What's Hot? You!

Do you have the luxury of your own personal hairstylist and fashion adviser with you everyday, at your beck and call (if you do, then I for one am very jealous)? While most of us don't have such extravagant luxuries we still want to feel relevant and in style without compromising who we are in the process! Since we tend to look toward celebrities (who by the way, do have their own hairstylist and fashion advisor at their beck and call) to know what the hot new trends are its important to remember your own personal style and to simply "tweek" what is hot to fit your personality.

Remember, when you take that picture of your "dream" look to your hairstylist its just a guideline as to what the finished look will be. Your hairstylist will take into account your lifestyle and your personal beauty routine as well as your hair texture and facial bone structure. Then together you can put a personalized twist on the look to make it "you". Once you and your hairstylist are on the same page you will walk away with a look that is not only "you", but that makes you feel beautiful.

Take a risk, stay in touch with your style and personality, and talk to your beauty professional at Beth & Co so you can enter Fall as a trendsetter!!!

Alcohol In Skincare Products? Get the facts.

So, we've all been there before. Making our way happily through the mall when suddenly
there it is. The latest and greatest in skin cleansers has made it's way to your friendly neighborhood department store makeup counter.The friendly sales person offers to show you how well this new cleanser works. She applies some of a competitors cleanser, wipes it off of your face and then proceeds to take a cotton pad, load it with her brand and viola' you can see how much dirt the other cleanser left behind.
Like to know what happened? What you are looking at on the second pad is actually the previous cleanser which was deposited on your face as you sat there. Then you were given a heavy dose of an alcohol based cleanser which proceeded not only to remove the cleanser but also the hydrating lipids your skin needs to stay healthy.


Don't All Skincare Products Use Alcohol?
Absolutely. There are many alcohols that quality skincare products use to either preserve their products or help them to penetrate the skin and cleanse the pores.These are innocuous fatty alcohols (with names like cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, myristyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol and so on), but when an ingredient label simply lists “Alcohol,” “Alcohol Denat.,” or “SD-Alcohol 40,” you can be sure that it’s the very bad kind! These types of alcohols are extremely detrimental to skin: drying it out, causing free-radical damage with continued use, and, for those with oily skin, triggering more oil production in the pore lining. Sure, it can temporarily de-grease skin, but the long term damage (and the triggering of more oil production) is not worth the short term benefit.

What to Do?
First and foremost, ask questions. Any knowledgeable skincare professional should be able to tell you all the ins and outs of their products. This goes a bit beyond "it cleans your pores". He or she should be able to design a custom skincare regimen that suits your skin's specific needs.
Next. Ask more questions. If something does or doesn't work, find out why. This will help you down the road when you get tempted to let the counter lady play doctor with your skin.
Last. Find a "quality" skincare line that is supported by a physician, dermatologist or plastic surgeon. Here's a hint. The ones on T.V. don't count. There are always local sources to answer any medical questions you may have.


In the long run it is well worth shelling out a few extra bucks to have health happy skin that is trouble free through your whole life. Not just your 30's.

Next Month at Beth & Company

Inspired by Cosmeceutical Trend in Skincare

Been a little bit bad to your hair? Starting to think about trading in those summer locks for something a little more seasonally appropriate? Now is the time of year when all that brushing, blowing and straightening combined with the suns additional effects on the hair really begin to take their toll.
Thankfully Loreal Professionnel has discovered a way to keep those lovely locks in place.

Fiberceutic is Loreal's first fiber-filling in salon procedure for severly damaged, over-processed hair.

Fiberceutic contains a revolutionary molecule that provides instant reconstruction deep inside the cortex of the hair fiber. This molecule acts at the core of the hair fiber and provides emergency care for hair severely damaged by chemical processes, styling procedures or exposure to harsh weather.


What does this mean for you?

1) Hair that's been reconstructed from the inside out adding strength to the hair and protecting it from further damage.

2) Sensitized hair regains it's natural condition

3) Hair is left with a firm, natural touch

4) Provides lasting effects through 10 shampoos

5) Hair is more manageable and healthy

Hair Shedding!!!

Beth & Company gets a lot of questions about why hair sheds and why it sheds in different amounts at different times.
While we didn't have time this week to put together a proper explanation I did find a quick little article to get a head start on the subject. Hope this helps.

Seasonal hair shedding

We, and much of the mammalian world, have two main shed seasons. The biggest shed occurs in early autumn and a smaller one in spring. Essentially we are replacing our summer coats with winter coats. Perhaps the best example is the arctic fox that sheds a pigmented summer coat and replaces it with a white coat (camouflage) for winter conditions. Much of the research on seasonal shedding and hair regrowth is conducted with mink (some studies from Australia on sheep and goats too). Researchers have looked at prolactin and melatonin levels among other factors as a potential regulator of the changes in hair growth. Giving mink melatonin, or reducing exposure to daylight, promotes shedding of the summer coat and the onset of the winter anagen growth stage. Possibly it is a similar situation for humans where changes in daylight hours modify the melatonin secretion rate from the pineal gland and this in turn affects hormones and/or their receptors in the skin.

The shed cycle in humans has not been investigated in much detail, but a few studies from the UK demonstrate the seasonal shed cycles. Although there is an increase in shedding during spring and fall, the number of hairs shed still falls within the generally recognized limits of 50 to 100 hairs a day. So in spring and fall the daily shed rate may be closer to 100 hairs a day and in summer and late winter the typical shed rate may be closer to 50 hairs a day. However, the average rate of shedding does vary from person to person. Some people can be high shedders, but also have high rates of hair growth and replacement so they have no net hair loss. To understand your own seasonal hair shedding it is better to compare the hair shed rate in spring/fall to summer/winter within yourself rather than compare it to other people. Whether there are still seaonal shed cycles for humans living at the equator is not known - I would guess not if the changes are entirely due to melatonin levels.
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Seasonal hair shedding references

* Johnston B, Rose J. Role of prolactin in regulating the onset of winter fur growth in mink (Mustela vison): A reconsideration. J Exp Zool. 1999 Sep 1;284(4):437-44.
* Courtois M, Loussouarn G, Hourseau S, Grollier JF. Periodicity in the growth and shedding of hair. Br J Dermatol. 1996 Jan;134(1):47-54.
* Parry AL, Nixon AJ, Craven AJ, Pearson AJ. The microanatomy, cell replication, and keratin gene expression of hair follicles during a photoperiod-induced growth cycle in sheep. Acta Anat (Basel). 1995;154(4):283-99.
* Nixon AJ, Choy VJ, Parry AL, Pearson AJ. Fiber growth initiation in hair follicles of goats treated with melatonin. J Exp Zool. 1993 Sep 15;267(1):47-56.
* Randall VA, Ebling FJ. Seasonal changes in human hair growth. Br J Dermatol. 1991 Feb;124(2):146-51.
* Rose J, Oldfield J, Stormshak F. Apparent role of melatonin and prolactin in initiating winter fur growth in mink. Gen Comp Endocrinol. 1987 Feb;65(2):212-5.
* Rose J, Stormshak F, Oldfield J, Adair J. Induction of winter fur growth in mink (Mustela vison) with melatonin. J Anim Sci. 1984 Jan;58(1):57-61.