Frizz matters!

Bad hair days are real. Research indicates that bad hair days affect self esteem and that you may be able to blame it on the hormones! Stressing over tress tangles? You could well be forgiven for getting into a curl over your hair scares. Recent research has played good cop-bad cop with the bad hair problem. The bad news: "bad hair days" affect individuals' self-esteem by increasing self-doubt and intensifying social insecurities.The good news: You may now blame it on the hormones. Bad hair days, that supremely mortifying fashion conundrum, which can send more shivers down the spine than the 'Do-I-look-fat-in-this-outfit?' enigma, are very real, not a figment of a flighty fashionista's froufrou imagination, going by two studies at the Oxford Hair Foundation and Yale University. Every blonde, brunette and bed-head who has faced the nightmare of a bouffant going bust, a fringe going AWOL and that dreaded frizz seeking permanent asylum in their crowning glory, can now blame it all on low estrogen levels and high progesterone levels. Gynaecologists Dr Paula Hillard and Dr Mary Stoeckle who conducted research for the Oxford Hair Foundation state, "When progesterone levels are high, it decreases the production of mucus (thickening the body fluids) and stimulates the production of sebum. This process causes the sebum to congest on the scalp and skin, resulting in hair looking dull, lifeless and unmanageable while the scalp becomes dry." They go on to explain that decreased estrogen impacts the skin by lessening sebum production, making it dry and itchy. The drop in estrogen can also lead to a reduction of collagen and elastic (the fibres in the skin responsible for its elasticity and firmness), while hair can become thinner and lose its shine. With hormones doing the see-saw during the menstrual cycle, the research suggests that women with a regular cycle, good hair days are more likely to occur approximately a week after the completion of their period. The likelihood of experiencing bad hair days is increased at the end of the cycle or up to three weeks after the start of the period. The psychological trauma of a curl deciding to wreak its havoc has also been documented in the Yale University study directed by Dr Marianne LaFrance, Professor of Psychology and Professor of Women's and Gender Studies. "Both women and men are negatively affected by the phenomenon of bad hair days," states Professor LaFrance. The study further found that bad hair intensifies feelings of social insecurity with individuals feeling embarrassed, self-conscious, nervous and less confident. vrushali.haldipur@timesgroup.com