So not only am I battling the genetic curse of being prematurely gray, there is the DNA-based anamoly of a thick, luxurious mane that grows ridiculously fast.

What that means is a regular color job might last a month, amazing if I can go five weeks and a freakin’ miracle (or disgrace) if I try to stretch it to six.

I thought I needed a fairy godmother to help me keep my hair looking youthful, but my friend Lori says all I really need is a magic wand. She swears by Clairol’s Nice ‘N Easy Root Touchup Kit ($6.99) . You mix your color and brush it on from the scalp out, covering the gray and making your dye job last a little bit longer.

Avon offers an interesting alternative with Advance Techniques ($6) – a root touch-up kit with an applicator that looks like a mascara wand in a mascara-like tube. It only comes in two colors, black or brunette, but hey, even a brown that doesn’t match is less noticeable than the silver halo that rings my head on a monthly basis. The color washes out after each shampoo, which could alternately be considered a blessing or a curse.  Seems like this would be a great way to get those tough spots.

New to the market is Oscar Blandi’s Pronto Colore Root Touch-up & Highlightling Pen ($23). Remember how much fun it was to color with markers? Same principle, but on your head instead of paper … or the walls. The pen allows you to brush away those roots, or draw in those highlights you were thinking about trying. It also washes out with each shampoo, but comes in six shades.

And those are just a few. With a multitude of touch-up choices, it should be easy to eliminate the gray area of just how soon I need a full-blown color job.

Don’t know who he is? Click on his name or Google him.  Quite possibly the world’s most unattractive comedian.  And that’s what my hairdresser called me a few summers ago when I had the chance to spend most of my days at the beach.  My usual light brunette had faded to that orangey-rusty color usually found ringing old sinks. And it was the texture of a hay bale.

As we’re paying all kinds of attention to protecting our skin from the sun, it’s easy to overlook that which is going to be hit first by the UV rays: our hair.  And that’s not a good thing.  Too much sun dehydrates hair just like skin, fading color and leaving it brittle.

When it comes to my mane, I generally spell SPF “H-A-T”.  I never took much stock in the idea of applying sunscreen to my hair, and the experts like The Beauty Brains and Cosmetics Cop point out that even if shampoos and conditioners contain sun-protection ingredients, not enough will be absorbed by your hair before the product is rinsed out to make a significant difference.  Similarly, they note that the effectiveness of ingredients added to styling products is questionable because they could break down under the heat of blow dryers and flat irons.

Recently, however, the savvy hair-care companies are introducing loads of products specifically designed to filter UV rays.  You spray them on before you head out, just like you apply the sunscreen as the last step before heading out to embrace the day.

Most, like L’Oreal’s EverPure UV Protection Spray (8.99) and Redken’s Color Extend Sun Solar Screen SPF 12 ($16.99), two favorites among Totalbeauty.com users, are spray-on products you can use once your hair is styled or apply when it’s wet.

Paula Begoun’s Cosmetics Cop notes that hair treatments can’t have an SPF rating because it pertains to skin and hasn’t been measured for hair.  The ones we found that do have SPF out front on the label and generally marketed as hair and scalp protection or for hair and body.  Some, like Rene Furterer’s Protective Summer Oil ($23 beauty.com) have a KPF (keratin protection factor) rating, but it’s all a little obscure to us.

The bottom line is this: As much as I love my Red Sox cap, I can’t wear it everywhere in the summer, especially if I ever want another date or a new client.  If using one of these spray-on products means I may never hear the words “Carrot Top” again, it’s worth a try.

Being sexy, successful, somewhat single and living in Manhattan, you can just imagine what she was thinking when she got a beauty product to try from a sister 14 years older with two kids, one dog and three jobs.  The sample bottle probably sat on her dresser for a month or more and she probably tried it because she ran out of something else (this would be a genetic trait …)

Then I got an email: “OMG, I love it. I had to go out and get a big bottle.”

Told you so.  I don’t rave about many things, but I love Moroccanoil.  Part of it is the wonderful chai-like smell, but it also made my uber-thick, chemically-enhanced hair soft and manageable.  It was lightweight and my hair practically drank it in. It lessened the frizz and made it smoother and very shiny.

My sister, whose hair is not as thick, but is also colored regularly (more out of choice than necessity, but those days are comin’ babe), likes how shiny it leaves her hair without weighing it down.  She thinks it seals her hair and protects if from the heat of the blow dryer, and also credits it with keeping her hands soft through a cold, snowy NYC winter when previously they would get painfully dry.

LookinGood has given away several sample bottles of the stuff and everyone – except Chief Vanity Officer Gina – positively raved.  Women with pure gray hair or color-damaged seems to love it because coarse hair drinks in the oil for natural shine.  Gina tried it purely to get a better grasp of what I and everyone else, was babbling about and liked it on the first day, but her hair is too thin, so by the second day, her ’Do was a don’t – too limp and too straight.

The not-so-secret ingredient of Moroccanoil is oil from the kernel of the fruit of Morocco’s Argan tree.  Thebeautybrains.com notes that Moroccanoil is not pure Argan oil (aka Argania Spinoza Kernel Oil on labels), and that many of the ingredients in Moroccanoil are also in other hair care products (Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone, Butylphenyl, MethylPropional – whew, who knew?).

For me, that’s neither “hair” nor there because after trying so many other products, I love the results with this stuff.  If you are looking for other Argan oil-based products, do a quick search at Sephora.  Argan oil is the signature ingredient in Josie Maran’s line of hair and skin care products.  And Pangea Organics (also available through drugstore.com) is another line that uses it.

Back to Moroccanoil, InStyle magazine calls it a “Best Beauty Buy of 2010” and Allure listed it as one of the best products of 2009.  My sister and I whole-heartedly agree.  Because I told her so.

Dear Men:  First of all, we know you are almost as obsessed with your hair as we are with ours.  This is not a secret.  Second of all, just like bald can be beautiful, we think gray can also be hot (case in point: Anderson Cooper, Victor Garber, Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield).  We’ll even say ‘distinguished’ if you’d prefer.

However, if you must color your hair, please get professional help, advice at least, if not full service coloring. A bad dye job is not hot (see: Donald Trump, Rod Blagojevich, a younger Ted Koppel).

Thank you, The Women

As much as we talk about equality between the sexes, sometimes things are and should remain separate and unequal. Like coloring one’s hair. There’s a big difference between women covering their gray and men doing it. And guys, unless you’re in the 16-21 age demographic or Adam Lambert, you can’t just go grab a box of Garnier Nutrisse off the shelf of the local pharmacy and think it’s going to turn out OK.

According to Esquire and my own hairdresser, more men are coloring their hair these days and even more ask about it but aren’t ready to take the plunge.  The trick is doing it right, and that means blending natural color into the gray.  About.com’s men’s hair expert Dave Alexander and my hairdresser Tara both mention Redken Men Color Camo, and Esquire also suggests Clairol Natural Instincts for Men if you do want to try this at home.  The Redken Color Camo is a salon process that adds about 10 minutes and $20 or more to your cut and takes years off your appearance. The color comes out blended and even, and fades as your hair grows out. Clairol is for beards and mustaches as well as the hair on your head, and is designed to color about 50% of the gray.

If you’re going to risk the DIY, Esquire had some good advice.  Don’t go more than a couple shades away from your normal hair color.  “Too dark looks like shoe polish (Wayne Newton); too light and your hair will look gold (Donald Trump).”  And on highlights?  “Unless you’re leading an aerobics class in 1987, don’t.”

Salons are seeing more men who want to reduce the gray area, but the guys in our local barbershops say their clients aren’t asking for that service. Those guys want a shave and a haircut and the barber’s thoughts on the Red Sox starting rotation.

And if you don’t have a stylist? Talk to the women in your life and find out who they entrust their hair to. We’ve been hitting the bottle for years and would recommend our hairdressers in a heartbeat. Odds are your female friends and family would too.

But beauty editors seem to be abuzz about L’Oreal’s new INOA (short for Innovation No Ammonia) ammonia-free hair color.  It’s in all the beauty magazines and even the New York Times did a story on the new product line.

L’Oreal isn’t the first to try this ammonia-free alternative, so what’s all the hype?

The company claims three reasons:  “smell, hair reaction and range of color.”  Ammonia is used in hair dye to open the hair fiber so that it absorbs the dye better, but the smell is just plain awful.  Get rid of ammonia, get rid of the smell.  Check.

L’Oreal is touting a new technology called ODS – Oil Delivery System – that uses oil molecules to more gently open the hair shaft to absorb the dye.  If oil is used as the delivery mechanism instead of blasting it with ammonia, then hair will not be damaged as much.  Hair reaction, check.

Range of color is a legitimate argument, too, since darker hair dyes contain more chemicals and are harder to sustain.  I am sporting red hair these days and am always flabbergasted at how quickly it fades.  Other companies have ammonia free dyes, but offer them in a limited number of colors because they won’t hold.  The more range, the more natural the colors look.  Check.

With L’Oreal being the lead distributor of hair dye in salons, this can only be good news for consumers.  Nonetheless, ammonia is only one of the many problematic chemicals in hair coloring.  It’s just the one we can smell and feel.  “There is no safe hair color, unfortunately,” says Horst Rechelbacher, inventor of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients in Stacy Malkan’s book Not Just Another Pretty Face. And he is right. One of the scariest ingredients is a family of chemicals called Arylamines, which are a known risk factor for bladder cancer.  A member of that infamous family is p-phenylenediamine (PPD), which can be found on the labels of even non-permanent “natural” products.

So L’Oreal is responding to a market that is demanding “cleaner” hair products, and undoubtedly many will follow.  But we still have a long way to go before the hype stops the harm.

1. Conair Shiny Styles, $25  (it’s a flat-iron-type-thing)
2. Sally Hansen No-Heat Gel Hair Remover For Face and Body, $10.99
3. Philosophy Dark Shadows Illuminating Eye and Upper Lip Cream, $33  (December) and Philosophy The Supernatural Blotting Papers, $10.00 (November)
4. Rene Furterer Triphasic Anti-Hair Loss Regenerating Serum, $53
5. Peter Thomas Roth Lashes To Die For Night Time Eyelash Conditioning Treatment, $125
6. Smooth Away Hair Removal (as seen on TV!) $9.99 (Michelle reviewed this, too, but didn’t hate it.)
7. Avon Healthy Remedies Detox Patches, $15 (put them on your feet at night and forget about the bad gin by morning)
8. Stila Lip Rouge, $24 (Gina tried it. She hated it.)
9. Wet ‘n Wild Ultimate Cover Smooth Foundation, $7.50

Rating the best products is a bit more problematic, of course.  Best for what?  50-year-old hair?  25 year-old adult acne?  TotalBeauty has the “Members Top 100”, but too many of the products only have 9 or 10 reviews.  Our rule is, we’ll try most any product, but want more than 10 other strangers to try it first.

One product of the Top 100 is worth noting with almost 350 reviewers giving it 9.9 out of 10:  NuSkin ageLOC Future Serum.  Reviewers on the site are wildly enthusiastic about it, with quotes like “my skin has become more luminous, vibrant, firmer and lifted” and “I can’t believe the dramatic difference!”  To that we only add, it better work -  it’s $224 an ounce, and only part of a whole skin kit that is another $410.

We save other people’s best for last and turn to Allure Magazine to give us a Top 9 “Best of Beauty Breakthroughs” from 2009.  Most are more within our financial limits:

1. Dove Body Wash with Nutrium Moisture, $6 (Michelle uses it, but hardly thinks it’s a breakthrough.)
2. Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion, $4 and up
3. Neocutis Blanche Skin Lightening cream, $105
4. Orlando Pita + T3 Renew Dry Conditioner, $25
5. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Color, $5
6. Latisse, $120 for a one-month supply (I am a walking Latisse ad.  It works.)
7. Shiseido Future Solution LX Loading face cream, $230 for 1.8 ounces
8. St. Tropez self-tanners, $25 to $45
9. OPI Axxium Soak-Off Gel Lacquer, $30 and up

There are more than 250,000 active cosmetics products listed in the US Patent and Trade Office database.  Eighteen down, 249,982 to go. Any ones you want to know about specifically?  Ask LookinGood, we’ll find out for you.

According to gadget-maker Conair, there are about 22 million men between the ages of 22 to 65 shaving their heads regularly.  That’s a lot of chrome domes. It seems like there are nearly as many websites, blogs and books dedicated to shaving one’s head. And though the vox populi seem to lean toward razors, most turn to an electric shaver like the Norelco Advantage ($31.95), Braun Sychro ($199.99), Wahl Pro 8061 ($54.99) or Panasonic 8023 Wet/Dry Linear ($69.99), especially when time and sensitivity are an issue. The electrics are less likely to leave razor burn, and inexperienced head shavers have fewer nicks and cuts. One cannot claim to be bald or beautiful with little bits of toilet paper stuck all over one’s scalp.

The debate is whether or not an electric shaver can actually get a head smooth enough, and the consensus is pretty much “no.” Most men want just one unit to handle hair from the neck up, most devices are geared toward beard and mustache maintenance and are designed as such. They have pop-up trimmers for sideburns and mustaches. But even without consulting Gray’s Anatomy (or watching “Grey’s Anatomy”), we know that you shouldn’t shave a round head with something tailored to a square jaw.  When they need more power, those men who are really serious about their baldness seem to like Conair’s fairly new Clean Head Head Shaver ($36.88), which claims to have the first shaving apparatus to follow the unique angles of your head.

If Conair’s numbers are right and that many men are taking it all off up top, their head shaver might be the first, but you can bet it won’t be the last.

There are numerous sites out there to help you with product and technique.  Here are just a few:

• HeadShaver.org
• Men’sFlair.com
• TheBrotherhoodofBaldPeople.com
• Surviving-Hairloss.com
• CoolMensHair.com

And just for fun — http://www.balderazzi.com/

The Toppik X5 HairLaser looks like it could be any of the above, but it’s actually a  handheld laser that you rub on your head to stimulate hair growth. (Remember guys, we can’t make this stuff up.)

The X5 claims to be the “only device that delivers laser light directly to the scalp, bypassing any intervening hair,” and it just might be what it says it is.  Either that or it’s a new kind of military device.

Brought to you by Spencer Forrest Advanced Solutions, who are also known for Toppik Hair Building Fibers – a kind of sprinkle-on hair system using fiber that has built in static electricity.  But the X5 sprays lasers rather than fiber on to the head.  You simply rub it over your scalp for 10-15 minutes a session, three times a week, delivering 60 milliwatts of energy at a frequency of 650 nanometers.

We’re not quite sure what that means, but the Bernstein Medical Center for Hair Restoration explains that low-level laser therapy “is based on the scientific principle of photo-biotherapy.” What THAT means is “laser light is absorbed by cells and stimulates cell metabolism and protein synthesis.” And what THAT means is that “it appears to stimulate the follicles on the scalp by increasing energy production and by reversing miniaturization.”

Got it now?

According to the X5 manufacturer, you rub the red lights on your head as directed and after six weeks you’ll see stronger, thicker hair.

Touted as the next generation of laser hair therapy, the X5 doesn’t get hot, there are no side effects and it can be used in conjunction with other hair-growth therapies like Rogaine or Propecia. It’s also cordless (!), offers an ergonomic grip (!!), a real-time display that shows the precise elapsed time of your session and has an introductory price of $299, with a six-month money-back guarantee.

And hey, if it doesn’t work and you don’t want to return it, just display it on a side table and tell people it was prop in “War of the Worlds.”

Gwen, who’s been setting trends since the ’90s with, among other things, her platinum hair and ruby, ruby lips, recently caught flak when her 3-year-old brunette son, Kingston, was seen with hair nearly as blonde as his mom’s.  It’s kind of ironic that in “Magic’s In The Makeup” Stefani croons “A counterfeit disposition … Can’t be good for my health,” because that’s exactly what the argument is here: it’s not good for a kid to be exposed to the chemicals involved with coloration.  If you’ve ever had one, you know the smell alone can burn your eyes and nostrils, not to mention what’s being done to your scalp and your hair.  Why do that to a toddler, or any little kid for that matter?

There’s no solid evidence that hair dye is especially dangerous for adults or children, although many people are allergic to the ingredients.  Nonetheless,  on the highly respected Environmental Working Group site Skin Deep, which compiles data on ingredients and products and assesses a hazard rating, nearly all the hair color and bleaching products fall into the high hazard zone because of the chemicals that make up the dyes. More than a third of those have earned a 10 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst).  Pick just about any of the hair color products and the data says “Ingredients in this product are linked to: cancer; developmental/reproductive toxicity; violations, restrictions and warnings; allergies/immunotoxicity.” Also checked off is the box that reads “Other concerns for ingredients used in this product:
“Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes.”

Think maybe that’s enough to keep the stuff away from your child?

We don’t really wonder why Stefani did it – she’s a funky uber-blonde trendsetting celebrity with children. Duh.  Honestly, we would like to know how she possibly got a toddler to sit for a color job.  And we question the judgment.   There are hennas, and lots of temporary, wash-out colors that kid’s might use without exposing them to potentially harmful chemicals.

• The original story ran on Perez Hilton’s site.
• The American Medical Society released a study in 2005 citing no evidence of increased harm to those who dye their hair.
• The Environmental Working Group doesn’t like the chemicals that make up our coloring products.

Here’s the thing about being a revolutionary:  you’re always notable, but you don’t always achieve quite what you were aiming for.  Henry Ford’s assembly line, notable.  Che Guevara in Cuba and Bolivia, notable.  Mattel’s Barbie doll, notable.

The molecule PolyfluoroEster, is notable, but NoFrizz doesn’t quite achieve what it was aiming for, at least not on this barometer of a bouffant.

If a product claims to tame our tresses when it starts to get hot and heavy, (the WEATHER people, stay with us here) those of us with frizzy hair are ready to experiment.  L’Oreal’s Studio Line, Garnier Fructis, Paul Mitchell, TIGI BedHead, you name it, I’ve tried it.  And the result is always the same:  they can’t quite handle my ‘fro.  The most effective frizz fighter has been to simply cut it all off.

So when Living Proof offered up NoFrizz, featuring a molecule developed by Dr. Robert Langer  of MIT,  it got my attention.  After all, the guy has won the Millennium Technology Prize for innovation, invented a band-aid to use inside the body and is working on a way to fight cancer.

Living Proof, the Cambridge, Mass. company that produces NoFrizz says the product is an alternative to silicone that doesn’t weigh down the hair or leave it greasy.  And that’s true.  It also offers formulas for a wide variety of hair types, including ethnic hair.

However, it’s not a good sign when the first thing you hear in the morning after using it is “Boy Mom, your hair is frizzy today.”

The truth is, that comment could have been prompted by a poor blowout. John Frieda with the hair dryer I am not.  But what NoFrizz did consistently was make my hair too straight on good days and not work any better than the silicone products on the humid days. And it made my hair feel rather like nylon, giving it the same texture as that aforementioned revolutionary doll, Barbie.

And since we’re being picky, Dr. Langer also needs  to work on a molecule that smells better.  NoFrizz has the faint odor of crude oil, with a hint of orange.

NoFrizz is pricey — $14-$24 – because you know, it ain’t cheap to fund a revolution.  And you have to use a lot of it, according to the directions.

So for now, I’ll stick with the silicone.  And wait for the next entry in the revolt against the Bad Hair Day.

Site links:

• Boston.com bloggers didn’t like it either after they read the story online.
• Total Beauty tells us where NOT to live if we have frizzy hair
• Here are a few videos on MSN’s Video site that entail multiple products and a lot of work.

Tried anything new lately?  Sassback and tell us all.