Phenotype and Hair Health

Phenotype and Hair Health

The shape of the hair shafts has significant implications for long term hair health. Increased susceptibility of the cuticle to physical damage is more common in the flatter hair. The greater the diameter of the cortex, the greater the resistance of the hair shaft to environmental and self-inflicted damage. 

 

Root to Tip Considerations Introduction

Human hair is only displayed in any volume on the head for good evolutionary reasons. The faces of our hunter gatherer forebears would not have been easily visible across the open veldt (wide open rural landscape) or tundra to prospective enemies, friends, or potential mates. It is the appearance of scalp hair that, in conjunction with body form, is the immediate and key component of attraction. At a distance, or from behind, the quality of a person’s hair may imply and age (youth, health and fecundity) not reinforced by facial markers. In the twenty first century “health” is synonymous with “YOUTH”. In many cultures, this latter asset is not only admired but worshiped. The desire to look younger than ones chronological age is driven by remorseless real or perceived social pressures.

An inevitable corollary to this desire is that repeated chemical and physical processing and so-called “keratin” hair treatments have had significant consequences for hair health. A whole industry has been founded on hair care, and the concept of “hair health” put forward by the world’s most successful hair brands as exemplified by shine, feel and manageability is critically important to millions of women, yet a walk down any street today reveals the extent of “unhealthy” hair. 

 

Healthy Hair

The advent of investigative tools such as proteomics and genomics has allowed hair care scientist to identify, and more importantly, quantify, what constitutes “Health Hair”. These breakthroughs have allowed a radical shift in the design and development of hair care products to protect and maintain hair health.

Hair is seldom healthier than in childhood, because at this stage it is relatively undamaged by the host. It illustrates the key sings of health, shine, feel, and an almost magical vitality related to its anatomical and physiological integrity.