sade087

Hair has a lot of enemies. That's why it keeps growing. Sunlight, chemical treatments, packing tape that your brother sticks in your hair because he thinks it's a great joke - all hard on your hair. Certain grazing animals have teeth which grow throughout their lives because the grasses they eat contain a lot of silica, which grinds down teeth and the initial parts would soon be worn out. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 People have hair which keeps growing to keep our heads covered, even if our hair should be broken or pulled out. You only need see a bald person who was outside with no hat or sunscreen to understand the severity of the sunburn you can get on your scalp. Sunburn leads to water loss from skin, unhealthy skin, potential for infection. Not to mention an overheated scalp can make an overheated person and hair may help us modulate the temperature of our heads. Where we keep our brains. Our constantly-growing hair is always growing and replacing itself because nature expect...

I’m writing this because I have sensitive skin and allergies and so many hair and skin products are “off-limits” to me because they contain preservatives which make my skin itch, burn, turn bright red, break out in a rash. Actually, I'm writing it because 3 more products I love have started to make my skin itch and that annoys me because now I have to come up with new homemade recipes or search for something non-itchy and not-expensive. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 One of the best-known skin offenders are preservatives related to formaldehyde. You know, a part of the recipe for embalming fluid. Yep, it’s that nasty. I’m not going to mention the formaldehyde in hair smoothing or straightening products (except that I just did)! These are sources of formaldehyde which are not only skin-contact problems, but also unhealthy to breathe for the person having their hair straightened and for the stylist doing the work. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 You won’t find pure formaldehyde in your hair (or...

This post is timely to those of us in the Northern Hemisphere - to our friends and family in the Southern Hemisphere - hope you are enjoying spring into summer! Humidity is water vapor suspended in the air. How humidity is measured: Dewpoint – the temperature at which the air is saturated with as much water as it can hold, and so dew (or fog) forms. Dewpoint tells us the most about how dry the air is. Unless a new air mass moves in, the dewpoint can stay the same all day. This is what you want to watch to know just how moist or dry the air is. Dewpoints below 50° F (10° C) are “dry.” In the 50s  (10-15° C) is “comfortable” 60-65° (15- 18° C) is “muggy” 65-70° (18-21° C) is “humid” 70° (21° C) and greater is “oppressive” – rainforest-y - you feel you need to grow gills This is important for hair because dewpoint tells you how much moisture is in the air. Except for hair which has a very strong curl pattern, low moisture in the air tends to lead to flatter, less defined wavy or curl...