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Explaining The Technology Behind The Best Hair Serums

By Joanna Walsh


Hair is an important part of personal image, and many people try to cultivate long, ample hair so as to enable more sophisticated styling possibilities or generate a striking appearance. Yet long locks also suffer trouble, such as desiccation (dryness), discoloration or breakage. Using the best hair serums is one step that people take in keeping theirs strong and supple.

The serums operate on the basis of a natural, timeless concept. Ancient peoples did not wash their heads regularly, and so the natural scalp wax, or sebum, would build up and cake in it. This solidified the strands and made them very easy to style, as well as shielding them from damage. The constant washing with sometimes quite caustic detergents that people undertake these days prevents this occurrence.

Contemporary fashion, or simply standards of hygiene, also would not approve of visible sebum deposits. Yet the need for strand protection and longevity remains, and so people have resorted to the use of serums. There are, at present, two basic types on the market: organic and silicon-based (artificial). The term organic has the same connotation here as it does in other industries, such as vegetables, as opposed to the commercial, synthetic products on offer.

Silicon-based serums used silicon as an emollient or coating for the individual strands. The silicon attaches to them and encapsulates them so that they are physically protected, in the same way that an electric flex is insulated by plastic or rubber. In addition to the silicon, the serum contains amino acids and ceramides.

If this sounds too scientific to understand, it isn't. Amino acids are simply the basic structural units of proteins. Hair is mainly composed of a protein known as keratin (which, incidentally, is also the primary component of the nails, since they are nothing other than conglomerated hair). The amino acids in the serum therefore feed the keratin, replenishing their decaying strand structures.

Protein is prone to damage by environmental conditions. Imagine the white of an egg (the albumen), and what would happen to it if it was left outside in the sun. It would soon denature (the technical term for a protein that is damaged or changing its state). Keratin is not similar to albumen in its physical properties but, being a protein too, it undergoes similar environmental trauma, so that it ages, dries out, or becomes structurally weak and breaks. You can see this in the way that it displays these changes or loses its color.

The main difference between silicon and organic serums is that the latter do not contain silicon. Apparently, the silicon is too effective as a barrier and actually asphyxiates the strand, while trapping chemicals inside the protected space, which in turn cause it to break. Users will have to decide for themselves which version they prefer, based on their own experience and homework.

People who take their grooming seriously and try to make a favorable impression may be interested in trying the best serums on the market. Knowing the science behind the serum also helps in using it and inspecting its outcome.




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