Impacting your Hair
with Chemicals, Gels and Sprays
Changing
the Look of Your Hair
Your
hair is genetically predisposed to grow and look ina
certain way. Today you can change the way you look with
chemicals, gels and sprays. The characteristics that
determine they way your hair looks are:
- The
density of the hair
- The
thickness of the hair shaft
- The
stiffness of the hair
- The
natural curvature of the hair
- The
slippery nature of the hair
- The
way the hairs stick to each other.
How
to Thicken your Hair
Many
people have thin and weak looking hair. Their hair can
be made to look thicker by using styling mousse and
gels that attach to the hair shafts. The hairs bond
to each other through the increased roughness of the
hair. Obviously you don't want to use this process with
smoothing products that take away this roughness.
How
to Reshape your Hair
You
can reshape your hair by setting the hair,
giving it volume. The common age-old technique is to
blow-dry with a round brush and then using rollers to
hold it in position until the hair completes drying.
Foan
or gel helps to increase the curvature of the hair shafts.
The surfactants in the shampoos makes the dried hair
respond better by making it slippery.
A
common way to reshape the hair is to repeatedly tease
it. However the process of repeatedly teasing it breaks
the scales off the cuticle, damaging the hair. Broken
cuticles cannot be replaced.
Certain
artificial materials help to reshape the hair by encouraging
the hair to stick to each other through films that they
form on dry shafts. It offers a better illusion of volume
by producing a better lift. These are:
- Gels,
mousses and foams. They are water based and
wash off easily with shampoo..
- Hair
spray that bonds the hairs through the formation
of a hard film on the shafts. Once the hair is set
with hair spray, it is best left alone because re-combing
and tugging the hairs can casuse damage.
- Hair
waxes are effective to help in reshaping
but are removed with shampoo usually after more than
one washing. They are not water-soluble so they resist
the impact of wind and rain better. More dramatric
shapes such as spiked hair require the application
of these products.
Important read on better hair care below:
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