“My hair is very dry & frizzy!”
 “Which conditioner or mask can
I use to save my dry hair?”

 When it comes to haircare, these two lines are frequently heard. If you are reading this article, you probably have said one of these two sentences before. 

But before we can go into the varying degrees of damaged hair,  we must first understand the anatomy of the hair cuticle. 

This is a cross section of a Hair Shaft and is made up of 3 distinct parts:

• The Hair Cuticle: this is the outermost part of the hair shaft and has a structure of overlapping cells that look like scales in a vertical alignment. These are made up of many layers of keratin and measures about 60 micrometres long and about 6 micrometres wide. It houses and protects the cortex and is strong. How strong, you ask?

Each strand of hair can support up to 100 grams in weight. Multiply that by the average 100,000 to 150,000 strands on each head, Your entire head of hair could support the weight equivalent to two elephants! Imagine that.

• The Cortex: refers to the main component of the hair which contains a long keratin chain that adds elasticity, suppleness and resistance. The cells of the cortex are joined together by an inter - cellular cement rich in lipids and proteins. Each cell has microfibrils. The hair cortex is where you will find the melanocytes. Melanocytes produces Melanin, and Melanin determines our skin pigment and our hair color.When you dye your hair permanently, you are actually changing the color at the cortex layer. This is what your hair looks like through the dyeing process. 

What the hair dye does is that it lifts up the hair cuticles and depositing the color at the cortex to change the color. 

• The Medulla: is the connection to our hair bulb. 

This is a picture of a Healthy Hair Cuticle. 

This is a picture of a Healthy Hair Cuticle. As you can see, the hair cuticles are closely knit with proper density and it is not porous. The hair structure is strong and shiny and it reflects light. The hair is not heavy or weighed down by silicone. 

If you have healthy and shiny hair, you can maintain your hair with Phytoprogenium Ultra-Gentle Daily Care Regime!

Next, this is how a porous open cuticle look like. 

This is normally caused by prolonged exposure under the sun. If you love the beach, do note that the salt from seawater and sunlight dries your hair. If you dye, perm or rebond your hair, chances are that your hair cuticles look like this too. As the hair cuticles are still open, we recommend extra treatment to replenish & seal the cuticles to restore the shine. If you just colored your hair, we advise you to avoid swimming pools or the beach for at least 2 weeks to prevent it from getting damaged even more!

Take note as well that our natural sebum can only moisturize our hair till our ear lobes. For people with long hair past their ears, you will still need a weekly hair mask treatment and daily conditioners to keep your tresses hydrated.

If you fall under this category, make sure that you use the right hair treatments regularly and diligently. Phyto recommends PHYTOJOBA Moisturizing Range to restore softness and shine to dry hair, without weighing it down.

Finally, if you are one who bleach, perm or rebond your hair frequently, this is how your hair looks like under the scope! 

Your hair has not been given enough time for it to recover before your next trip to the salon.

When you bleach your hair, the bleach contains 12% peroxide which damages your hair cuticle at least 50%. At this point, we would recommend you to ease on the chemical work for at least 6 months to let your hair recover before it gets too damaged! Phyto has the perfect elixir to treat such hair conditions – Phytoelixir Intense Hair Nutrition Program.