Hair 101

SO I started to write some in depth responses to some of the questions I received on my FB page... and realized that I was trying to explain a lot of things that not everyone will understand the significance of. SO. I decided to do a quick post explaining a little about the hair shaft itself.

There are 3 parts, layers if you will, in the hair.

1. Medulla- The inner most layer of the hair, also known as the pith or marrow. This really does nothing for the hair. In fact it is absent in most fine hair. We don't really need to worry about that layer.

2. Cortex- The second, or middle layer of the hair. This layer is made of a unique protein structure known as keratin (it is the base for hair, skin, and nails).This is also where the pigment (color molecules) are held. This is the muscle of the hair and probably the most important.

3. Cuticle- The outer layer of the hair. It is made up of over lapping translucent scales. Imagine shingles on a house roof. This layer protects the hair to an extent from outside forces. Also, the first layer to get "blown apart" when we use bleach or heat or sun or anything else damaging to the hair.


One more thing. The hair's two most important factors in heath and repairing damage are MOISTURE and KERATIN PROTEIN. It is hard to tell sometimes what one your hair is lacking when damaged. But your hair stylist should be able to analyze your hair and prescribe the correct treatment, moisture or protein based.

I will most likely go further in depth with all of this in future posts. For now I feel like this is a good building block :)