In the last couple of months I have become so interested in taking care of my curls!! There is no right way to take care of curls but I think I have found what works best for me!! But what I didn’t know was the chemistry behind curly hair and the products that I use!
Hair is comprised of two parts, the shaft and the follicle. The shaft is what we see flowing from our head. The follicle is in the skin on our scalp.
Our follicle determines the texture of our hair. A perfectly round follicle promotes straight hair while a more oval shaped follicle gives you more curly hair! It’s really cool because if the follicle is more of a flat oval shape, the hair will be even more curly! That means that my follicle is probably a flat oval shape! Follicles also tunnel into our scalp at a specific angle which also can determine hair type. When the follicle tunnels vertically down, straight hair. With curly hair, the follicle tunnels down at an angle giving curly hair its “curl” but this angle gives way to hair being dry. This is because the sebum glands that exist in our skin can not release their oils to moisten hair as well as with straight hair.
So let’s talk about the shaft 😉 The actual strands of hair we see are made of dead cells that are made of a protein called keratin. Keratin is packed with the multiple copies of the amino acid cysteine which is comprised of a sulfur chemical group that allows it to bond easier with other sulfur containing molecules. With curly hair, there are disulfide bonds that form in the strands that brings the hair closer together forming the curl.
When people with straight hair want curly hair, they go and get a perm. A perm is a chemical treatment that allows disulfide bonds to occur in the hair thus making it curly! When people with curly hair want straight hair, they get a relaxing treatment that breaks the disulfide bonds. I will say that I have personally never relaxed my hair. I have straightened it no more than 10 times. I really do love my hair. It gives me personality and I think it really is my signature look!
In October, I took the plunge and decided to look into the Curly Girl Method. I got rid of all the products that I was using that were not “approved”. The “approved” products have no silicones, mineral oil, waxes, sulfates, or drying alcohols. Sulfates strip your hair from their natural oils, which is great for people who have more oily hair but since curly girls usually struggle with dryness it causes a bit of an issue. Silicones are great for stopping frizz but they build up in the hair and are hard to remove. Mineral Oils and waxes are not hydrous so they are not moisturizing.
It’s so odd because I use these in some of the topical products at work. They totally work on a cream or ointment to moisturize the skin and distribute the medication properly. It’s crazy how much of a difference they make when you use it on a different part of your body.
As informative as the the curly girl method is, it isn’t for everyone! I listen to my hair and I really likes the products I’ve found but other curly gals I know use what they are used to which aren’t necessarily “approved” in the curly girl method but work for them. So my advice: just listen to your hair first and try other ways and products to see if you like them.
Such a cool topic to research and write about!! I will write a more in depth curly girl method post dedicated to the products I use and my daily routine soon!!
Xoxo,
Z
