Hair is protein, like fingernails. And even the liveliest head of hair is dead material, alive only at its source in the scalp. Any preparation you apply, therefore, can affect the hair itself only to the extent that it cleans, conditions, smooths, or protects the hair shaft and its cuticles. And while this can improve hair's appearance enormously, any real nourishment comes from the hair follicle, the scalp, and the blood supply to both, which feeds the emerging hair shaft (although what you put on your hair may affect both the look of the surface of the hair and the condition of the scalp). This is why nutrition and massage are each an important part of my philosophy.
A strand of hair is made up of a number of layers, wound like insulation around a core. The layers--and their shape (a round cross section is typical of straight hair, and a flattened one of curly hair)--determine hair texture (fine to coarse) and color (bleaching, for instance, removes the colored layers of darker hair). The number of hairs determines what is thought of as "thickness." Thick and thin, fine and coarse, are concepts that are frequently confused.
It is the outermost layer of the hair shaft that most determines how your hair actually looks how shiny and healthy it seems. This is the cuticle, the keratinized layer of the hair. The cuticle is really a series of overlapping scales. When these scales are not disrupted by damage to the hair, they lie flat and are smooth and shiny. When they have been abused by heat, chemicals, or rough treatment, however, they begin to look (under a microscope) like a shingled roof that has been through a bad storm--chipped, bent, awry, or broken off altogether. This is what causes frizz, dullness, split ends, and the "fried" look of some people's hair.
Cleaning or conditioning substances that smooth these "scales" down--fill the gaps with protein, silicon, or waxes and coat the hair strand to prevent further damage--help hair to look shiny, be manageable, and feel soft. But the healthiest-looking hair is going to have to be healthy when it emerges from the scalp; what you eat, how long and how well you sleep and exercise, and the quality of the blood supply to the forming hair will determine the health, strength, and beauty of each and every strand.
By Richard Stein.
A strand of hair is made up of a number of layers, wound like insulation around a core. The layers--and their shape (a round cross section is typical of straight hair, and a flattened one of curly hair)--determine hair texture (fine to coarse) and color (bleaching, for instance, removes the colored layers of darker hair). The number of hairs determines what is thought of as "thickness." Thick and thin, fine and coarse, are concepts that are frequently confused.
It is the outermost layer of the hair shaft that most determines how your hair actually looks how shiny and healthy it seems. This is the cuticle, the keratinized layer of the hair. The cuticle is really a series of overlapping scales. When these scales are not disrupted by damage to the hair, they lie flat and are smooth and shiny. When they have been abused by heat, chemicals, or rough treatment, however, they begin to look (under a microscope) like a shingled roof that has been through a bad storm--chipped, bent, awry, or broken off altogether. This is what causes frizz, dullness, split ends, and the "fried" look of some people's hair.
Cleaning or conditioning substances that smooth these "scales" down--fill the gaps with protein, silicon, or waxes and coat the hair strand to prevent further damage--help hair to look shiny, be manageable, and feel soft. But the healthiest-looking hair is going to have to be healthy when it emerges from the scalp; what you eat, how long and how well you sleep and exercise, and the quality of the blood supply to the forming hair will determine the health, strength, and beauty of each and every strand.
By Richard Stein.
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