Quote - Thanks for the notes, Mokonan.

Funny, just a few days ago I was asking here if there were any good tutorials for rendering hair (nobody really had all that much to offer for recommendations). Will see how this works out.

It's more of a personal rant than anything constructive.. :) 

I really, really, really can't stand it when artists paint shadows and highlights on something.  Sure, there are some things that such touches might be useful on.  That list is aweful short.  But, to arbitrarily pain shadows on, for instance, body textures, is ridiculous.  The same goes for hair as well  Blonde hair is hard..  Everyone knows that.  But, when you encounter something that is difficult yet continue to use the same tired approach over and over again which has never worked... well, there's a word for that - Ungood Thinking.

As the OP has pointed out, Poser has a Material Room that has all sorts of nifty shader options and many of them could have application in regards to hair.  Hair artists, especially, need to pay attention to this.  Their customers would be much happier if they did.