GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO HAIR CARE

5 HAIR CARE BASICS

Good and professional looking hair style separates men from boys. When every hair is in place, you command attention and come across as self-reliant. However, achieving this requires right information, right products and right care. Now the B.LAB Gentleman's Guide to Hair Care demystifies and simplifies hair care - to put you in control of your appearance and identity. But first, as always we start with the fundamentals.

Hair degrades in men at 25
Not all men's hair is the same
Good hair requires on-going care

DIFFERENT HAIR TYPES

Men have different hair types - fine and oily hair, wavy thick hair, and curly and dry hair. Worrying about each hair is a pain in the you-know-where. So we have created guidelines and products that can adapt to any hair types using a 3-part regimen.

Read on...

ACHIEVING STRONG SHINY HEALTHY HAIR

To achieve strong shiny healthy hair, you need a complete hair care regimen to treat all 3 parts of your hair including the 1) hair root (inside), 2) hair fibre (outside) and 3) the scalp (skin).

With our regimen, you will find that it takes less than 10 minutes a day to have strony shiny healthy hair all year around.

#1 SCALP CARE

What is it: The skin under your hair through which hair appears.
Common problems: Dandruff, Itching
What causes it: Hard water, hygiene, cheap hair care products, genetics, microbial infection, environment

Goal: Clean and declog pores

Care Guidelines:

Use a high-quality gentle shampoo for your hair. Cheap shampoos strip away excess oil and leaves your scalp irritated and itchy. Wrong shampoo also leads to dandruff.
Shampoo regularly (alternate days). If you lead an active lifestyle or sweat a lot, shampoo daily.
Avoid cheap hair styling products and ordinary hair oils as they only add grease and attract dust and pollution without adding any benefits.
Avoid excessive direct exposure to sun. UV rays damage skin leaving it damaged or dead.
Get high quality styling products. While styling, avoid applying the product to the scalp. Apply mid-way to hair ends.

#2 HAIR FIBRE CARE

What is it: The external of the 3 layers that make a hair shaft (cuticle).
Common Problems: Breakage, Dryness, Dullness, Frizz, Limpness
What causes it: Color/Salon treatments, hard water, cheap hair care products, bad diets, environment

Goal: Smoothen and protect the cuticle

Care Guidelines:

Use high quality conditioning agent to replace the oils and moistures removed during shampooing. Select the right conditioning agent for your hair type. This can be a conditioner or therapeutic oils such as Argan oil with Vitamin E to smoothen the cuticle and give a smooth shiny look.
Avoid towel drying. The friction damages hair. Let hair dry naturally or invest in a good blow dryer - the ionic types. They last you a long time. Always dry hair on cold setting.
Avoid cheap oils. 91% of hair is protein. Cheap oils lack the ability to bond with proteins. They leave your hair greasy and attract dust, pollutants and encourage bacterial growth. Invest in high quality hair oils with Argan and Vitamin E for hydration and repair.
Avoid chemical color treatments if you can (they contain ammonia to bleach your hair). If not, invest in high quality hair colors - remember, no matter what hair color you get, they will damage your hair to some extent. Increase proteins and healthy oils and fats in your diet.

#3 HAIR ROOT CARE

What is it: The part of hair that lies under your scalp (follicle)
Common Problems: Hair Loss (Thinning, Shedding, Rejection)
What causes it: Stress, heredity, bad diet, disease, drugs, steroid intake, hormonal imbalance

Goal: Restore growth (anagenic)

IMPORTANT:

Like in diabetes or heart disease, all forms of hair loss is a chronic problem. There is no cure. There is only treatment.
Once you have bald spots, no treatment can restore hair in that area. The only option is hair transplant.
In active follicles, you can reduce shedding, prevent hair thinning, promote thickness and regrowth.
If you are facing hair loss, start using a high quality topical treatment right away.

Care Guidelines:

Use high quality hair regrowth treatments with natural ingredients. This is important because hair treatments need to be used continuously for long term. Using products with synthetic chemicals in the long term will create side effects such as itching, dandruff and scalp bleeding.
Use treatment twice a day without fail. Remember, the dysfunction in your body is killing hair cells 24x7. The treatment is the only thing that can stop it from getting worse.
Be disciplined about applying treatment without fail. Make treatment part of your daily lifestyle. It takes only a few minutes to apply it. Keep treatment where you can find it easily by your bed side or in the bathroom. For convenience, keep one in office or gym bag, so you don't forget.
If using prescription pills, particularly for hereditary balding, pay attention to any side effects. With pharmaceuticals, side effects will be a trade off. Common side effects include erectile dysfunction, impotence and other non-trivial problems. You will need to make a personal call on whether to continue or stop based on the impact of side effects on your personal life.
As a company providing scientific hair care solutions, we don't believe in homeopathy as a legitimate option. There is no proof it works.
There is no way to prevent hair loss with just nutrition and lifestyle modifications. You will need to apply a treatment daily. Having said that, eating foods rich in proteins, minerals and healthy fats and eliminating lifestyle habits that creates stress (negative thoughts, procrastination, smoking and excessive drinking, negative relationships, toxic environments, sun exposure, etc) will help promote better response to hair treatments.
Hair loss is linked to other chronic problems. Get a thorough health check up done by a quality doctor specializing in endocrinology regardless of your age. Get blood tests (after seeing doctor) for your thyroid, adrenals, insulin and other hormone levels checked. Bring them into balance if they are not.

RELATED ISSUES

Dandruff, gray hair, uneven beard and eyebrow growth are mostly cosmetic issues (meaning it is more of a social problem than a health problem). Any scalp itching and irritation should be addressed separately.

Dandruff

Clear any dandruff as soon as you can with a combination of a gentle shampoo, using Argan Oil and Vitamin E and anti-dandruff treatment. Dandruff can lead to hair loss. Anti-dandruff shampoos are also fine, but used alone they provide temporary relief.

See complete dandruff control guide here

Clear Scalp Therapy Oil

Graying

Gray hair in 20s and 30s is called premature graying. Graying in 40s is considered normal by social norms. There is no treatment for gray hair (or white hair as it is commonly known). The reasons for gray hair are not completely understood and research is incomplete. We recommend that you try to reduce stress and take Vitamin B5 supplements. Outside of this, hair color is your only option. While choosing hair color, take all the care we have highlighted in this guide.

Beard & Eye Brows

Beard hair is similar to hair on your head. Care and management of your beard is similar to that of general hair care. Simply replace the shampoo with a exfoliating skin wash that is right for your skin type. And oh, eye brows don't require blow drying. :)

NUTRITION & SUPPLEMENTATION

Nutrition plays a big part in your hair health. For example, biotin or protein deficiency may result in hair loss. Eat healthy wholesome foods. Eliminate packaged, processed or sugary foods completely. It is hard to get all nutrients from the diet. Use basic supplementation to fill in gaps in your nutrition. The following supplementation can be taken with your meals. Follow dosage instructions on the package. Buy quality brands.

Biotin
Vitamin D3
Omega 6 and Omega 9
Multi-vitamins