Moisture and Protein Balance

One of the most important things to remember when taking care of your hair is to keep a balance of protein and moisture. Keeping the hair balanced between these two entities is very important. An imbalance of these two components can be the main reason for many hair related problems. However, you must experiment and get to know your own head of hair to find out what your hair needs are.

Protein is important for your hair because it gives your hair strength. Hair is about 70% keratin protein naturally. Protein-based products bind to the hair cuticle and help reinforce its natural strength. It is important to keep out hair strong to help it fight breakage.

The processes of relaxed and colour treated hair compromise the protein structure of the hair, which means women with relaxed or colour treated hair need more protein than others. "Relaxing and coloring breaks protein bonds, and depending on the type and strength of the relaxer, and level of bond breakage you incur, you will need more or less protein than someone else." (Audrey Sivasothy, 2007).

Moisture is important for your hair because it gives your hair elasticity. Since water is the ultimate moisturizer, water-based products are best for obtaining moisture. Water based moisturizers help to nourish the hair deep within the strand.

It is best to avoid products that obtain ingredients such as petrolatum, mineral oil, or lanolin. These ingredients have no moisturizing benefits and would just cause unnecassry product build up.

To keep hair moisturized, a sealent must be used to lock in the moisture. Hair is naturally porous, which means... So, to keep the moisture in, it is best to seal with an oil. Natural oils like CASTOR, JOJOBA, OLIVE, CARROT OR COCONUT OIL are good examples of sealents. A light coating of one of these oils will help to keep hair moisturized for longer. "Oils are made of large molecules. These molecules are too large to be absorbed by the hair strand. Applying oils to the hair and scalp will coat them and trap the moisture that is inside on the inside and the moisture that is outside on the outside." (Audrey Sivasothy, 2007). Oil alone cannot moisturize our hair. Make sure you use your water based moisturizer before coating with your chosen natural oil to avoid dry hair.

The benefits of keeping a balance of protein and moisture include...

LESS BREAKAGE

LESS SHEDDING

There is a simple test you can do to see if your hair needs more moisture or more protein. It is all in how the hair breaks when wet.

THE WET ASSESSMENT

When hair is wet run your fingers or a wide tooth comb through it. (Alternatively do this with hair from a brush / comb)

Results:

If your hair stretches slightly and returns to its original length without breaking, you are BALANCED!

If your hair stretches a little more than normal then breaks, you ned more PROTEIN!

If your hair stretches and doesn't stop with no significant breakage, add a bit more PROTEIN!

If your hair feels weak, gummy, mushy. or limp. you need to add more PROTEIN!

If your hair feels rough, tough. hard, dry, tangly, brittle, or any combination of those, you need more MOISTURE!

However, if you are still not sure what is causing your hair breakage, do a deep moisturizing treatment first. This is suggested because protein induced breakage is harder to repair than moisture induced breakage.