Hair Styling Products

The ancient Romans and Greeks used different greases and oils to make their hair shiny, to protect it and to make it easier to comb. More recently, as we like to change and style our hair in different ways, a mixture of sugar and water has been used, as well as tragacanth gum (a type of gum extract). In the 1950s a new type of setting lotion was produced. These contained tiny resin-like particles of plastic suspended in alcohol which formed a synthetic coating around each hair strand, so protecting it and improving both texture and body.

These products temporarily change the shape of hair. The cortex is the middle region of the hair shaft which is filled with fibres of keratin. These are long coiled structures of polypeptide chains, which can be stretched and then spring back into shape (like a piece of elastic). These polypeptide chains are held together by hydrogen bonds, which when wet can be easily separated and then joined up with their nearest neighbours. When dry these bonds remain in their new position and the hair holds its shape. By adding an extra layer, i.e. styling product, this new shape can be held for longer.

Hair gels and waxes can smooth the hair cuticle by filling-in some of the damaged gaps in the cuticle layer. An active ingredient in conditioners is still oil-based, but in a very different form. It is now chemically blended with water to produce an emulsion, which smoothes the hair and makes it more manageable. It protects the hair and seals in moisture by creating a barrier around the cuticle.

The hair is made up of scales, which can easily become distorted and so cause the hair to ‘frizz’. Hair gel/wax coats these scales and so enables them to be manipulated so that they all lie in the same direction, thereby giving sleek, shiny and manageable hair.

Web links to visit:

	http://www.catie.org.uk/face_value/interactive_home.html
	http://www.schoolsnetwork.org.uk/pds/des-tech/d&t.htm
	http://www.dtonline.org/
	http://www.artifact.ac.uk/design/