Like your muscles, hair that’s strong looks better. Here’s how to bring its bounce,resilience, and sexy back.
To maintain your hair’s strength, you need to work on it as you would your body. That means avoiding damaging vices, giving it the right nutrients, and committing to weekly conditioning sessions.
The perfect strand of hair is built tough: The outer layer, known as the cuticle, protects the inner structural column, or the cortex. But over time, heat styling, sun exposure, and even shampoo can wear down the cuticle, exposing the center to damage. To rebuild your hair’s va-va-oomph, take these fitness tests meant to measure its elasticity, porosity, and volume then adopt the strength-training moves that follow.
The Stretch Test
You want your hair to have the bounce of a slinky. Pluck a wet strand from your head and gently tug it at both ends. “If the hair stretches a bit before it snaps, it has good elasticity,” says celebrity hairstylist Ron Williams, a national educator for Phyto Specific. If it breaks instantly, your hair is dehydrated and weak. The most likely culprits: your blow-dryer, flatiron, or hair dye, says Charlene Deegen-Calello, the executive director of product development for Keranique. “All those aggressors can weaken the cuticle to the point that your hair loses its bounce.”
THE FIX
This story is from the July 2016 edition of Shape Malaysia.
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This story is from the July 2016 edition of Shape Malaysia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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