Latest news with #dyeing
The Sun
02-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I tried everything to fix my damaged hair from Olaplex to oiling – an odd-sounding £5 buy made my locks grow 4 inches
DYEING hair is all fun and games until your locks end up damaged. However, one woman shared how her hair 'kept snapping off' until she tried one £5 bargain shampoo. 4 Ava Louise said she had tried everything to restore her locks, including Olaplex and K18, but they hadn't made any difference. She shared on her @realavalouiise account: 'Just wanted to share that I dyed my hair black when I was depressed then bleached it back. 'For 2 whole years my hair would not grow. 'I used K18, Olaplex, would sit for hours with all the top 'hair growth oils' on my head, bought the most expensive shampoo & products known to man. 'My hair kept snapping off.' However, everything changed for her when she stopped splashing out on pricey products. Ava added: 'A few months ago I stopped all product use, switched to mane & tail shampoo and suave conditioner. 'My hairs grown four inches and never breaks. 'I don't even use heat protector. 'No products at all just cheap drug store shampoo & conditioner.' Muireann O'Connell shares 'singed' hair fiasco Many people agreed that they loved the product, with one saying: 'Mane and tail fs I swear by it.' Another added: 'MANE AND TAIL IS HOW MY MOM GOT HAIR TO HER ASS.' However, a third wrote: 'I swear by olaplex, but it's VERY easy to overdo protein hair treatments and they'll literally turn healthy hair into brittle straw when you do.' You can pick up Mane n Tail shampoo for £5.49 from My Hair and Beauty, or it can be purchased for just £6 on Amazon. 4 4 But what makes the product a hit with customers? According to the company's site, it is jam-packed with collagen, biotin, and keratin, which support cell growth, strengthen hair, and provide moisture to help maintain hair length. While many say it helps grow hair quickly (with some stating three inches of growth in just one month,) there might be something else at play. The hair range was originally created for horses, and was developed to repair split ends and prevent breakage. So, the quick hair growth people rave about might be from less breakage at the ends, rather than new hair coming from the root. Because the shampoo has added keratin, it's best to use it every other hair wash day rather than all the time. While keratin can make hair stronger, too much of it can make it brittle and more likely to snap off. How to make your hair look thicker Fake thicker hair with these bulk-up tips from Trichologist Simone Thomas. 1. Try dry shampoo 'It doesn't just make your hair look cleaner but thicker too,' says Simone. 'It leaves behind an invisible residue that makes your hair smoother, thicker and easier to style.' 2. Switch your parting 'Flipping it over to the opposite side of where it usually sits will give an instant volume boost,' she says. 3. Go for Balayage 'It adds dimension, resulting in fuller looking hair,' explains Simone. 'Leave the roots dark and the ends lighter and your hair will look thicker at the top.' Remember to nourish the hair with a weekly hair mask to fight off colour damage.
Zawya
16-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt's Oriental Weavers launches new polyester yarn dyeing unit
Egypt - Oriental Weavers has launched a new polyester yarn dyeing unit at Oriental Weavers International, in the 10th of Ramadan area, with EGP 50 million in total investments, as per an emailed press release. The unit aligns with the company's ongoing efforts to boost production efficiency and improve its ability to meet growing demand. Equipped with modern machinery, the unit has four soft winding machines, a dyeing machine, a rinsing unit, a drying unit, and four final winding machines. Designed to meet approximately 25% of the company's polyester yarn needs, it has a daily production capacity of up to 4.75 tons. It will enable Oriental Weavers to enhance quality control, cut production costs, and respond more swiftly to market demands. The new unit also features high energy and water efficiency compared to traditional dyeing methods, contributing to a reduced carbon footprint across Oriental Weavers' industrial operations. © 2020-2023 Arab Finance For Information Technology. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
‘We sometimes milked 3,000 snails a day!': the dying art of milking molluscs
The site for the camp is well chosen. Mangrove trees provide shade from the sun; from their hammocks, the two men can look out over the yellow sand of Chachacual Bay. Rocks rise at both ends of the beach, breakers crashing against them. Next to the camp, turtles have left their tracks in the sand. 'They often come at night and keep us company,' says Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, 81, known to everyone as Habacuc. While Habacuc lights a campfire to make coffee, his son Rafael, 42, sets up a small tent for the night. Rain is forecast. 'We've been camping in the same spot for many years,' says Habacuc. 'From here, we roam the coast in search of the purpura snail.' White cotton skeins dyed with snail ink turn from yellow to green and finally 'tixinda' purple in the sun The two men, members of the Indigenous Mexican Mixtec people, are tintoreros, which means 'dyers'. Their work on the Pacific coast is extraordinary: they are the last people to extract dye ink from a rare species of snail, Plicopurpura colummelaris, which belongs to the rock snail family. 'It is one of the oldest methods still practised today for dyeing yarn for clothing,' says Mexican ethnologist Marta Turok. 'The coastal Mixtecs in Oaxaca have been using it for at least 1,500 years.' The Mixtecs call the colour tixinda. As the sun slowly sinks below the horizon, Habacuc and Rafael set out to search for the purpura snails and 'milk' them – as they call the process of extracting the ink. Their work depends on the tides. 'We can only reach the snails at low tide because they live in the zone where the surf hits the rocks,' says Habacuc. Rafael climbs over the rocks looking for snails to collect ink from The men climb from boulder to boulder, looking for the crevices where snails cling to the rocks, which are often covered in algae and extremely slippery. 'One wrong step can cost you your life,' says Rafael. 'We have lost relatives who have fallen and been swept away by the waves.' The rocky shoreline can be treacherous They quickly find the first specimens about half a metre above the water level. Their shells are dark green to black, with small, knotty spirals and grooves on the surface. It takes strength and skill to detach them. 'I have to pull the snail up decisively, tipping it sideways,' says Rafael. 'If you hesitate, it clings even more tightly.' After detaching a large female snail from the rock, he presses on its foot with his finger. The snail first excretes a small amount of urine, which he tips aside. Only then does it secrete a few drops of a milky substance, the actual ink. This contains neurotoxins, which the purpura snail uses to paralyse smaller snails and other marine invertebrates, which it then eats. The substance is harmless to humans. The tintoreros carefully detach the snails from the rock then press gently on the snail's foot to make them secrete a few drops of milky ink Rafael lets the ink seep into a bundle of cotton thread wrapped around his left hand and puts the snail back in a protected place so that it can reattach itself to the rocks. After a few minutes, the snail secretion reacts with the oxygen in the air and the yarn turns yellow and, a little later, green. But it needs the sun's UV light to achieve the brilliant violet colour which lies somewhere between lavender and amethyst. 'If the day is gloomy, the yarn stays green or blue,' says Habacuc. 'You have to moisten it again and put it in the sun, then it turns purple, even if a year has passed since it was dyed.' It is said that the snail purple will never fade and cannot be washed out. 'The clothes will disintegrate, but their colour will last for ever,' says Habacuc, pointing to his white shirt with its purple work stains. 'If you rub purple-dyed yarn, it immediately smells of seaweed and the sea.' Habacuc, 81, has been milking snails since he was 14 years old Habacuc is the head Mixtec dyer in the small town of Pinotepa de Don Luis, the only place in Mexico where the purpura tradition has survived. He learned how to milk snails from his uncle when he was 14. 'I've been doing this for 67 years now, and you can see it in my feet.' He points to his toes, which are curled inward from clinging to the rocks. 'Back then, we could walk from our village to the coast, 40km [25 miles] away, to milk snails.' The purple colour is considered sacred by the Mixtec people Plicopurpura columellaris was once native to the entire Pacific coast of Central America, from Baja California in the north to Colombia in the south. 'We sometimes milked 3,000 snails in one day and dyed seven to eight large cotton strands with the ink,' Habacuc says. But that was a long time ago. The animals have long disappeared from the beaches of his youth. They are now found only in Huatulco national park, with its many inaccessible cliffs and wild coves. Even there, the tintoreros rarely find more than 100 snails a day. 'The cost of travel and food is higher than my profit from selling the yarn,' says Habacuc. 'The only reason we continue dyeing is the desire to preserve our traditions and culture.' The Mixtec tintoreros carefully detach and replace the snails and give them time to reproduce. Snail populations were decimated in the 80s and 90s by hired fishers who ignored these traditional practices The decline of the snails began in the early 1980s, when Japanese companies discovered the ink and used it to dye fine kimonos. They hired fishers on the coast of Oaxaca to milk the snails – but they threw them into the water after milking them or left them lying in the sun. 'They tried to milk the snails almost every day – and killed them,' says Habacuc. 'The mollusc needs a lunar cycle to regenerate.' The snail population declined dramatically within five years. The Mixtecs, with the support of ethnologists and biologists, raised the alarm. The Mexican government banned the Japanese companies and in 1994, declared Purpura columellaris a protected species. Since then, only Mixtecs from Pinotepa de Don Luis have been allowed to milk them. Habacuc and Rafael are two of only 14 men left in Pinotepa de Don Luis who continue the dye-gathering tradition But new threats arrived, as the once remote coastal region experienced rapid development. Roads, hotels and restaurants were built. Thousands of tourists flock to the beaches and beautiful bays every year – and they demand seafood. 'Again and again, we encounter poachers who seize every opportunity to make a few pesos. They don't care about the extinction of a species,' says Habacuc. 'The government talks about protection, but it doesn't even monitor the beaches in Huatulco national park.' Since an earthquake in 2020, the species' future has been even more uncertain. During the tremor, the Pacific plate pushed a little further beneath the Mexican mainland, raising the coast near Huatulco by about half a metre. Some once-inaccessible rocky coastal stretches have since become within easy reach of poachers and tourists. Many coral beds were also elevated. Some are slowly dying, and with them millions of small species that are part of the purpura snail's food chain. Mixtec embroidery depicts the purpura snails that are a part of their culture The Mixtecs are the snail's most important protectors. Their presence in the national park deters poachers, and they follow strict rules so as not to harm the purpura population. For example, not milking snails smaller than 3cm, banning milking during breeding season, and allowing the snails to regenerate for three to four weeks between milkings. It is already dark when Habacuc and Rafael return to camp. They cook the beans they brought with them and warm tortillas around the campfire. 'We always come for seven to eight days, dyeing during low tide and resting during high tide,' says Habacuc. 'When our tortillas run out, we return home.' The dyed yarn is distributed among the town's weavers. There are still about 60 women working as weavers in Pinotepa de Don Luis. The tintoreros take the dyed yarn back to Pinotepa de Don Luis, where women weave it into blankets, shawls and other clothes 'The purpura snail and the purple tixinda dye are sacred to us,' says 79-year-old Socorro Paulina Lopez, Habacuc's wife. She taught her daughter and two daughters-in-law how to weave. 'We absolutely must preserve this tradition,' she says. There are only 14 men left in Pinotepa de Don Luis who continue the dye-gathering tradition. 'We need more educational work so that the fishing communities understand how important the snail is to us and stop poaching,' says Habacuc. 'We're running out of time.' Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage The rich purple dye enhances an embroidered table cloth
Zawya
13-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Oriental Weavers enhances production capacity with new polyester yarn dyeing unit
Cairo – Oriental Weavers, the world's leading manufacturer of woven carpets, is reinforcing its manufacturing capabilities with the launch of a new polyester yarn dyeing unit at Oriental Weavers International, in the 10th of Ramadan area. With total investments of EGP 50 million, this unit aligns with the company's ongoing efforts to improve production efficiency and enhance its ability to meet growing demand, as part of Oriental Weavers' commitment to achieving sustainable growth through improved energy and resource efficiency. Equipped with state-of-the-art machinery—including 4 soft winding machines, 1 dyeing machine, 1 rinsing unit, 1 drying unit, and 4 final winding machines—the unit is designed to meet approximately 25% of the company's polyester yarn needs, with a daily production capacity of up to 4.75 tons. This expansion will enable Oriental Weavers to enhance quality control, reduce production costs, and respond more swiftly to market demands. The new unit also features high energy and water efficiency compared to traditional dyeing methods, contributing to a reduced carbon footprint across Oriental Weavers' industrial operations. Commenting on this strategic move, Ms. Yasmine Khamis, Chair of Oriental Weavers Carpets, stated, ' The launch of this new unit marks a significant milestone in our continued commitment to innovation and market demands. By localizing polyester yarn dyeing, we not only enhance our production capabilities with high-quality products but also strengthen Egypt's manufacturing base and economy. This step ensures our leadership in the global carpet industry, offering superior polyester yarns with enhanced durability, vibrant colors, and exceptional quality' Polyester yarn has become a preferred raw material in carpet manufacturing worldwide due to its superior characteristics—such as excellent dyeability, resilience, luster, and UV resistance. In addition to these technical advantages, the new unit will create nearly 40 new job opportunities, supporting local employment and contributing to industrial development. With manufacturing facilities in both Egypt and the United States, Oriental Weavers continues to expand its production footprint to meet growing demand locally and internationally, reinforcing its position as a global carpet industry leader. About Oriental Weavers Group: The Oriental Weavers Group was founded in 1979 by industrialist and entrepreneur Mohammed Farid Khamis. Listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) since 1997, the Group has grown from a single loom operation to become the largest producer of machine-woven carpets in the world. Drawing from Egypt's rich textile heritage, dating back to c.5000 BC, Oriental Weavers is now a global leader in tufted and jet-printed carpets. Based in Cairo, the Group has manufacturing facilities in the United States and Egypt and distributes its products in over 118 countries. Oriental Weavers is committed to innovative manufacturing processes, inspired by the latest trends, and providing products that are both accessible and of high quality, crafted to deliver lasting value and happiness to its customers.
