On the Brink
- spookycaitlyndesigns
- Mar 10, 2016
- 3 min read
FUN FACTS
Hair can stretch up to 30% of its length
Hair can absorb its weight in water and swell up to 20% of its diameter
A single strand can hold 100g and the average head can support 23 tons.
All of this is only possible when the hair is healthy. Bad hair days happen… and a lot more often when your hair isn’t healthy.
SCIENCE STUFF
The cuticle is the outer layer of the hair shaft which is made of overlapping cells made of keratin. Keratin is a protein similar to the one our skin is comprised of. These keratin cells work as protective scales. When hair is colored or lightened the cuticle is lifted to allow the product to penetrate into the cortex to affect the natural pigment (melanin). After being lifted repeatedly or too far (ever heard a stylist say “They blasted their hair open”?), the proteins are damaged and they aren’t able to restore themselves. This is where the brink happens. (I am on the brink of shaving off all of my hair and starting over!)
HELP?!
What saved my hair from the brink was Redken Extreme line. Redken utilized their IPN system which stands for Interlocking Protein Network. With every use their products will put protein back into the hair. The products I enjoyed were Redken’s Extreme Strength Builder Plus mask and CAT spray. There is also a shampoo and conditioner in the line that I highly recommend. To use the mask you can do it the traditional way of washing your hair (don’t condition it, shampoo gently lifts the cuticle to scrub out all the junk, conditioner will close the cuticle and not allow the mask to really do its job) and then applying a good toonie sized amount of product. You can then bag your hair and apply low heat with a blow dryer or go my favorite route, which is a relaxing bubble bath. You can also go the lazy way which is using it like you would your conditioner. The CAT spray instructs you to wash it out however I used three sprays of it into my hands so that I could really target the ends of towel dried hair and work the product up the hair strand and continued with normal styling. The ends of your hair will need the most love because they’re the oldest parts of your hair.
THEN WHAT?
Your hair isn’t going to need the constant protein for forever though. Too much protein can go right back to causing problems. Like I said earlier the keratin proteins are little protective scales. When there’s too much armor, the hair can’t move and becomes brittle making it easy to snap off. Continue using your protein products until your hair feels good but if one day you do everything and wonder why your hair feels dry and stiff. At this point you can ditch the protein and start focusing more on moisturising your hair. I use Revlon Professional Uniq One to add moisture, tame frizz and a little bit of heat protectant when I blow dry. Make sure you keep up with regular hair trims so that any split ends don’t travel up the hair shaft and you are golden!
* If you are interested in any of these products, give me a shout and you can purchase directly from myself. *
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