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.
DESCRIPTION: Damaged hair is typically brittle and breaks off at the mid-shaft, or is split at the ends. Strands may look more unruly, thicker and/or lighter in color than other healthy strands. They can also appear puffy, generally towards the ends.
CAUSES:
THE FIX: Get a good haircut (i.e. cut off at least a half an inch to an inch of length). Pause any coloring or other chemical services. Try to limit blowdrying to once or twice a week. Avoid excessive and/or high heat with flat irons. Detox your hair by using clarifying products, generally shampoos with vitamin C, that remove build up. A heavy build up of products and minerals will make it hard for moisture to re-enter the hair shaft. With clarifying shampoo, use it once at the start of your detox, and then once every three to five weeks after that. More frequent use outside of that will strip your hair and contribute to further damage. Follow your use of clarifying products with products containing dimethicone. See Products section for more details.
CAUSES:
- Heat can temporarily allow keratin to reform into another shape. This process is reset with water, but excessive heat damages the cortex and keratin chains. An example of this could be blowdrying every day.
- Hair color contains ammonia that raises the pH of the hair to allow dye to enter the shaft, causing swelling. The higher the pH level (usually when lightening as opposed to darkening hair) the more the strand can swell and generate damage. Making major changes in color (for example, going from black to blonde, or blonde to black) or lighting over previously colored hair tends to cause the most damage.
- Perms and straighteners permanently rework keratin’s disulfide bonds in order to reshape and set curl patterns. During the time when the disulfide bonds are being changed the hair starts to become more susceptible to damage.
- Traction or hair friction, for example wearing your hair in a ponytail in the same spot every day. This consistently exposes the same strands to chafing around your hair elastic. Actions like subconsciously twisting the same piece of hair in mid-thought can have the same effect.
THE FIX: Get a good haircut (i.e. cut off at least a half an inch to an inch of length). Pause any coloring or other chemical services. Try to limit blowdrying to once or twice a week. Avoid excessive and/or high heat with flat irons. Detox your hair by using clarifying products, generally shampoos with vitamin C, that remove build up. A heavy build up of products and minerals will make it hard for moisture to re-enter the hair shaft. With clarifying shampoo, use it once at the start of your detox, and then once every three to five weeks after that. More frequent use outside of that will strip your hair and contribute to further damage. Follow your use of clarifying products with products containing dimethicone. See Products section for more details.