Essential facts
We all want beautiful, healthy hair – but do you really know the inner workings of your hair? Have you ever asked what makes your hair curl? What makes it shine? Here, you will find some useful information.
What is hair made of
Hair is made of two key ingredients: protein (keratin) and water. Hair just loves water and can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in water from liquids as well as air humidity.
Two additional proteins decide what color your hair has: eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Dark hair contains more eumelanin, whereas blondes or readheads have more phaeomelanin.
The structure of hair
Each single hair comprises three concentric layers:
1: The innermost layer (medulla) is not affected by hair care products and styling processes.
2: The middle layer (cortex) contains the pigment and can be modified by dyeing, bleaching, perming and straightening.
3: The outer layer (cuticle) consists of several layers of overlapping cells – just like roof tiles. It is important to the health and natural shine of hair: the smooother the outer cells rest on top of each other, the more your hair will shine. Very straight hair generally has a very smooth surface, whereas curly hair tends to be more porous.
The number of hairs
Blondes have more… hair? Yep, it’s true: on average, blondes have considerably more hair than people with darker hair (140,000 vs. 100,000 individual strands). But the world isn’t altogether unfair: blonde hair is usually much finer and more delicate. So, for all you natural blondes, gentle styling is even more important.
