Hair Challenges Part I
Hair Challenges Part I
Author: Jenna White | San Francisco Hairstylist
December 2nd, 2021
December 2nd, 2021
Dear readers,
This guide is meant to enlighten you about what is really going on with your hair. Move the hair product marketing aside and step into the mind of a hair professional by learning the science behind your strands, which are fluid and, at times, inconsistent. They can be changed with heat, weather, and chemicals, all agents that can be manipulated to achieve your desired look. As a third-generation hair professional, I'm excited to share this knowledge to give you more control over your hair challenges.
Always,
Jenna
This guide is meant to enlighten you about what is really going on with your hair. Move the hair product marketing aside and step into the mind of a hair professional by learning the science behind your strands, which are fluid and, at times, inconsistent. They can be changed with heat, weather, and chemicals, all agents that can be manipulated to achieve your desired look. As a third-generation hair professional, I'm excited to share this knowledge to give you more control over your hair challenges.
Always,
Jenna
To lay a foundation for the sections below, I want to start with the science behind your hair's structure. This can be a big step in understanding the cause of your hair challenge. Your strands are mostly made up of a keratin protein, which consists of the COHNS elements (Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Sulfur). These elements create the following bonds in your hair:
Disulfide bonds can cause permanent change in the hair structure, allowing us to perform services like perms and color. They are also responsible for the hair’s strength. Hydrogen bonds cause temporary change and adjust the hair's shape, for example, during washing and drying. We can use this knowledge to our advantage when styling - weather induced frizz can be reset simply by rinsing with water and styling in a new way. Check out this guide titled "Hair Frizz Science: Water and Hydrogen Bonds" to learn more. The big takeaway I want you to have before jumping into the sections below is this: the further we push the limits of our hair the more challenges we may face.
- hydrogen bonds
- salt bonds
- disulfide bonds
Disulfide bonds can cause permanent change in the hair structure, allowing us to perform services like perms and color. They are also responsible for the hair’s strength. Hydrogen bonds cause temporary change and adjust the hair's shape, for example, during washing and drying. We can use this knowledge to our advantage when styling - weather induced frizz can be reset simply by rinsing with water and styling in a new way. Check out this guide titled "Hair Frizz Science: Water and Hydrogen Bonds" to learn more. The big takeaway I want you to have before jumping into the sections below is this: the further we push the limits of our hair the more challenges we may face.
PRODUCTS FOR DRY HAIR, DAMAGE, UNDEFINED CURLS & FRIZZ
Humectants
Source: The Four Types of Moisturizing Ingredients Your Hair Craves, dominicanhairalliance.com
- Ingredients: glycerin, hyaluronic acid, sorbitol, lactic acid and propylene glycol, flax seed gel, dehydroxanthan gum, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, hydrolyzed proteins (also classed as rejuvenators), ceramides (also classed as rejuvenators)
- Pros: increase your hair's water-binding capacity, control the rate of moisture evaporation from your hair
- Cons: applying too much can leave hair feeling sticky and increase drying time, in humid weather can over-moisturize by soaking up water from the air, in dry weather can evaporate into the air and leave hair dehydrated plus weak
- Ingredients: olea europaea (olive oil), butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), cetyl alcohol, cetyl esters, lauric acid, cera alba (beeswax), petrolatum, polyquaternium-7, behentrimonium methosulfate, dimethicone
- Pros: soften your hair and skin, replace lost lipids to provide lubrication plus protection, fill in surface irregularities on strands, leaving them even and smooth
- Cons: can 'over-condition' the hair - creating so much softness that certain hair types feel too light and barely there
- Ingredients:
- Modern occlusives: silicones and silicone alternatives like dimethicone
- Others: mineral oil, petrolatum, beeswax, shea butter, olive oil, almond oil, dimethicone, cetyl alcohol
- Pros: seals in moisture you already have in your hair
- Cons: sealant also blocks intake of moisture, the oil-based products from the "Ingredients: Others" category can fall short, able to form repellent barriers around moisture but cannot bind to it (i.e. unable to retain water vapor in heat)
- Ingredients: fatty alcohols, oils, butters, silicones, lanolin
- Pros: see pros for emollients and occlusives above
- Cons: can weigh hair down, can be greasy and hard to wash out
- Ingredients: panthenol (vitamin b5)
- Pros: ability to hold and bind to water, retains water in hair, works especially well with humectants like hyaluronic acid and occlusive ingredients that help trap the moisture
- Cons: none documented when used for hair care
Source: The Four Types of Moisturizing Ingredients Your Hair Craves, dominicanhairalliance.com