turny-twisty ones that pull your hair to all sides! No. A simple, 4-step towel-hat suffices.

Step 1: Get ready for some heavy-metal headbanging and flip your head and hair forward. Step 2: Place a towel with the long side to the nape of your neck, the towel ‘falling’ over your hair, covering it. Step 3: Align the rest of the long side (the one pressed to the nape of your neck) with your hairline till it gets to the front of your hair. Cross the two ends tightly (one end over the other, creating a sort of upside-down V). Step 4: Stand back upright, so the towel folds back, and voilá!

This way, there's only one "turn" your hair has to suffer through: the fold back. This is not a very tight turn, yet the towel is very safe and secure and will stay on your head.

If you shower in the evenings, place a dry towel over your pillow, so your pillow does not become soaked.

BRUSHING

Don’t try to brush your hair too much when it is wet. If you use the shampooing technique, you probably won’t need to brush that much after showering since it’s a great way to avoid tangled hair. However, I would love to have Tangled hair, as in, the hair Rapunzel has at the Disney movie. As far as brushing when your hair is dry goes, though, I can give you some more advice. Make sure you regularly clean your brush and, if you use one, comb. Not just ‘clean’ as in, remove all the hairs stuck in them, and ‘clean’ as in, actually using water and soap. Brushes made from natural fibres have to dry with their fibre side facing down.

It is wiser to use a brush with the bristles further removed from each other. You might feel like you need to brush your hair longer, but it is easier for your hair since it causes less stress when your brush encounters a knot. I am a massive fan of the AirMotion brush (not sponsored). It takes a while to get used to brushing your hair with this particular brush since it at first, if you’re used to other brushes, it feels like nothing is happening. But after a week or so of use, I couldn’t stand my old brush anymore. And this brush is easy to clean, which also helps. The colours they are available in are super ugly (why always black?!), but it lasts you literal years once you buy one. Or, well, they should. The first brush I had did last me about three years, if I recall correctly, the one I bought as a replacement broke within a month. But I superglued the handle back to the brush itself, and now I have been happily using it for at least a year.

If you have a lot of hair or very thick hair, brush your hair in layers. Grab all of your hair, hold it horizontally (so at a 90 degree-ish angle away from your head) and slowly drop little bits and pieces of hair from the bulk in your hand, brushing the scraps that fall. This way, you don’t abuse your hair by trying to skim through that one knot or tangle, and brushing your hair in layers goes a whole lot faster!

Now, I am happy to report that this bone has been picked. And if you ever treat your hair unnecessarily roughly ever again, I will come back to haunt you after I am dead. And don’t think dying before I will avoid that fate; I will find a way to haunt a ghost. Don’t try me. Take proper care of your hair. Square face: a broad forehead, square jawline. If you’ve got a square face, make sure your haircut has a lot of layers. Curls can help create some softness to your face. Make sure you part your hair to the right or left, never in the middle. If you have bangs, comb them away from your face. Avoid geometrical hairdos like long bob-lines and heavy lifts are fundamental.

Round face: distance between chin and forehead is about the same as the distance between cheekbones. If your face is round, some short bangs might look nice on you. Try to avoid curls or thick, full hair which is pulled away from your face.

Oval face: broad cheekbones, small pointy chin and small forehead. Lucky you. You can do whatever the heck you want. Long face: High forehead, long chin. If your face is long, choose a bob or a more ‘boyish’ (whatever that may mean) hairdo. Short layers also help break the length of your face, since it creates horizontal layers. Curls will also look great on you! Try to avoid long straight-cut hairdos.

Source Wadeson, Jacki. Hairstyles, Braiding & Haircare. London: Lorenz Books, 2000.

By XanCanStand

The world overflows with different people from different places and cultures, and each is worth considering and celebrating. Let us be united in an appreciative toast to the diverse and varied qualities that make humanity great, specifically here with a glimpse of some of the beautiful and functional attire worn around the globe. Cheers!

In the area of the Indian Subcontinent, there is a traditional dress worn that is now well known throughout the world. The sari, or saree, is a stunning look at formal occasions and in everyday use. The word “sari” means “strip of cloth” in Sanskrit, which is what it is. A sari is one single piece of unstitched fabric, as short as four meters and up to the more typical nine meters long, made of cotton or silk or synthetic fibers and with a heavier hem and endpiece (called a pallu) which help the piece to drape properly when wrapped. Because of this, the sari needs no safety pins to be kept in place. Certainly one could use them as extra security, but keep in mind that too many metal fasteners may hinder the sari’s natural flow. And though the British felt differently some time ago, a sari is a complete outfit and does not require a blouse or petticoat to be worn with it.

As for how to wrap a sari, this article won’t begin to pick a style to describe. It is said there are more than a hundred different ways to wrap a sari. But the sari is not an overly complicated ordeal to wear, and with practice can be incorporated into day-today wear with the same ease as tying one’s shoes. (Maybe start with the Nivi drape?) At home in warm climates, this dress keeps cool in hot weather but also warm when it is cold out. The sari is very versatile, and also available to everyone. While it currently has a mostly female user base, the sari is a unisex garment. Saris are first mentioned in 3,000 B.C. in the Rig Veda, a Hindu book of hymns. It is attire with a long past, one of culture and tradition and gorgeous vibrant color, suitable in the streets of Bangalore as well as on the runways of fashion shows.

In German-speaking countries and regions, there are traditional garments known as Tracht. “Tracht” simply means clothing, directly translated as “what is carried or worn”. The most well-known Tracht would be lederhosen (short leather breeches) for men and dirndls (bodice, skirt, blouse, and apron) for women, though there are a lot of region-specific variations of the fashion. In Bavaria they have six different styles alone: Berchtesgadener Tracht, Chiemgauer Tracht, Isarwinkler Tracht, Inntaler Tracht, Miesbacher Tracht and Werdenfelser Tracht. The Black Forest has the Bollenhut, a distinctive widebrimmed hat with red pompoms. Northern Germany has Friesische Tracht, which they decorate with beads and embroidery. Each variety is beautiful to behold and contemplate.

Tracht got its start at the end of the 15th century in rural Alpine areas and was worn for hard physical work since it’s more durable than a fabric garment. Traditionally lederhosen is hand made of tanned deer hide which makes them comfortable but very durable. All styles would usually be equipped with two side pockets, one hip pocket, one knife pocket, and a codpiece. Haferlschuh shoes complete the ensemble. Dirndls worn in everyday use are much the same quality, made from grey or coloured linen with leather bodice and trim. And there are also more formal versions intended for special occasions. Today, they are mostly worn for leisure and as costumes at Oktoberfest. It is a folk dress which represents pride and hard work and community bonds.

In the Scottish Highlands is one of the most famous folk costumes, the kilt. It is a knee-length skirt with pleats at the back, made of woollen cloth in a tartan pattern, originating as the traditional dress of Gaelic men. Tartan is a pattern made up of vertical and horizontal stripes. Like the sari, this seemingly simple design has hundreds of different combinations of the colored stripes and base colours. Today there are nearly 3000 types of tartan available. And many of them are rooted deep in Scottish history, because each of the disparate clans had a tartan of their own to represent themselves with.

The first form of this outfit known to us is from the 16th century: the great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak. The smaller kilt we know today is essentially just the bottom half of the great kilt, and it emerged in the 18th century. Its inventor was an ironmaster named Thomas Rawlinson. Rawlinson’s workers all wore the great kilt but they were unwieldy and ill-suited for the hot work indoors. His altered kilt was adopted by clansmen in the smelting, charcoal, and logging industries, and from there throughout the Highlands.

Tartan (and much more Scottish heritage) was nearly lost to history. After The Battle of Culloden in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie of the House of Stuarts tried to lay claim to the throne and was defeated, tartan was banned by the English Crown. The Dress Act in 1746 made it a criminal offence to wear tartan. It also classified bagpipes as weapons of war (obviously).

The Act was repealed in 1782 but by that time many weavers who knew the older patterns from before the Battle were dead or growing old and Highlanders had long ago stopped wearing it. But finally, in 1822, the Great Tartan Revival began. Ironically, this was due to King George IV, the new King of Great Britain. He was invited to Scotland by the famed novelist Sir Walter Scott, who put on a tartan display for the King’s visit. The British King enjoyed the display and encouraged the nobles of Scotland to wear their tartan to official functions. Thus it returned into fashion once more. Today the kilt lives on, often worn on formal occasions and sporting events, and while underwear is said to be optional with the kilt, the Scottish Tartans Authority says to use common sense in those circumstances.