Category Archives: Haircare

My Top Uses for Coconut Oil

Posted on by

1

eye-make-up-remover1

I “recently” (a month ago..) did a post on the effects of coconut oil on skin and hair, if you missed it, have a look here. In the spirit of coconut oil (if there is such a thing), I thought it … Continue reading →

Coconut oil – Skin and Hair benefits

Posted on by

7

coconut-half

In Sanskrit, coconuts are called “Kalpa Vriksha”, which means: “the tree that gives all that is necessary for living”. This strange looking, hairy nut, has long been known for its health and medicinal properties in the tropics. Recently, western society … Continue reading →

Soft and Hard: the effects of water quality on skin and hair

Posted on by

2

water

After moving to Hungary 6 years ago, I noticed a definite change in my skin and hair quality, compared to Norway. My shampoos never seemed to lather properly, my skin felt dry straight after washing, and my hair got a … Continue reading →

Lookfantastic discounts on Moroccanoil and Redken haircare!

Posted on by

0



Dearest ROKers! It has come to my attention that Lookfantastic is hosting another discount fest, and this time it applies especially to Moroccanoil (10% discount) reached here: Moroccanoil oil treament, and the Redken haircare line (25% discount) here: Redken All Soft Heavy Cream, both of which were mentioned in my recent post about summer-haircare! Coincidence? I think not, more like divine intervention! I shall make an order on a new bottle of Moroccanoil as we speak! Can you tell I’m happy?! The purchase must be made before midnight Wednesday the 18th.

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, as I know a number of you expressed your interest in the oil as well as in Redken following my posts.

My Summer Hair Care Tips can be found HERE, and my review of the Moroccanoil treatment can be reached HERE.

I should mention that Lookfantastic ships free worldwide, and that they are also offering special July discounts, which I blogged about earlier this month, HERE.

Summer hair- care tips

Posted on by

7

ROKer and sweetheart, Sahar, asked for some summer hair -care tips, and after my recent dive into Argan oil and the Moroccan oil treatment, I thought it would fit quit nicely with a post on just that.

Hair protection is something I have to get better at. I’m known for being a sunscreen-Nazi when it comes to my face, but more or less always forget to add protection to my locks, which are also exposed to the damaging effects of UV radiation.

While hair does not get sunburned, it is still damaged by the sun, wind, salt water or chlorinated pool water. Exposure to these elements disturbs the otherwise smooth cuticle layer of the hair. As a consequence, the hair gets dryer, rougher and more brittle to the point of appearing straw-like. The hair’s color pigments are bleached out at the same time.

Top tips:

1. Nothing beats physical protection; so opt for a hat when you know you’ll stay outdoors for a while.  A broad brimmed hat will deliver protection to your face and décolleté as well.

2. Invest in a SPF containing treatment oil, or hair spray such as the Kérastase Soleil Huile Celeste £16.05(which I’ve stolen from my mother and used on and off when on holiday) and Moroccanoil oil treatment £30.45 (Reviewed here) as sun bleaches natural and artificial hair colors alike.

3. Try switching to a sulphate free or milder shampoo such as Weleda Baby Calendula Shampoo & Body Wash £6.95, which also makes a great travel product as it can be used as both shampoo and a body wash.

4. Limit swimming in the ocean and pool-water. Seawater or pool water can be pretty hard on hair. After a swim in the ocean, salt crystals may form in your hair and increase the damage to your hair. The crystals work like tiny burning glasses, which bundle and focus the sun’s rays. Whenever possible, you should therefore rinse your hair under a fresh water shower after a swim in the ocean. Pool water has its own hazards for hair. Disinfectants like chlorine or copper may turn blonde or grey hair green (yikes!)

5. Shower in warm or if you’re very brave, cold water (!), as opposed to hot. Hot water dries skin and hair, adding to that summer hair- crunch you’d rather avoid.

6. Limit the use of hot irons, curling irons and blow dryers, which all have damaging and drying effects on hair.

7. Use a moisturizing hair mask regularly to add shine and protection. I like Redken all soft heavy cream £17.25, or you could try Kérastase Masque Uv Defense Active £22.25, if you color your hair.

8. Leave your house with a hair mask treatment on to add continuous moisture and protection during your day at the beach.

9. Opt for hairstyles such as braids, or knots to shield hair, and protect split ends.

I’ll leave a link to a youtube video of how to make your own, done by Kristin&Lauren HERE.

10. Eat healthy! I’ve touched upon the use of antioxidants a number of times now, and it seems that they don’t only help our skin stay young and guarded, but do the same for our hair. Eat foods rich in vitamins C and E as well as beta-carotene. Examples include: berries, spinach, kale, broccoli, nuts, avocados and apricots.

For more skin and hair food tips visit my posts on the 10 best spices for your skin, and antioxidants.

Moroccanoil Oil Treatment – Review

Posted on by

12

As promised, I am back with a review on my favorite hair care product, Moroccanoil Oil Treatment.

This is another favorite with the celebrities, and once again an interview with a famous person led me to a product. This time, a haircare product.

Diane Kruger is also a fan of Moroccanoil

The disclaimer reads:

“Moroccanoil® Treatment’s versatile, nourishing and residue-free formula can be used as a conditioning, styling and finishing tool. It blends perfectly with other products and even speeds up drying time. This treatment for hair completely transforms and repairs as its formula transports lost proteins for strength; fatty acids, omega-3 oils and vitamins for shine; and antioxidants for protection. It absorbs instantly to fill gaps in hair created by heat, styling and environmental damage.”

I was a little suspicious to an oil hair treatment, as my main goal in life (apart from love&happiness, dermatology, and good skin) has been to oomph my hair with as much volume as humanly possible as often as possible, and I just didn’t see that happening with an oil. But boy, was I wrong! Moroccanoil contains a number of silicones in addition to Argan oil, and so delivers lots of bounce and lightness to the hair.

Full ingredients list: cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, butylphenyl methylpropional, argania spinoza kernel oil, linseed extract, fragrance supplement, D&C Yellow-11, D&C Red-17, coumarin, benzyl benzoate and alpha-isomethyl ionone.

Argan oil contains a number of antioxidants shown to be protective of hair and skin, if you missed my post about it, here you go, and it will open in a new window for you.

The oil is thick and almost honey-like, with a faint smell of, ehm roses? It’s very nice and indulgent anyway. You just want to brush your hair up against people so that they’ll “accidentally” smell your locks, I know, creepy! It’s that nice! But of course, fragrance is subjective, and what smells like roses to me might smell a wholofalot different to you. (This is why I hate perfume reviews, and so you will never find one here on ROKderm)

It is a little pricey at £30.45, but on my hair I didn’t need to use more than half a teaspoon approximately. It has therefore lasted a very long time. If you have thicker hair, you might need a bit more, and if you have thinner hair you might be OK with less.

Because it doesn’t way hair down, it’s a treatment that suits both thin and thicker hair types. It smooths, gives shine, and bounce! A multipurpose product this one.

I add it to towel dried hair, and depending on where I’m going, I either let my hair air-dry giving natural waves, or I use the hairdryer to blow some extra volume into my mane.

It’s especially nice now in the summertime, as we will be spending lots of time outside (unless you live in Northern Europe, like me). Easy natural beachy-waves are obtainable with this product, while your simultaneously protecting your hair from the harmful rays of the sun.

To sum it up, it gives:

1.Shine

2.Volume

3.Decreases Friss

4.Heat protection

5.Bounce

6. Antioxidant protection of hair

7.UV protection in sunlight

8.Smells amazing

I’m almost to the end of my bottle, and will be sure to re-buy it after! I got mine from lookfantastic £30.45 here: Moroccanoil Oil Treatment

Focus on Argan oil- Is there something to the hype?

Posted on by

8

I have had a couple of requests about Argan oil, as well as summer haircare tips from ROKers and lovely ladies; Fatima and Sahar. Since Argan oil is an essential haircare ingredient I thought I’d kick it off with a post focusing on the benefits of including Argan oil containing hair and body serums this summer. Product reviews including my favorite hair product- Morrocan Oil, will follow.

Argan oil is an oil produced from the kernels of the Argan Tree, endemic to Morocco, that is valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties. The tree, a relict species from the Tertiary age, is extremely well adapted to drought and other environmentally harsh conditions of southwestern Morocco.

Lets have a quick look at the components of Argan oil:

  1. Linoleic acid: Linoleic acid belongs to one of the two families of essential fatty acids that humans and animals must ingest for good health, because the body requires them for various biological processes, but cannot synthesize them from other food components. Applied to our skin, linoleic acid aids the effect of antioxidants, and works as a moisturizing, and an anti- inflammatory agent.
  2. Oleic acid: Oleic acid has been shown to upregulate antibacterial properties of the sebocytes (the oil producing cells of the skin), resulting in increased defense and regulation of the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, which is a causative agent in the development of inflammatory acne vulgaris, which is the most common skin disease, afflicting up to 80% of individuals throughout their lives (Nordstrom et al., 1986; Chronnell et al., 2001; Bojar and Holland, 2004).
  3. Tocopherols (Vitamin E): As I have mentioned in my almond oil post, as well as in my antioxidant post, this is a powerful skin saver, and antioxidant. It is involved in UV protection in skin, wound healing, and has been associated to increased skin elasticity by up regulation of the cells responsible for those age defying elastic fibers, the fibrocytes. Vitamin E improve skin ulcerations, and it also improves the skin manifestations evident with scleroderma, morphea, hypertrophic scars, and lichen amyloidosis. On hair, according to natural-news.com, vitamine E has been associated to increased growth, and prevention of hair loss, through mechanisms not yet know. Vitamin E can be used as a leave-on conditioner for dry and damaged hair as well. A small amount daily will treat dry hair and heal the hair shafts.
  4. Caffeic Acid: Caffeic acid is another antioxidant. Caffeic acid also shows immunomodulatory and anti-inflammtory activity. Stainforth et al. found caffeic acid to be protective against the harmful effects of UVB radiation in skin, including the decrease of  inflammatory markers involved in aging and development of cancer. It is also involved in aiding wound healing by both decreasing inflammation and increasing collagen deposition at the site of the wound.
  5. Squalene: Squalene oil is the most common fat and antioxidant produced in and on human skin. It is a natural moisturizer. Squalane is in personal care products, such as moisturizers. It appears to function in the skin as a quencher of singlet oxygen, protecting human skin surface from lipid peroxidation due to exposure to ultraviolet light and other sources of oxidative damage.
  6. Oleuropein: Is one of the main natural phenols found in Argan oil, olive leaves, and leaves of privet. Oleuropein and its metabolite hydroxytyrosol have powerful antioxidant activity. Hydroxytyrosol is believed to be one of the most powerful antioxidants. Its oxygen radical absorbance capacity is 40,000 umolTE/g, which is ten times higher than that of green tea, and two times higher than that of CoQ10. Kimura et al found that Oleuropein acted protectively against UVB radiation, by moderating skin thickness, elasticity, and exerting cancer protection during UVB exposure.
  7. Vanillic acid: It is one of the main natural phenols in Argan oil. Vanillic acid has been suggested to have protective effects on fibroblasts (elastic fibers producing cells) and keratinocytes (skin cells) after skin injury.
  8. Tyrosol: As an antioxidant, tyrosol can protect cells against injury due to oxidation. It is not as potent as the other antioxidants, but has good bioavailability (meaning it remains active for longer in our bodies), and thus becomes important for the overall effect of Argan oil antioxidant properties.
  9. Resorcinol: Another main phenol of Argan oil. Resorcinol has been used topically in dermatology for a while including as an antiseptic and disinfectant, and it is used in ointments in the treatment of chronic skin diseases such as psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and eczema, and in over-the-counter topical acne treatments at 2% or less concentration, and in prescription treatments at higher concentrations.
  10. Catechin: A natural phenol and antioxidant. Catechin is one of the main antioxidants found in green tea, and exerts effects on our skin in terms of photoprotection against UV radiation, anti-cancer activity in development of skin cancers, and antiaging action through modulating skin structure and function.

Antioxidants bring valuable effects when applied to hair as well as to skin. It protects the hair against UV induced damage, making it less brittle, protecting hair color, and might even induce growth when taken orally as well as topically.

There is no surprise then that Argan oil has become such a popular addition to haircare lately. It has one of the longest natural antioxidant lists I have seen so far, and can be used internally as well as externally on both skin and hair for antioxidant and moisturizing effects.

My 3 Argan containing oils are pictured below:

From left to Right we have:

1. BioArgan oil. Bought at the airport in Marrakesh during my Moroccan vacation this spring. I used this during my recent weekend trip to Pecs, and it worked brilliantly as both a hair treatment and body moisturizer! Get your own organic version from John Masters Organics at Lookfantastic £32.50 for 59ml, and if you buy 2 John Masters Organics products you receive a John Masters body duo for free. Here: John Masters Organics 100% Argan Oil 

2. Moroccanoil Treatment Oil. I shall follow up on this post with a review of this one, since it’s my favorite among them. If your already eager to try it, you can get it for £30.45 off Lookfantastic here: Moroccanoil Oil Treatment

3. Hair Oil from Actyva. This one I bought from my local hairdresser. It’s been working quite nicely as a hair-treament only. I will however not be buying this again, since I am so happy with my Moroccanoil. So far no other oil has been able to deliver the same amount of bounce, shine and softness as it creates.

Sources:

Green tea polyphenols provide photoprotection, increase microcirculation, and modulate skin properties of women.

Heinrich U, Moore CE, De Spirt S, Tronnier H, Stahl W

Institute for Experimental Dermatology, University of Witten-Herdecke, D-58455 Witten, Germany. J Nutr. 2011 Jun;141(6):1202-8. Epub 2011 Apr 27.

Olive leaf extract and its main component oleuropein prevent chronic ultraviolet B radiation-induced skin damage and carcinogenesis in hairless mice.

Kimura Y, Sumiyoshi M.

J Nutr. 2009 Nov;139(11):2079-86. Epub 2009 Sep 23.

Caffeic acid, a phenolic phytochemical in coffee, directly inhibits Fyn kinase activity and UVB-induced COX-2 expression

Nam Joo Kang,1,2,3,† Ki Won Lee,3,† Bong Jik Shin,2 Sung Keun Jung,2 Mun Kyung Hwang,2,3 Ann M. Bode,1 Yong-Seok Heo,4 Hyong Joo Lee,2 and Zigang Dong1,*

Carcinogenesis. 2009 February; 30(2): 321–330.

Published online 2008 December 10. doi:  10.1093/carcin/bgn282

PMCID: PMC2639050

The Effect of Caffeic Acid on Wound Healing in Skin-incised Mice

Ho Sun Song,1 Tae Wook Park,1 Uy Dong Sohn,2 Yong Kyoo Shin,3 Byung Chul Choi,1 Chang Jong Kim,1 and Sang Soo Sim1

Korean J Physiol Pharmacol. 2008 December; 12(6): 343–347.

Published online 2008 December 31. doi:  10.4196/kjpp.2008.12.6.343

PMCID: PMC2788657

 Caffeic acid suppresses UVB radiation-induced expression of interleukin-10 and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in mouse

  1. Vanisree Staniforth,
  2. Lu-Tang Chiu and
  3. Ning-Sun Yang*

Carcinogenesis (2006) 27 (9): 1803-1811. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgl006 First published online: March 8, 2006

 Chlorogenic Acid and Caffeic Acid Are Absorbed in Humans1

  1. Margreet R. Olthof2,
  2. Peter C. H. Hollman*, and
  3. Martijn B. Katan   
    J. Nutr. January 1, 2001 vol. 131 no. 1 66-71

Phenolic compounds of Chromolaena odorata protect cultured skin cells from oxidative damage: implication for cutaneous wound healing.

Phan TT, Wang L, See P, Grayer RJ, Chan SY, Lee ST. Biol Pharm Bull. 2001 Dec;24(12):1373-9.

 Squalene and its potential clinical uses.

Kelly GS. Altern Med Rev. 1999 Feb;4(1):29-36.