The Science of Hair

Get out your notepads and put on your learning caps because In order to learn how to properly care for your hair, we must get down to the "nitty gritty" and learn about the science of hair. A strand of hair, also known as the shaft is composed of 3 layers:

Shaft: The strands of hair that you see and feel on your head

• Cuticle: This is the first layer of the hair shaft. The cuticle resembles scales or shingles 

• Cortex: This is the second layer of the hair shaft and is protected by the cuticle layer
• Medula: This is the last and most inner layer of the hair shaft

1. 

Now that you know that, this next part will make more sense!

Next we will talk about pH balance

Do you remember this lovely little pH scale? (Yeah i'm taking it way back to that dreadful chemistry class that we all fell asleep in lol!)

As you can see on the scale 0-6 is acidic, 7 is Neutral, and 8-14 is alkaline or base.

Alright now lets break it down and take a closer look at this pH scale:

The higher you go on either side of the scale the more dangerous and lethal are the chemicals that are associated!!

Now what does the pH scale have to do with hair???

The normal pH of skin and hair is about 4.5 to 5.5 which is mildly acidic. Hair products or liquids that are acidic will CLOSE the cuticle layer of your hair. Hair products or liquids that are alkaline/basic will OPEN the cuticle layer of your hair.

So what does all this mean??

Any product that is TOO ACIDIC or TOO ALKALINE/ BASIC will significantly damage or destroy your cuticle layer of your hair, and once the cuticle layer is destroyed, it CANNOT be repaired meaning that it will have to be cut off (Hair is dead cells so there is no repairing itself).

Now that all that stuff is said and out the way...

The pH of your SHAMPOO should be slightly higher than the pH of your conditioner...Remember the higher you go on the pH scale, the more your cuticle layer will be opened, so the purpose of shampoo is to slightly lift the cuticle layer of the hair so that it can properly clean all the dirt and grime from the inner layers of the hair shaft.

The pH of your conditioner should be slightly lower than the pH of your shampoo...Remember the lower you go on the pH scale, it will close the cuticle layer , so the purpose of conditioner is to return the moisture that was lost and stripped away through the shampooing process back into the hair shaft and close the cuticle, locking in that moisture.

A good pH of your shampoo should be around 6 but should not be over 7
A good pH of your conditioner should be around 4.5 to 5 but should not be over 6 or 7

I know what you are thinking...But how am I supposed to know what pH my shampoo and conditioner is??

Well you can purchase pH balance strips, I got mine from amazon.com for around $10 excluding tax and shipping:

If you decide to do this just make sure it goes from 0-14 on the pH scale

Or you can look for shampoos and conditioners that say on the bottle that they are pH balanced. For example, Kera Care products are pH balanced and have the number on the bottle.

~*Warm water opens the cuticles while cool water closes the cuticles. So when shampooing, use warm water and when rinsing conditioner from your hair use cool water*~

One of my YouTube fav's "Kimmaytube" explains about the three layers of the hair shaft along with pH balance on her YouTube channel and she has seen awesome results! Here is the web address to her channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kimmaytube/featured

Stay tuned for the conclusion of The Science of Hair :)

Peace and precious blessings,

~Licia