I am a third generation hairdresser in my family.  I grew up in my grandmothers salon and watched the old ladies smoke an enitre packe of cigarettes each while getting thier Saturday afternoon perms.  I then watched my mother go through the same thing, and later learned from her and got where I am today.  The technology and chemistry over the years has advanced exponentially in this industry, but some things stay the same.

The biggest concern in any salon at any time or generation is hair loss, how to prevent it, and how to reverse it.  A woman with thinning hair is miserable and everyone within a twenty foot radius knows it.  I have many a client that has retained at least six hairs and wants me to make them look like eight.  (it's a comb, not a wand).  A womans hair is her crowning glory, starting at a very young age when she thought she would grow up to be a princess.

Hair loss and thinning hair is a common occurance.  It happens due to high stress levels, diet, and some medications.  Heredity plays the biggest role.  Women with this affliction seek out the Holy Grail of an answer to their problem and go through every concoction sold on QVC or at CVS.  Sometimes the simplest answer is the best. 

You can change your diet, reduce your stress, take your vitamins, and curse your parents, but to get to the heart of the matter, all you need is a scalp analysis.  At the salon the I work at, we offer just that, a scalp analysis.  Many times the problem is due to a poor growing environment, healthy hair comes from a healthy scalp.  It took me five years to figure out how to successfuly grow a garden, all I had to do was treat and change the soil.  The same may be said for hair.

In some cases, scalp oils or hair product build up on the scalp creating a "second skin" on the head.  As hair falls out as it naturally should (about a hundred and fifty hairs a day), the oily dandruff covers up the folicle, until no more hair can get through, literally choking out the new growth.

After a successful scalp analysis is completed, a proper treatment can be applied.  This can be from an intense dandruff treatment, to something as easy as brushing your hair every night to break up the collected oils and product, or even an exfoliant for your scalp.  (oily dandruff is different than typical dandruff that you see flaking on your clothes).

Of course my cosmetology liscense cannot alter the gene pool, again, it's a comb, not a wand.  But these measures, starting with an analysis, can help prevent if not reverse in some cases the effects of thinning hair.

Phil Stone is a Master Stylist and International Guest Artist at Bianchis Salon in Clinton Twp.

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www.modelmayhem.com/philstone