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: Determining the cause will be key here. Smaller hairs that do not flow in the direction of all the other strands would be my definition of frizz. The most common type of frizz is conditional, caused by things like high humidity, damage, and friction. Frizzy hair, similar to damage and dry hair, is the result of a change in the cuticle and cortex. The overall look equates to flyaways and untamed hair. Frizz is not inherently bad and can often be on trend. Knowing how to leverage it can benefit your style even in instances where you don't like it.
CAUSES:
THE FIX: 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:
- 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.
- Genetics
- Weather: air with high humidity causes hydrogen bonds to form between the proteins in your hair, triggering frizz. According to Smithsonian Magazine's article Why Humidity Makes Your Hair Curl, "Hydrogen bonds occur when molecules on neighboring keratin strands each form a weak attraction with the same water molecule, thereby indirectly bonding the two keratin proteins together. Because humid air has much higher numbers of water molecules than dry air, a given strand of hair can form much higher numbers of hydrogen bonds on a humid day. When many such bonds are formed between the keratin proteins in a strand of hair, it causes the hair to fold back on itself at the molecular level at a greater rate."
THE FIX: 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.