Hair Color Expert Erica Colon applies hair color using the Headmapping technique

Headmapping™, created by Walter Claudio, is a new and innovative way to standardize hair coloring. It determines exactly which sections of hair will be colored and the exact amount of product to be used. With Headmapping™, color clients are still left with the color they desire but leave a smaller imprint on the environment in the process.

Headmapping™ is the only standardized hair coloring system that effectively reduces waste. According to the official Headmapping™ website, “the system defines areas of the head into specific sections, creating a ‘map’ that determines exactly how much… product… is required to perform each service.” Erica Colon, Lead Color Specialist of Maximum FX, says that it is as simple as paying attention; “Before, colorists were mixing the same amount of color for every color service. With Headmapping™, we can mix less color because [stylists] are paying attention to exactly which panels of the head are being colored.” By having this coloring system, it is possible to accurately measure the amount of color necessary to achieve the desired results and to eliminate wastes of unused product.

With eliminating color waste, Headmapping™ salons, like Maximum FX, are doing three major things to help safeguard the environment: minimizing their carbon footprint, decreasing the amount of toxic chemicals being washed down the drain and saving resources. When choosing a salon, color clients should consider choosing an eco-friendly one, concentrated in helping the environment, in order to decrease their environmental impact as well.

Aveda Holiday 2011 Photo: Aveda

Last year, Aveda brought you “Gifts Bright with Hope” by partnering with communities protecting the rainforest for its 2010 Holiday Collection. The holiday gift sets included native tagua nuts hair bands. These tagua nuts became the largest fair trade, sustainably harvested, rainforest product exported in Colombia’s history. They also helped 400 families build a better future and worked to preserve 400 acres of rainforest.

This year, Aveda brings you the story of a partnership with communities in Nepal with “Improving Lives is a Gift.”

Have you seen the beautifully hand-crafted, sustainably sourced, green paper wrapped around all of our holiday gift sets? It began as bark from a lokta tree, was then beaded and cooked into a pulp mixture, dried by the sun and dyed with non-toxic pigments. This papermaking industry has employed 3,800 people in the Himalayas of Nepal, 80% of whom are women.

When you purchase an Aveda holiday gift set, you are helping in a decade long mission to aid the nation of Nepal. According to a press release by Aveda, this partnership has helped “empower Napali communities to develop a sustainable business, keep Napali families intact, support the art of papermaking and reverse local deforestation.”

Watch this video to find out more about the papermaking process, the benefits of this partnership and the women Aveda is helping to support, like Guma Pun, 23.

The women of Nepal helped bring you this year's Aveda holiday gift sets. Photo: Aveda

Aveda Holiday 2011: The Story of Nepal

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Tea Consumption Linked to Numerous Body Benefits
A hot cup of tea may do more than relax you. Research shows tea consumption may help prevent a wide range of ailments.
The latest medical research is finding potential healing powers in this ancient beverage. Recent research, for instance, suggests drinking tea may help prevent everything from cavities to Parkinson’s disease. And some studies indicate it may even save lives.

The benefits of tea consumption may extend throughout the body, experts believe. Here is a partial list of conditions some research has shown may be prevented or improved by drinking tea:

Arthritis: Research suggests that older women who are tea drinkers are 60 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who do not drink tea.

Bone Density: Drinking tea regularly for years may produce stronger bones. Those who drank tea on a regular basis for 10 or more years had higher-bone mineral density in their spines than those who had not.

Cancer: Green tea extracts were found to inhibit the growth of bladder cancer cells in the lab — while other studies suggest that drinking green tea protects against developing stomach and esophageal cancers.

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Sipping on a cup of hot tea may be a safeguard against cancer. Population studies have linked the consumption of tea with a reduction in risk for several types of cancer. Researchers speculate that the polyphenols in tea may inhibit certain mechanisms that promote cancer growth. Both green and black teas have been credited with cancer-inhibiting powers.
Flu: You may be able to boost your fight against the flu with black tea.
Your best defense against contracting the flu is to wash your hands often and get vaccinated against the influenza virus. Black tea may further bolster your efforts to stay healthy. In a recent study, people who gargled with a black tea extract solution twice per day showed a higher immunity to flu virus compared to the people who did not gargle with black tea.

Heart Disease: A recent study published in the journal Circulation found that drinking more than two cups of tea a day decreased the risk of death following a heart attack by 44 percent. Even less spirited tea drinkers were rewarded: Consuming just two cups a day decreased the risk of death by almost a third.
Tea is a rich source of the flavonoids quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin, and research shows that high dietry intake of these compounds is associated with a reduced risk of fatal heart attacks. In one study, people who drank about a cup and a half of tea per day were almost 40% less likely to suffer a heart attack compared to tea abstainers.

High Blood Pressure: Tea lovers may be surprised to learn their beverage of choice touts yet another health benefit: blood pressure control. Drinking a half-cup of green or oolong tea per day reduced a person’s risk of high blood pressure by almost 50% in a new study. People who drank at least two and a half cups per day reduced their risk even more. Their risk was reduced even if they had risk factors for high blood pressure, such as high sodium intake.

Parkinson’s Disease: Tea consumption may be protective against developing this debilitating neurological disorder.

Oral Health:Rinsing with tea may prevent cavities and gum disease.
Source: http://www.farsinet.com/hottea/medicalbenefits.html

Set your thermostat to the highest (or lowest) temperature setting that will still let you be comfortable.

Turn off all lights, fans, TVs, computers and other electronics when not in use. Electronic appliances are silent users of electricity, even when they are not being used. Electricity is still being consumed to power all components, even the pilot light. The easiest way to control your electronics is to purchase and use power strips.

Start to weatherize and seal your home. If you have a fireplace, make sure the damper is closed in the summer so you’re not losing cool air up the chimney. If there are drafts coming in or around your windows and doors, then consider installing weather stripping. Seal cracks and places where plumbing or electrical items enter the house or come through the ceiling.

Lower (or raise) the energy “load” on your home. Close curtains and blinds in sunny areas, especially on west or south facing windows in hot weather, and open them in cold weather. Landscape the outer perimeter of your home so that your air conditioning unit is shaded but has sufficient air circulation, because it reduces radiant heat.

Check the air conditioning filter every month and change if needed. Dirty air filters prevent efficient airflow throughout your HVAC system, and as such, can cause your AC unit to run longer and possibly even shorten the lifespan of various parts. Therefore, regularly replacing your air filters will ensure cleaner air for you and your family to breathe as well as preventing your ducts from clogging and filling up with various dust particles.

Set your water heater to “Medium” or a baseline of 130 degrees. You may be able to set it even lower if your dishwasher has a pre-heater. If you’re used to long showers (more than 5-10 minutes), save by shortening the time spent showering by setting the heater to run out of comfortably warm water by the time you’ve finished.

Wash clothes in cold water and wash full loads whenever possible. 80-90% of energy costs for washing clothes involve heating water for hot or warm cycles. Cold water detergents do just as well in almost all cases.

Use the automatic drying setting on your dryer, rather than timed drying, and dry full loads. By using the timer setting, you run the risk of over-drying your clothes (potentially damaging them). Don’t forget to clean the lint trap after every load; that leads to airflow efficiency which means longer life on your unit.

Turn off the Heated Dry setting on your dishwasher and let the dishes air dry inside. Wash full loads here as well.

Turn on your old, inefficient fridge in the garage only for those few occasions when you need extra room to store stuff. It takes extra energy to run a refrigerator or freezer in a non-air conditioned area. Add to that the age of the appliance – if it is old, then the extra monthly energy costs could be significant.

Keep your refrigerator closed while deciding what to eat. Each time you open the fridge door, the compressor has to run for eight to 10 minutes to keep the cold inside.

If your dryer has a moisture sensor, clean it occasionally to keep the waxy build-up from dryer softening sheets from impeding the sensor’s ability to detect moisture.

If you’re thinking about purchasing a new or additional computer, then consider buying a laptop – they are less power-hungry than desktops. A laptop typically uses less than 20% of the energy an average desktop does with an LCD monitor and as little as 14% of what a desktop with an old-fashioned CRT monitor will use.

When buying new electronics or appliances, look for the ENERGY STAR® label which can be found on many different products such as TVs, computers, cell phones, washers and many more. The ENERGY STAR label is the industry’s leading brand for certifying that electronic appliances are energy efficient.

Install and use dimmer or motion detector switches where possible. They can reduce energy usage for an area by 40-50%. Don’t forget to dust your light bulbs periodically. Dust can cut 20% or more of the light they emit.

Towards helping to decrease pressures on the Texas grid and ensure that affordable energy is available for everyone in our community, we are encouraging you take a very simple, yet meaningful, action – that is, beginning today and for the remainder of August, please raise your thermostat by two degrees during the crucial peak usage time frame of 12:00 noon through 7:00 p.m. daily.

We are also encouraging  you to decrease your August energy usage so as to lighten the load on the Texas energy grid. To help you, we have prepared a list of energy savings tips that you can put into action.  By conserving energy particularly during peak usage hours, we will ensure that everyone will have access to energy as needed. Plus, these tips represent some great ways for you to realize lower energy bills yourself this summer.

Together, we can all make a difference.