Healthy Diet, Healthy Hair!

It's also healthy diet means healthy heart, healthy brain, healthy liver, healthy kidneys, healthy bladder, healthy lungs, healthy skin!
So I skirted over how good nutrition helps your hair, scalp and skin and I'm going to go into it now in a lot more detail. A Healthy diet is not about dieting so don't worry, it's about making sure your body has the right amount of nutrition to keep it working to it's full potential for the length it needs to live. After seeing so many close friends and relatives die way too young because of heart disease is very scary. I think it makes all of us 50 year olds look at at own health and see where we can make changes.
It's really quite simple, if you could just look at how simply our own mothers cooked the food in our young years, porridge, rice crispy, cornflakes, plane roast or boiled beef, chicken or corned beef, all with little fat, boiled potatoes and lots of boiled veg and then of course, plenty of boiled stews. You got homemade fish and chips on Friday, whats the clue here? No saturated fats, no additives, not processed, no rich sauces filled with salt!
If you look at our diet today, It's a lot more variety of foods like pastas with sauces, pizza with lots of the favourite pepperoni, processed white breads which taste divine but have no nutritional value, micro wave foods, processed foods with longevity dates which can only mean one thing, additives. And if we know nothing at all about anything, we do know that there are a lot more young people dying of cancer these days, so we do know, although all these foods are tested and approved, they are not good for everyone.
So what do we do if we are stuck in a rut of unhealthy eating? I myself love coffee, chocolate, wine, Eirdinger beer and cake! I could happily have all those things everyday, but I would be a raving alcoholic and a very large one at that! So, I prioritise things. I make sure I have my coffee and some chocolate every day and I save my alcohol for the weekends. So what else am I eating in between?
Well, a very good nutritionist I took Yasmin to see at age five, (it was part of her overall assessment of her learning difficulties,) pointed out that it was extremely important for Yasmin to have Protein in each meal from there on and have no saturated fats. She also stressed the importance of omega 3,6, and 9, all of which would help her brain grow to it's full potential, I had never thought that protein was needed at every meal, including breakfast, lunch and snacks. But I began to prepare all hers and our meals with protein, which is easy enough to do, chicken, beef, eggs, nuts, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, chickpeas, lentils, the list is endless, even if you don't eat red meat, like myself!
 Yasmin being my third child had a very good appetite for the good foods and the bad foods, so I would make sure I only cooked unprocessed foods at home and limited snacks because like every other child in this day and age, when they go to pals houses she would be able to have treats then. I was (and am) still very concerned about the availability of salty snacks that Yasmin would devour if unattended and I could see how the salt intake effected her badly, she would come home extremely thirsty for hours. My husband has kidney disease, blood pressure and a heart condition. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that salt is not having a good effect already on my child.( Just to give you a little information on my husbands past; his parents died when he was a young child and he admits he ate only fried food, sausages, rashers and other fast food! It answers it's own question on his health today! ) At the precious age of 12, I don't want to give her any food hangups, so I do allow her the bad foods at the weekends with her friends, but I am also giving her the information while I cook about the damage that too much salt, sugar and saturated fats can do to the body and hopefully as she grows she will be able to make the right choices by herself.
The other thing that is extremely important is exercise! Again there is a big difference to us as kids 40 years ago and the kids today, we were never in and they never want to go out! Favouring their electronic devices. And so I know parents are at least wise to this and have their kids in their favourite sports which is a good thing. Kids and adults alike need to be active as often as we can. After working on my own mental health during the last few years, I joined June's fitness factory in Ratoath September 2016, in my quest to get physical health and you know, I thought I was fit enough but you would be amazed that a person can be slim and unfit! And now, I am getting firm abs for my upcoming 50th! Once the kids see that you are active they will follow too. It's not about just sending your kids off to their activity, you have to endure the muck and the rain yourself. Knees deep in the lovely Irish much, Soaking wet on the side of the football pitch, early dawn mornings at the swimming pool. And I know us parents today are really good at being there for our kids!
So, how is this going to make our hair healthy? Oh yes, I forgot to mention, by adding extra protein into your daily diet, it will feed your hair! You will see a marked improvement in three weeks and a thicker crop of hair in six weeks!
So keep it simple! Lots of protein, no sauces, no frying everything, no processed foods, no sodas, (Have a bit of one of your favourite treats everyday to curb temptations) And have lots of lovely healthy soups! Here is a lovely protein filled nutritious favourite soup of mine and my family's:

Gently sautée  a bag of chopped carrots, a small bag chopped potatoes, and a bag of chopped onions in a large pot:
While chopping a bunch of celery, a bunch of leaks and some sweet potatoes then add them into pot also:
Make a large jug of mixed herbs stock and add in pot:
Bring to boil and simmer:
Add in a half bag of split red lentils,  3 cans of chick peas, 3 cans of chopped tomatoes.
And simmer for 40 minutes!
Serve with lovely fresh brown bread with a bit of real butter on it!
And enjoy!
jean xxx

Squeaky Clean!

Hi there!

So, staying on my topic of keeping hair clean, as  a hairdresser, I am extremely fussy on washing hair properly. To me, there is absolutely no point in even bothering to wash your hair if you’re not going to do it thoroughly. Because for one thing, it won’t get rid of the greasy smell and it won’t style well either. Which brings me to my pet hate, hair salons. Hair salons have not mastered the job of cleaning the hair first. Well, some of them. But there is nothing worse than going for a treat to a hair salon to have this new gentle massage washing, that does nothing but irritate the living daylights out of us clients and even the stylists as in my experience, it wastes a busy stylists time, when she has to send the client back to the basin to be washed badly again. Nobody wants to upset the young junior by being annoyed at her but on top of badly massaged washing, they also avoid washing another important part of the head, the back! Yes, we’ve all had that experience, so what did I do about it? I stopped going. Yes, something so simple made me stop going to the salon and handing over my hard earned cash for a job not done well.

So what’s the big deal? How does one wash hair properly?

Firstly, you find the right shampoo for you and that doesn’t mean expensive shampoo, that means are you sensitive to the regular sulphate shampoo? Which is in every bottle of shampoo unless it states otherwise as a non sulphate shampoo. Sulphate is a very good ingredient to remove the grease that builds up on one’s head between washes. The grease comes from the acid mantle that builds up on the scalp between washes which is the substance you want to remove in the first place. If this is not removed properly with each wash, it causes dry scalp, dandruff, smell and limp hanging hair! It gets a bit confusing here now as if you’re sensitive or allergic to sulphate, this can cause extreme itching and flaky scalp anyway! So there is absolutely no harm in washing your hair with an non sulphate shampoo because it will actually clean your hair and a cheap example is baby shampoo! Tigi products actually have a great smelling range of non sulphate shampoo, but are a little more expensive.

So, how does one wash one’s hair properly?

Well, to start with rinse the hair with warm/hot water. Add a dollop of shampoo and massage all over the hair to sud it up. Then like you’re giving your hair a good scratch all over but with just your finger pads, go at it. This is a strenuous movement and if you don’t feel strained, you’re not doing it right! Scrub every inch of your scalp for about 3 minutes and then Rinse. This first wash is removing the acid mantle but you’re not done yet! You need to do a second wash always! Add another dollop of shampoo and continue again with the same scrubbing motion for another 3 minutes, if you have long hair, you will need to scrub the flowing locks also for 3 minutes! Yes, it is a strenuous job to have clean hair!

Now, not everybody needs to have conditioner, especially if you have fine hair, but if you have thick course hair, the conditioners job is to smooth down the cuticles that have been roughened while being washed, especially with the action of a sulphate based shampoo. But if you do need conditioner, please make sure that it is rinsed to squeaky clean, because conditioner on lovely well washed hair will also cause to hang limply!

The jobs not finished yet! Another very important action is to brush the scalp completely and thoroughly for another 3 minutes! This removes any left over dead cells that can appear as dry flaky scalp!

This washing method will result in fresh smelling, shiny, light hair that will last you at least 5 to 7 days!

So, what are you waiting for? Jean xxxx

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Hair and Scalp Disorder's caused by Stress!

In today’s blog, I’m going to cover hair and scalp disorders such as;

Alopecia, which is a very common hair loss problem that occurs in patches around the scalp. There are other types of alopecia which I will cover in future blogs.

Psoriasis, which is skin disorder that forms multiple layers of skin cells that look like thick scales of lumpy white skin. They are commonly found on the scalp. When aggravated or picked at, they can become red, angry and sore.

Hair density loss, (Hair becoming thinner). Hair thinning is a big problem for all, when once thick heads of healthy locks, the hair falls out gradually leaving thinner hair that is limp and lack lustre.

These disorders effect all ages from young children to old people and can be a huge cause of low self esteem, especially in adolescents.

There are lots of things that you can do yourself to help these disorders, as well as or besides the prescribed medications, like a healthy diet that would include essential proteins and vitamins and milder products on the skin and hair that wouldn’t irritate. fresh air and exercise will keep your circulation flowing to all the little nerve endings that feed a hair follicle! But one of the most important things that you need to do for these disorders is to be Stress Free!  Because Stress is The major trigger here! There’s no denying that there is a lot of stress in our lives these days but we really need to manage it by finding out what makes us stressed. And dealing with it, there and then. That’s not so easy. But unless we do, it won’t matter what treatment we use for any of these hair and scalp problems because the condition will not change.

So, how do we tackle stress? Well firstly, we need to identify our feelings. Are we Angry, Sad, Worried, Anxious, Resentful, Blameful, Judgemental, Unhappy with ourselves and Tired? More than likely we are feeling at least one or more of these emotions and it is causing us to be stressed. But we’re better off starting with one of them. Start by writing down one of these emotions, lets start with Anger. Write down all the things that are making you annoyed or angry and look at them. When you see them in front of you, you can start figuring out each one.

In my own case, many years ago on my road of self help, I was angry about my job, my relationship, my children, my personality. I didn’t like myself very much! So the first thing I had to do was accept me, well how I looked anyway! This was me, warts and all, so what else could I change about me, being realistic of course! The main thing that caused me sadness and guilt was my temper tantrums. If things weren’t going my way I would blame someone or a situation. I became resentful. This is a major cause of sadness within oneself. So I had to shake off all of this anger, resentment and blame. I had to accept my capabilities and my limitations and I had to accept my families idiosyncrasies also. This is not an easy job because I had to practice it every minute of every day to free my mind of resentments and negativities and fill my mind with acceptance and positivities. But This Does Work! I also had to forgive myself, I was doing the best I could with the knowledge of life I had. I practiced gratitude, which is an amazing gate to mental freedom!

Blaming someone else for things that drive you mad is just not worth it. For one thing, you’re passing on all that negativity to your child, husband, wife, sister, mother, father, teacher, the list is endless, but you get the picture. I had also forgotten one little thing about people, that we are all only human! Yes, each one of us has our limitations. Some might seem less than others, but that’s also another thing, don’t compare yourself or your children with others. If you keep the focus on your own issues, you shouldn’t have the time to look at others. And remember, they are humans too with their own set of life’s instructions!

Have realistic expectations for yourself and your family! Letting each individual be the person they want to be will give you lots of mind space! You may be just more particular about the way a household chore is being done or not done, but really, how important is it?And maybe your child is not fulfilling your academic wishes? Of course, he has to follow the basic rules of life, education and then job, being self supportive. Anything after that has to be what he wants, not what you want.  I had to take on my own responsibility here for causing a lot of my own stress by not listening to my family’s needs.

Worry is a big part of life.  The reason we worry is that we’re in a situation we can’t cope with. Debt is a big one for us adults. The thing to do here is little by little. For debt, deal with it head on. Pay off small regular payments. If you can’t talk to your creditors, write to them, explain things, there is always a way through. And don’t worry about tomorrow, just keep focused on the things you need to do today. If you’re in a panic mode and everything seems too much for you, try this; Make very small goals for yourself, for starters, don’t look at the whole big mess of life at once, just look at one thing at a time that you can do, eg.’I will load the dish washer in the next five minutes and then I will have a cup of tea,’ ‘I will hoover in the next five minutes after that.’ Take regular little rests in between each task. ‘I can now write a list of my outgoings and a list of my incomings;’ See where you can spend the least money and stick to it. Bring a calculator to your grocery shop! Divide your income to cover all your bills, no matter how small the payment is, it helps! Do the same for all of your other symptoms of stress, figure each one out, the why’s and how’s and what you can do about them.

And Children worry too! Performing in school is a big one for children. Being part of a big social scene can be very worrying for an adult. Can you imagine what it’s like for a child? Even though your child may be able to talk back to you with all the answers, he is still a child with no life experience. You need to deal with their little anxieties from as early as they start. They may not be able to tell you their problem, but if they start to wet their pants, pick at their skin, wash their hands a hundred times, behave badly in school, begin to lose their hair in patches, get psoriasis, hair thins, you know they are not coping with the situation they are in, ( When a child cannot verbally express himself, this is actually when these scalp/hair disorders begin. The hidden worries have to come out some way!)  You may not be able to change their situation but someone wise once told me, ‘Make their home a place where they can be themselves with no pressure. Comfort them, cuddle them and reassure them. Listen to them.’

So now we know how to prevent the stress that causes havoc in our mechanics and has a direct effect on our skin, scalp and hair, what actual treatments can we use?

For the treatment of Alopecia? Well, inside the scalp, beneath the hair follicle, blood has stopped flowing to feed the follicle. Scientific evidence is trying to prove that the body thinks the hair follicle is a bacteria and is fighting it off, especially when it’s total alopecia, which is when all the hair falls out. And that might be one reason, but look at it this way, when you are totally stressed out, your blood flow is all array anyway, possibly not reaching the hair follicle beds, if you’re regularly worried and stressed out, the hair follicle is consistently losing too much nourishment to survive and dies off! It makes sense.

My personal favourite for hair loss/thinning is ‘Special Liver Formula’ capsules from Tony Quinn stores. This is 100% freeze-dried liver which is very high in iron which is also a very high protein. Some reasons for people’s hair loss is because of medication they may be on or age and hereditary baldness. There are some topical products that are aimed at stimulating the blood flow around the hair follicle bed and have some good success. If your reason for hair loss is that your diet is poor with little protein, you will see a marked improvement in hair returning to it’s former glory with the liver capsules. They also help your nails too! The cost is about 50 euros for 500 capsules which is not bad. You’s also be surprised how little protein children are eating today and it’s a much needed source of food for brain growth and development! This product can be given to kids too but if they can’t take capsules, my other favourite iron tonic is Floradix, which is available in every chemist and most stores and it is about 20 euros for the full size bottle.

I remember one of the worse cases I saw of scalp Psoriasis in my very early years of hairdressing. The man’s head was covered in unsightly lumps, some which were angry and red looking and some were seeping puss, which describes the multiplication of cells on the skin. But I had started cutting his hair, so I just carried on. The man was really embarrassed and in obvious discomfort. Although I had known what Psoriasis was, I was inexperienced in the condition, so I couldn’t offer much help. A couple of years after that, I had also come across a young child of about seven with Psoriasis all over his legs, face, arms and even his finger nails. It looked liked sores on his skin and unlike the layered lumps on the man’s head. The mom reassured me that it was just psoriasis and I continued cutting his hair. She told me that her son was a nervous boy and seemed to be afraid of everything. She didn’t realise then that the boy’s anxiety’s and inability to express it was the cause of his uncomfortable sores. But I was beginning to see the connection with Psoriasis and various clients stress levels.  So again, the first thing you have to do is figure out whats going on inside of you!

Sailcylic acid is a popular ointment for Psoriasis. It works by shedding the scales of the sores. Coal tar and steroid based creams are good too. And warm sunny weather is also very good for ridding the skin of the sores, but figure this, two weeks relaxing on a sun lounger reading a book! Get the picture? You are in a relaxing environment, no stress!

Jean xxx

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Hair Talk!

The Myth about Nits

2h ago

In my 2017 Blog posts, I’m going to talk about lots of things that I have experience in. As a qualified Master Hairdresser, I will be able to give you lots of hints and tips in hair problems and solutions;

Today’s problem is all about nits. As I’ve just spent the whole of December (and the first week back in school)  treating my 12 year old daughter’s massive head of thick hair for head lice, I want to clear up a common myth. Head lice is not only attracted to clean hair, it is attracted to any hair, but it most likely can gain Easy entry to dirty, smelly, unruly, tangled hair and not smoothly brushed Clean hair!

Yes, it’s easy for a lice to jump heads while close to another child, but it’s the tangled hair that it gets to grip onto! So, even boys who have a good head of hair can get them, if their hygiene is not up to scratch! Yes, people are basically being nice to avoid any embarrassment, so now you know!

So, what works? I tried the natural home remedy first which is really good, dose the hair in vinegar, leave on for twenty minutes, (whilst in the bath is really good) and then shampoo as normal. You really need to have a fine comb for the next step. Lucky you if your child has fine hair, but if your child is like mine with thick, long, flowing locks, this is going to take you about an hour to thoroughly comb through and rid the head of lice. And also, if your child has sensory issues, this is going to kill her and you as the smell isn’t great. But it is a very good home method as it is easy and inexpensive. You should also do this treatment the following week also.

Mayo-naise is also very good, but the trick here is to smother the hair in thick mayo and then fine comb the nits and lice out, it’s very messy and again, time consuming but worth it! Again, it needs to be repeated the following week.

There are many chemical products on the market for around 14 euros and my favourite is Lyclear. This works really well but I did find that I had to repeat it the following week and despite the added expense for parents, it is quite harsh on the scalp leaving it dry and flaky and itchy!

So, why did it take me so long to finally rid my daughter’s hair of lice if I had been doing all of these methods? I’m going to be very honest here, I’m nearly fifty and even with my glasses, it’s very hard to see these little critters and the nits (which are the eggs) so I wasn’t a hundred percent sure if I was getting them all. The nits can look like dry scalp! So I totally understand if busy parents can’t see these little bugs and the kids do also have to stay still for at least five minutes so that you can actually check the hair properly. And we all know how difficult that is! (The best place to check your child’s hair is in natural sunlight!) I also feel that this particular strain of lice are quite resistant to the chemical treatments that I have used. There is a theory that they have become used to the chemicals and are not been killed by them and I believe this. And the other thing is, my daughter was also catching them again by other class mates. And that is just the way school is. Kids mix and huddle. And you can’t stop that and you don’t want to either!

So, what I would say to all you nurturers out there, just pick up a bottle of vinegar in your grocery shopping for three weeks in a row and dose each of your children’s hair with vinegar, before normal washing. And simply fine comb the bad guys out. You will be surprised at what you find! But please don’t let squeamishness put you off. xxx Jean