John Mayer’s New ‘Do

From this:

To this:

Typically we hear a lot about female celebs cutting or altering their hair in some way, but John Mayer’s recent trip to his hairstylist for some time under their haircutting shears has been making waves. Perhaps Mayer just got tired of his longer locks and decided to chop it all off.

We’ve noticed that people often drastically alter their appearance by cutting their hair – whether they buy shears and do it themselves, or take a trip to the stylist – when they’re going through a big life change. So is John undergoing some sort of transformation, or did he simply want something different.

We probably won’t know, since he has yet to give a reason for chopping off his mane and unlike previous hairstyle, he didn’t write a blog about his new look. Well, not yet anyway.

Robot Performs Hair Transplants

This probably won’t be the last case of a robot doing something better than a human, but it’s interesting that this particular ‘bot may be a better hair technician than a real live person. No, we’re not suggesting you trade in your haircutting shears or your typical hairstylist for a robot, rather a company in California is suggesting a robot does a better job with hair transplants than its human counter parts.

The company says that its robot has the ability to pluck and move individual hair follicles in a manner that makes hair transplants look more natural. When humans do it, the hair tends to get implanted in a predictable pattern, making it look less natural. But a robot can “tell” (and by that we mean “is programmed to know”) what the natural hairline is, and adjusts the transplant procedure accordingly.

The company also claims that the robot can perform the procedure twice as fast as human clinicians, with less pain and scarring for the patient. The robot plucks healthy follicles individually, at a rate up to 1000 an hour. Officials at the company claimed that, while manual transplants might take around eight to 10 hours, their robot could complete the process in about five hours

The robot, which is currently honing its skills on volunteers, is expected to be used in full clinical trials later this year.

Seven Hours for Salon Treatment?!

Well, when you’re Miley Cyrus guess you have the time and money to do just about anything you need to to perpetuate your image. Funny thing is, after seven hours at the Juan Juan hair salon in Beverly Hills this weekend, Miley didn’t look THAT different from the norm (not that we, y’know, keep close tabs on Miley’s changing looks …).

One review of the salon says it is, “an alluring destination for the woman (or man) who will settle for nothing less than fabulousness” -so it sounds like the hairstylists and practitioners had their work cut out for them. According to reports, stylists weren’t wielding the scissors or shears for hours on end. The hold up was apparently due to the fact that the salon didn’t have the correct color for the first set of extensions. One blog pointed out that since the salon offerss “manicures, pedicures, neck and shoulder massages and makeup application” as well as its “haircuts, aromatherapy hair treatments, highlights, color and perms”, who’s to say she wasn’t just getting a day of pampering?

Hair Could be the “Missing Link” for Fabled Yeti

The Abominable Snowman may be more than a fairy tale rendering, and this possible discovery could all be linked to a couple strands of hair. Two mystery strands found in the mountains of India could prove that the Snowman – or Yeti as he’s also known – may once have existed.

While the possible Yeti obviously didn’t go to his hairstylist for a trim – or buy scissors for a haircut himself – scientists are less concerned with how the strands got there than WHO they belong to. The team of scientists from Oxford Brookes University who are working on the case have been unable to link the strands with any known species.

According to the research team leader, “The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a Yeti might possibly exist.”

The hairs were actually found five years ago, and despite the scientific community’s dismissal of the Yeti’s existence, the results of the scientists’ research on the hairs, could support  reported sightings of the beast on Everest.

Read more about the Yeti here.

Dyed in the (natural) Wool

Given the concerns surrounding dangerous components in hair dye, it’s no surprise that a number of hairstylists have begun a search for natural alternatives that work as well as conventional products. These concerns are why the owner of a hair salon in Exeter, UK, set up her salon over a decade ago – when she first began wielding her haircutting scissors – to offer products that are natural and non-irritating.

Her hair color, care and styling products fall into this “natural” category, and she opted for a UK-based company which is committed to using naturally-derived ingredients that still produce results, while being kind and nurturing to both the client’s hair and to the health and well-being of salon staff and their working environment.

The organic color systems offered in the salon feature natural extracts, including Aloe Vera, comfrey, orange and grapefruit and the owner says – in spite of concerns that natural products don’t work as well – all her clients are 100 % satisfied with their colors, cuts, and styles.

Both clients and colourists said they “love the way that no staining occurs on the skin when the colour is being applied and the finished result is hair that is conditioned the way it should be by the natural moisture content of the hair being kept in.”

Free Haircuts Help Salon Owner Give Back

After a long, hard week on your feet as a hairstylist, wielding your haircutting scissors on your day off may be the last thing on your mind -but that’s exactly what one woman in a Nevada town is doing. Agnes Orozco, owner of Four Seasons Hair Salon, says she wants to help the community, especially the city’s youngest citizens: its children

Orozco said offering free haircuts is her way of giving back to the community – and using her skills to help others. Orozco also thinks what she’s doing may be especially important this year – after the area was hit by a flood in January, it’s been hard for some families to get back on their feet.

The free hair cuts will be in August and will be offered each Sunday.

A Fishy Pedicure

You won’t be able to buy shears or stylist’s scissors at this salon – but you will find fish. A trend that I avoided while I spent time in Asia has made its way over to the US, and I’m still not sure I’d give it a try! In this salon, clients get their feet beautified by tiny fish who nibble the dead skin off their feet. I go out of the way at the beach to steer clear of any fish that might brush up against me – so I’m not sure about paying to have them nibble my toes.

At one salon offering this treatment in Virginia, however, the owner introduced the treatment four months ago and says since then, 5000 people have had it done! And – the people who have had a fish pedicure rave about the service, saying even though it tickles and feels strange at first, it doesn’t hurt at all.

But – I’m still not sold!

Sent Home from School for Lack of … Hair?

It hasn’t been revealed if a 14-year-old student in the UK went to buy hair shears himself, or if headed to a hairstylist, but he’s been sent home for his “extreme hairstyle:” a shaved head. Hair cutting equipment aside, Thomas Haston, was told to leave school and his mom is shocked by this, saying, “They are calling it extreme hair, which I would have thought would mean colours, but even then it’s discriminatory. They are saying how children should look. That’s wrong in my eyes because everyone is different.

Whether Haston played his own hairstylist or not, he school argues that the hairstyle – or lack thereof – is against school policy and explained all parents have signed their acceptance of the school’s regulations.

The principle said: “Reasons for such policies are to contribute to our college ethos and setting of an appropriate tone.”

Read the rest of this story here.

Star Hair Wars

We’ve talked before about Victoria Beckham’s somewhat revolutionary bob – or “Pob” as it’s come to be known in honor of her Spice Girls alter ego. Sure, the bob itself has been around for awhile, but Vicki really helped make an even bigger name for her self when she arrived in LA to live after having undergone her stylist’s hair cutting shears, and showed up sporting a new, drastic hairdo. Since, then it’s spawned a number of copy-cat do’s, as more and more people – both in Hollywood and beyond – turn to professional clippers to do the trick.

Perhaps the most notable one, her one-time BFF, Katie Holmes. And according to Britian’s Daily Star, she’s been paling around with Eva Longoria recently – apparently oblivious to the fact that Longoria is also starting to look more and more like her. One thing she’s not oblivious to, according to the Star, is Holme’s continued hair-related changes.

Posh is convinced that Katie has had her “Pob” pruned into a more radical style solely to upstage Victoria’s sleek style, after she ditched her hair extensions and opted for her stylist’s scissors. .

A source mentioned to the newspaper that Posh is worried K”atie’s usurping her, she doesn’t know how they can continue to be friends.”

Sounds a bit dramatic – head here for more info.

Ethical Hair Extensions

You may not give a second thought to something like, “where do hair extensions come from?” They’re used for all different things – scissors cut someone’s hair too short? Into a style they didn’t like? Celeb walking the red carpet wants a different look? The answer to all these predicaments: hair extensions.

In Moscow, the deputy director of Moscow’s Centre for Prison Reform confirmed several years ago that some prison wardens were shaving inmates’ heads as a way of earning extra cash, which raised the visibility of the issue for a while. aA ethical shopping directory – The Good Shopping Guide – even had reports of asylum patients’ hair being sold to extension companies.

Of course, if your extensions are synthetic, where they come from doesn’t really matter – but fake hair comes with its own set of problems. It may frizz and burn on styling tools like blowdryers and curling irons.  These days, thankfully, it is possible to find ethically sourced real hair extensions.

An upcoming BBC documentary Whose Hair Is It Anyway? examines the origins of hair used for extensions in the UK. The answers to this question takes the documentarian on a journey from a nightclub in Essex to Moscow, where a shifty-looking hair dealer explains that he has collectors all over Russia who source hair for him.

Sadly,  ethical hair extensions are still in the minority, but it’s an issue that must be brought to the forefront when considering additions to your natural hair.  Says the documentarian: “We mustn’t think only about ourselves and our own vanity.”

Read the rest of the story here.