Hair, long beautiful hair ?or not

IT USED TO BE THAT YOU could tell one era from another by the women's coifs and the men's hairstyles: the bob in the 1920s, the bobbysoxer's ponytail in the '50s, the mop tops in the early '60s or the infamous mullet of the 1980s. In this century, there doesn't seem to be a definitive hairstyle as yet - science and technology allowing women to wear their hair ultra-sleek and straight today, and wavy and layered tomorrow, or brunette this week and hot pink the next. The freewheeling approach continues in 2010.

This year, word from Hair and Beauty 2010 in Frankfurt, is that the hairdressing sector is on the one hand, promoting an ultra-natural, authentic sexy mummy look for women and on the other, an extremely artificial pop style. The latest bob is part of this trend, a basic cut which in 2010, is happily worn wavy, heavily layered or asymmetrically, with long XXL ponytails. The back of the hair, on the other hand, rises higher and higher and falls voluminously to form a beautiful silhouette. Blond, especially white and platinum blond, often with cool metallic and silver highlights, is still popular with all stylists. A shock of blond hair is happy to play around in pale pink. Exaggeration pays homage to the detail-loving Japanese cult and genres such as Visual Kei and Gothic Lolita: flamboyant colour whether from the use of hair dyes or hair extensions such as corn poppy red and cool blue on blond hair and gold, bronze and copper strands for brunettes. The B-52 cut, hairpiece art ?la Amy Winehouse, is now worn as windswept as possible. And those with insufficient volume of their own can get help from clip-on plaits, hairpieces and volumisers. The Gothic trend builds on the trendy vampire theme from films and literature. If you go for a black hair tint, then blue black with a pale complexion, please.

Two-thirds of global consumers believe hair care is an important part of their beauty regimen, says Datamonitor

Men aren't willing to be left behind, going by what's happening in Japan or Germany - an ultra slim silhouette is crowned with a thick dark blond to dark shock of hair. The hair on the top of head is kept long and intentionally untidy worn in an outta-bed style and piled high into a voluminous rockabilly quiff for the brave. The sides and nape of the neck are precision-cut, fashionably short and sideburns stay discreet. As for women, it's apparent that the following applies: natural accentuation through and through or stage-ready, rock-style exaggeration, to suit one's taste, daily routine and schedule. Hair-raising results GOING FROM ULTRA-NATURAL to over-the-top flamboyant can be taxing on hair cuticles and follicles. Chemicals from bleaching, colouring, perming and straightening all contribute to hair damage. Heat from curling irons and blow dryers cause splitting and breaking. Whilst good hair colour can add volume and shine, frequent use and improper application can cause thinning, unusual and unwanted colouring (think green, for instance), or both. A bad perm owed to too much heat, excessive use of chemicals or an improperly trained hairdresser can mean an 'X' number of bad hair days. Yet with today's easy access to these products at professional salons or at retailers for DIY versions, what 21st century woman would not be fascinated by a makeover from a wan and mousy nobody to a streaked and highlighted femme fatale or an age-defying transformation when grey hair goes blue-black, brown or blonde? It's obvious that for many consumers, the positives outweigh the possible negatives, which can be minimised with proper use of other hair care products. Science to address hair damage CURRENT HAIRDRESSING trends mean that consumers are looking for hair care products that will allow them to keep up witKobe Mentality 3