How Many Strands Do You Have?

Who has the most hair? Typically, blondes average the highest density, with about 140,000 strands of hair. Next are the brown-haired ones, with 110,000; then black-haired with 108,000; and finally redheads, with only about 80,000.

Understanding your hair density (which refers to strands per square inch) and the hair type (which has to deal with the individual strand) can help you choose the right products and the right cuts and that can make all the difference. We explain all that in Live Curly Live Free: Unlocking the Secrets Behind the World of Beautiful Curly Hair.

If your hair is fine but thick, for example, the texturized razor cut works. But try that on fine thin hair, and the look could be disastrous.

For products, gels work best on very thick hair, because they help minimize the volume; and mousse works better on thin hair, because it helps add the appearance of volume. 





Live Curly, Live Free, The e-book, is available for Kindle, iPad and Nook formats. In it, Curl Whisperer Tiffany Anderson-Taylor tells us all we need to know to have healthy, happy curls.

Quick Break from Curls

Not the smartest move in the world, if you ask us, but some people go to extremes to stray from their curls and straighten their hair. But we certainly understand occasionally considering taking a break from our curls and shocking the world. We recently came across an article in The Frizky website highlighting 12 celebrities who did just that.

Topping their list is Carrot Top, whose signature orange curls brought him much fame (or perhaps infamy). It took four hours of "pulling, yanking and tugging" to get the sleek look. End result? He looks like the bride of Chuckie, the website writes! What do you think? 

Who else made the switch, at least for a brief moment, to straight hair? Taylor Swift, Annalynne McCord, Robert Pattinson, Beyonce, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin Jonas, Jennifer Beals, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Minnie Driver. 

Now the good news? They all eventually find their way back to their natural curls! Because, after all, what better way to be than to Live Curly, Live Free?


Live Curly, Live Free, The e-book, is available for Kindle, iPad and Nook formats. In it, Curl Whisperer Tiffany Anderson-Taylor tells us all we need to know to have healthy, happy curls.

Silicones Not All Created Equal

We talk a lot about silicones, and how we should, for the most part, avoid them. But as with many things in life, silicones are not all created equal. Here's your Live Curly Live Free primer. Print it out and take it with you when you go shopping for hair products! And make sure to pick up a copy of our book, so you can unlock ALL the secrets about curly hair.

    
Silicones generally end in "cone,"  "conol," "col," or "xane" and are found in many hair products. A silicone with the abbreviation "PEG" or "PPG" in front of it is water-soluble and will not build up.

Here are some silicones that are not soluble in water, which means they build up on the hair and require a surfactant-based shampoo to remove:

• Cetearyl Methicone
• Cetyl Dimethicone
• Dimethicone
• Dimethiconol
• Stearyl Dimethicone

Here are silicones that are not soluble in water, but whose chemical properties allow it to repel further deposit, helping to prevent buildup:

• Amodimethicone
• Cyclomethicone/Cyclopentasiloxane
• Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

 
Here are silicones that are slightly soluble in water, but can, over time,  build up on some types of curly hair:

• Behenoxy Dimethicone
• Stearoxy Dimethicone

 

And here are silicones that are soluble in water -- which means they're  generally considered safe to use. Also safe are those with  "PEG"  or "PPG" in front of them:

• Dimethicone Copolyol
• Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane
• Lauryl Methicone Copolyol

Live Curly, Live Free, The e-book, is available for Kindle, iPad and Nook formats. In it, Curl Whisperer Tiffany Anderson-Taylor tells us all we need to know to have healthy, happy curls.