Hair 101

There are many important lessons about hair, but the first one you need to learn is hair chemistry. The reason hair chemistry is the first thing you need to know is because everything you do, every product you put in it, will change the way your hair reacts. It is the basis of understanding what is good for your hair and what is bad for your hair. (Good: professional color or products that are made with your hair chemistry in mind. Bad: box color, permanents and drug store products.)

With that little intro - let's get started.

Your hair is made of several layers. The outermost is called the cuticle. The cuticle is very special because it acts as the barrier for internal structure of the hair. The cuticle is made of thousands of transparent scales. Picture the tail of a mermaid. When you look closely there would be thousands of scales locked layer by layer on top of each other. That image is very similar to each strand of your hair. Microscopic scales which link together to create the outermost layer of your hair.

Do you remember the pH scale that we learned about in school?  I certainly didn't. When we had to learn about it in school, I was a little freaked out, honestly. Anyway, here's what it looks like.  

Our hair lives between 4.5 - 5.5. Everything you put on your hair affects how the cuticle acts. When you add any product (even water) to your hair it is either more alkaline, or more acidic than your strands. Imagine each layer of the cuticle as a door. If you add alkaline products (pH 6-14) - the doors open. As you add acidic products (pH 1-4) - the doors close. The life of your hair strand is a series of opening and shutting those doors. 

Now I want you to think about those doors - opening & shutting - thousands and thousands of times. If you don't add the correct products, your hair will get brittle or dry out. Your hair will lose shine and soon you will notice that your hair is a series of "squeaky hinges" that you don't know what to do with. Which is why it is so important to make sure you know what you are putting in and on your hair. 

That my friends is the most basic explanation of hair chemistry that I can think of. I would love to answer any questions you have about this post in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading. I can't wait to hear from you. :)