subject: Styling Products - Know The Right Ingredients To Use In Dry Hair [print this page] We're always trying to find ways to get my hair looking healthier. Hair is hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs and gives off water molecules from hair humidity. So, depending on how much moisture there is available in the hair, really does depend on how healthy it is.
If you frequently blow dry your hair, use heated appliances and colour your hair then it will become dry. Long, curly and naturally coarse hair can also be dry. It can also become difficult to manage and if you're not using the correct styling products. Then, your hair will lose its shine. You may find that if you suffer from dry skin, that once you find a good cream, the difference it makes when applied to the dry area is significant. The skin becomes a lot smoother and looks healthier. The same applies with hair. The water bound in the hair evaporates from inside and out which, will dry out the hair.
The sun, the sauna and chlorinated/seawater can also cause dry hair and cause evaporation of water. As we know after holidaying in a hot country and swimming in the sea our hair never feels at its best.
A combination of ingredients can help get moisture back into the hair, these can usually be found in professional styling products. The first being D-Panthenol, this pro-vitamin is a thick syrupy hygroscopic liquid, with a high affinity in keratin which, of course is the main protein that the hair is made up of.
D-Panthenol protects the hair in the long run from drying out and also add moisture. Glucose and Fructose are sugars and help to retain the moisture. Fructose is sugar included in honey, apple and plum, (very hygroscopic) and the glucose made from corn starch and cane sugar is used to retain the moisture and smooth out the hair. We've found in the salon that styling products containing the aforementioned ingredients are particularly useful for dry hair as they contains all the ingredients mentioned above.
There are also spray styling products, that when applied to towel dried hair will leave a protective film over the cuticle retaining the moisture and protecting it against heated appliances. Remember healthy hair is for everyone, so make sure you choose the right combination of styling products to get the best out of yours.
