Monday, 15 September 2008

All about Hair

Inspiration. Invention. Innovation. With a century’s experience in black & brunette hair coloring, Hoyu can help you obtain a better understanding of hair for more effective coloring in your future.

Hair Structure
Hair shafts consist of 3 parts: Cuticle, Medulla and Cortex.

Cuticle is the outer layer of hair shaft, which is made up of overlapping transparent keratin cells. It works like protective scales. Each cuticle cell is composed of several different layers such as A-layer, exocuticle and endocuticle. It is resistant to chemicals and protects cortex from chemical influences.

Cortex is where moisture and natural pigment (called “melanin”) are held. No other part of the hair shaft has pigments. Melanin contained in cortex determines the natural color of your hair. Some hair color products, especially when lightening hair, work on melanin. Melanin is missing from gray hair.

Medulla is the core of hair shaft. Sometimes the medulla is absent from hair, and it’s not yet scientifically clear why this happens.

Cuticle, the outer layer of the hair shaft, defines smoothness and shininess – because it can be seen and touched. Hair (cuticle) may get damaged by chemical processes, overexposure to sunlight (UV), too much heat from a dryer, abusive brushing and combing, over-chlorinated swimming pool water, etc.

Damaged hair/cuticle should be treated well with conditioners because cuticle cannot repair by itself once it is damaged.

Hair-type and coloring result tendency
Just like fingerprints, hair type is unique to each individual. We have soft, medium, hard, thick, coarse, straight, curled, damaged, colored hair - with numerous combinations of all-of-the-above! Also, natural (original) hair color and level of brightness (which is determined by melanin) varies greatly. There is black, brunette, red, blonde, and variations within each. Even when it comes to black hair color, there many variations.

Your coloring result is influenced by hair-type and beginning color. If your hair is fine and soft, and your natural color is light, then it is more likely to be influenced by chemical actions and will color stronger than expected. If your hair is hard and thick, and your natural color is dark, then it is less likely to be influenced by chemical actions and will color weaker than expected.

In addition, color tends to deposit more strongly initially, then fades away more quickly onto damaged or color-treated hair. Virgin hair is more resistant to coloring.

Basic Tips to Color Successfully
These tips are all included on the instruction sheet, please check for more details.
  • Do a strand test before application to see coloring result and check appropriate processing time in advance – because all hair is different!
  • Apply mixture on hair that is dry, free from styling build-up, not colored with metallic dyes, henna or color restorers. These interfere with the hair color process.
  • Distribute mixture thoroughly and evenly in application. Thorough and even mixture-application is very important to cover approximately 100,000 hair strands (which human beings usually have, depending on the individual).
  • Start applying mixture from recommended area:
    • Covering Gray: where hair is most gray
    • Fashion Color (Lightening): 1/2 inch away from the scalp, start at back, then side, front, and finally, top. Then roots.
Care - after coloring
Good hair care is recommended on a daily basis, because your hair cannot repair itself without your help. Additionally, coloring results last longer with good hair care habits.
  • Rinse just after coloring
    It is recommended to rinse hair thoroughly until water runs clear before shampooing. If hair is not well rinsed after coloring process, it may cause hair damage and color fading.

  • Conditioner for color-treated hair
    Conditioners designed for color-treated hair or with a pH value of 3 to 4 are recommended. For a while after coloring, some of your cuticles won’t close as easily as they did before coloring. The designed conditioner will expedite cuticle closure and prevent hair-damage and color-fading.

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