If you may have curly hair, you recognize that day by day is a brand new adventure. What will my hair do today? Why is it higher on some days than others? And even those without naturally curly hair can see their hair curled — or, let's be honest, frizzy — a bit on hot summer days.
As someone with curly hair, I'm at all times in search of the most effective solution to take care of and understand my hair. As a chemistI’m considering the science behind how my hair behaves on the molecular level. There is Different types of hair, from straight to curly, and so they behave in a different way depending on their texture. But on the molecular level what hair is product of is identical.
Hair structure
Hair starts growing. Beneath the skin's surface, however it's when it breaks through the skin that determines whether you're having a very good or bad hair day.
Christine Miller/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Each hair can have three layers. – Medulla, cortex and cuticle. You can consider each hair as a small tree trunk.
The innermost, or basal layer, is the medulla. This layer holds moisture, eg The pit In the center of a tree trunk. This layer can also be very delicate, but only thick or coarse hair has it – so normally thin or blonde hair. There is no medulla layer of their hair.
Next is the cortex, which makes up a lot of the hair and resembles the wood of a tree. The cortex is made up of spring-shaped protein molecules that lie in parallel rows in a cylindrical bundle. Here is the precise type of this bundle. Hair is determined by the folliclewhich is one the pore On the skin where the hair grows.
How Hair Grows by Follicle Effects Its protein distribution. So a straight follicle produces straight hair and a curved follicle produces curly hair. The less evenly distributed the squiggly proteins, the curlier the hair. Your genetic code also plays a job in the form of the cortex and due to this fact the form and thickness of your hair.
Finally, the outermost layer of the hair is known as the cuticle. The cuticle is just like the bark of a tree—and it looks like bark under a microscope, too.
Lauren Holden, CC BY-SA
It's the cuticle's job to guard the cortex, however the cuticle is. Damaged very easily. Imagine lifting or removing bark from a tree. Doing so will expose the wood to moisture loss from the within, exposure to the environment, and damage.
The same goes for each hair. When the cuticle is broken by brushing, chemicals, wind or heat. Proteins of the cortex It's harder to lie down easily with one another. This means they will lose moisture, gain moisture, fray like a rope – causing cracks – and even break. All of those aspects can affect how your hair looks at any given moment.
Hair in summer
So what does all this should do with humidity? Well, hair proteins have many everlasting chemical bonds. Only chemical treatments similar to perms or straightening can change these bonds. But there may be one other natural phenomenon that keeps the protein molecules within the cortex in line. Hydrogen bonding.
Cortex comprises long, stringy protein molecules. Small positive and negative charges throughout their structure. Because opposite charges attract one another, entire rows of proteins may be interested in one another like tiny, weak magnets.
Heating or wetting your hair breaks the magnetic attraction between these strands of protein. Therefore, heat and water can rearrange the proteins in your hair. breaking hydrogen bonds which hold their structure together.
Water is probably the greatest molecules for hydrogen bonding. So when a water molecule has a possibility to hydrogen bond with something, it can.
Water can form hydrogen bonds in your hair. between rows of proteins within the cortex of your hair. The extent to which this happens determines the fate of your hair.
When little water enters the hair, as it may possibly in low humidity conditions or when the cuticle is healthy and in a position to keep an excessive amount of water out of the cortex, your hair can turn out to be frizzy. When humidity is high, or the cuticle is broken, more water enters the hair. Too much water may cause swelling and cracking of the cuticle Hair looks curly.
Many people consider high humidity is the issue behind frizzy hair, but styling your hair in high humidity after which moving to a less humid environment may also be an issue. Water molecules released from the hair cortex may also cause changes in hair behavior.
Summer hair treatment
A damaged layer of cuticle leaves the cortex. More sensitive For water molecules to crawl in or out and destroy your hair. Whenever water molecules move in or out, the structure of your hair is affected and your hair style can turn out to be damaged. When the cuticle is healthy, it may possibly protect the cortex, making your hair less sensitive to changes within the weather or environment. Most importantly, a healthy hair cuticle helps maintain adequate moisture within the cortex.
Heat from styling tools is essentially the most common perpetrator behind damaged cuticles, but additionally chemical treatments, brushes, sun and wind. Causes damage. Avoiding these activities may help, but some things, similar to sun exposure, can’t be avoided.
You may also care for your scalp – a clean, healthy scalp results in healthy hair cuticles. Using moisturizing products in your hair may also help maintain cuticle health. Oils and moisturizing treatments may also do the trick. Restore damaged cuticles.. The excellent news is that by understanding your hair and treating it well, you may help prevent the negative effects of humidity.