Month: December 2023

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Shoes: Manolo Blahnik / Jewelry: Meredith Marks / Hair: @hairbyalisonfarfan / Makeup: @samanthajaymes / Fashion stylist: @annalavostylist / Photo: Clifton Prescod / Photo Assist: Jocelyn Prescod

Photo + Info: Bravo TV

Originally posted at: Meredith Marks’s Season 4 Reunion Look

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Shoes: Rene Caovilla / Hair: Shedelle Holmes / Makeup: Megan Lanoux / Nails: Thao & Jack at VN Nails  / Photo: Clifton Prescod / Photo Assist: Jocelyn Prescod

Photo + Info: Bravo TV

Originally posted at: Heather Gay’s Season 4 Reunion Look

Over the decades, our hair, like our skin, suffers a number of issues. I’m not just talking about the trials and tribulations sometimes associated with going grey.

As your hormones fluctuate and eventually disappear, everything from your hair’s thickness to its moisture levels can vary. Your hair may become much thinner, lighter and turn grey, because your hair follicles produce less melanin.

Most people experience some hair loss as they grow older and the rate of hair growth slows as well. Your scalp may become visible, but hopefully your eyesight will have deteriorated, so you don’t notice.

So how do you keep your locks looking thick and healthy as you age?

In Your 50s

The average age of menopause is around 52, and although subtle changes to the hair can and often do occur long before this, menopause speeds up the changes.

As your levels of oestrogen drop and your level of testosterone increases, the length and the diameter to which your hair will grow decreases.

Caring for Thinning Hair

Use a good quality shampoo that is formulated for aging hair or permed/styled hair. If the shampoo is good, you only need to use ½ to 1 teaspoon. Too much shampoo can make your hair dry and frizzy. Use a good conditioner, and only apply it on the hair, not on the scalp.

Monat Intense Repair Shampoo

Thinning hair is often finer and therefore weaker, so it is important to take extra care when styling so as not to snap strands. Choose a brush that is cushioned at the base with rounded, plastic prongs.

DeVille 100% Boar Cushion Brush

In Your 60s+

When you hit your 60s, and as you move into your 70s, oil (sebum) secretion diminishes. This can make the hair dry and brittle and is the most likely time for thinning hair and hair loss to surface.

Go to your doctor and have your hemoglobin levels checked. These tend to decrease during this time of life, and lowered iron levels can affect hair growth and diameter. Read this excellent article on the benefits of taking iron.

Caring for Your Hair When Iron Levels Are Low

Once a week, use a weekly intensive pre-shampoo conditioning treatment. It will restore moisture, strength and elasticity.

Kérastase Resistance Pre-Shampoo Conditioner

To improve hemoglobin levels, take a daily supplement containing iron and vitamin C or your doctor may prescribe one for you.

Iron Supplement Plus Vitamin C, Coated Tablets

As many as 60 percent of women over age 70 are affected by hair loss to a greater or lesser extent. Your head has more than 100,000 hairs; every day you lose 50 to 200. They are replaced by new hairs, but the replacement slows and even stops as we age.

Hair loss that accompanies aging is not usually reversible. Proper hair care may help slow the process. Feed your hair every couple of weeks with something like Jojoba Oil or Coconut Oil to condition and smooth the hair from the outside.

A daily hair brushing really does stimulate the circulation in the scalp and gives your hair an instant polish! Use an oval, paddle shaped hair brush with natural or nylon bristles. Neither can hurt, and they will help.

Further read, 6 PRODUCTS TO HELP MAKE YOUR FINE HAIR LOOK FULL AND THICK.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you have hair loss and hair thinning issues? What have you done to try and combat the problem? We would love to know if anything you tried has worked so please share your tips in the comments below.

What better time than the start of a new year to envision new possibilities! Most of us get ready by buying a planner or a calendar. Empty pages filled with promise. But there’s another way to prepare for the year ahead. You can ask the counterpart to your Intellectual Planner Self, your Right-brained Imagination, to help you create a Vision Board.

You’re right… this exercise isn’t a new concept. But it’s a trusty tool. And it’s especially fruitful if you’re longing for change and can’t seem to think or plan yourself any closer to making it happen.

A vision board opens channels to ideas you may not realize you had.

Visioning Coaxes Your Dreams into Reality

Planners and calendars are perfect for scheduling and staying organized. Vision boards are intended to give your wildest dreams some breathing room.

They’ve been called Creativity Collages, Image Banks… they’re a vivid reminder that too often we skip the dreaming and scheming phases of creating change in our lives.

We’re socialized to take ACTION, and we often jump into that too quickly. We’d rather make action plans, problem-solve, figure stuff out!

Vision boards give us the needed permission to wonder “What if…”

Breathe Life into Your Intentions by Paying Attention to Them

When you make a vision board your subconscious mind runs the show, your playful self cuts loose, and your inner critic takes a nap.

Selecting words and images representing what you want or who you want to become allows your outer life to fall in line accordingly and informs you about what you need to pay attention to.

Take 5 Simple Steps

Ready to start the fun?

STEP 1: Choose Your Format

You have some options. You can make cards to put on your desk or tuck away for your eyes only. Or use a bulletin board with push pins.

You may want a poster board to hang in your hallway. Then everyone can hold your vision for you. Or maybe a banner that hangs from your ceiling sounds about right.

You get the idea. There’s no wrong answer for Step 1. 

STEP 2: Ask Yourself What Your Heart Truly Desires

Take deep breaths into Step 2. Get to the feelings beneath what you want.

If you want a million dollars, for example, ask yourself WHY? Deep down, what will that bring you? Security? Peace of mind? Freedom?

Don’t rush this step. Get to the essence of what you want. Give your subconscious a chance to identify what’s truly at the heart of your desires.

Most importantly, don’t filter, judge, or criticize what you come up with.

STEP 3: Find Images That Speak to You

Do this leisurely. Magazines or the internet are great sources. So are photos, your original art, or doodles.

It’s very important in Step 3 not to try to figure out why you are drawn to an image or a phrase. Or to talk yourself out of it. Just use it. The feeling behind it came to you in Step 2.

Your creative self knows things your logical self doesn’t. And remember, that’s the side of you that’s doing this activity.

STEP 4: Place What You’ve Found or Created on Your Card or Board

Use glue, tape, pins, or whatever else works for the type of project you’re creating.

STEP 5: Put Your Board Where You’ll See It

You don’t have to build a shrine, stare at it for hours, or memorize it. It will still serve its purpose.

Your subconscious mind is amazingly effective.

Take note of when or how something from your board manifests. (Hint: It’s like getting a surprise that doesn’t feel that surprising.) Write these things down or make a Vision Card Journal or Log.

You can use your shiny new planner to make your lists and set your appointments. But playing with a vision board yields another level of information.

Watch what happens. Maybe this year you’ll create what your heart truly desires. I hope you do!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you ever created a vision board or other tool? How do you feel about having some fun with one this year? Let’s have a conversation!