Hair Care 101: The Structure of Hair
I feel like this is an obligatory post that most, if not all, hair care bloggers push out most likely in the beginning of their blogging life.
I decided to wait a bit because I was still figuring things out myself and I still am. However, writing this post forced me to dig deep and look at hair care from a scientific point of view...rather than that of a product junkie.
Don't worry, I am not going to go into too much detail as I am not going to pretend that I am some sort of expert on this stuff. I just wanted to write about the hair strand in my own words; the way I understand it. This post is for me as much as it is for you.
With this series I hope to shed some light on the foundation of hair care regimens.
The Structure of Hair
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Now, I was not aware of all of this so bear with me, okay? Hair is made up of a protein called Keratin which is known for its resistance to wear and tear - it is also found in nails. There are two parts of a hair strand:
- The hair follicle and;
- The hair shaft.
The Hair Follicle
This part of the hair is the 'origin of growth', as I like to call it, which lies beneath the scalp. To me, it seems that the hair bulb and the sebaceous glands are the key constituents of the hair follicle. I could be wrong but whatevs; I shall continue spewing out my 2 pence on this subject. The hair bulb contains cells that produce pigments (melanin) that give the hair its colour. And the sebaceous glands push out the good stuff (oil i.e sebum) into the follicle and onto the scalp.
The Hair Shaft
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This part of the hair lies above the scalp and is made up of 3 layers- the medulla, the cortex and the cuticle. The medulla has unknown properties as it is not even present in some hair types...ok, I don't know if it is "unknown", I just didn't find a concrete description of its function. The cortex is the layer made out of keratin fibres and it is this layer that yields the hair strand its strength, flexibility, colour and texture. The cuticle is the colourless outer layer of the hair shaft consisting of 6-10 layers of "scales" which protect the cortex. The hair shaft is formed out of dead cells that relies on keratin, water and binding substances to hold it together. It is the reason why we feel no physical pain when our hair is cut. I know I feel hurt when I cut my hair...
Well, that's all for this post folks. Hope this helped you understand a little bit more about your hair. I will update this when I learn something new. If you have anything to add please let me know in the comment box below :)
Till next time!
Luv, Mo xx