Michelle Gaines’ hair naturally curls into tight coils. Keeping it neat and healthy has proven a challenge for this busy polymer chemist. She’s read all those product promises and watched online videos about how to tame it. Her friends’ well-meaning advice didn’t help much either.
“It’s literally been trial and error,” says Gaines, who works at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga.
In frustration, she turned to her science.
Human hair can vary widely in texture, shape and curl patterns. These differences affect its strength and more. So, too, do our hair-care practices and treatments. Gaines is among a growing number of scientists working to better understand these strands of fibrous protein that sprout from our heads.
Some researchers are focusing on what the differences in curly hair mean for its strength and other traits. Others are probing how varying hair and scalp conditions affect our locks. Still others are studying hair-care practices and hair-care products, including shampoos and conditioners.
Some of their findings could help you take better care of your hair — or point to personal do’s and don’ts. After all, no matter what type you’re born with, you want it to be healthy. And we all want our hair to look awesome.
Straight? Curly? What type do you have?
Everyone’s hair has the same basic chemical composition. Yet from one person to the next, those strands popping out of our scalps vary greatly. One of the most obvious ways is in their curliness. But they can also naturally differ in thickness, color pigments, strength, texture and more.
Hair is mostly made up of proteins, such as keratin. It also has small amounts of lipids (fatty substances) and sugars….
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