Damaged Hair And How To Test It
Damaged
Hair is considered "damaged" when the cuticles start to lift up. However in this state your hair is still healthy enough. There are different degrees that the cuticle can protrude. When the cuticle has deteriorated to the extent that it exposes part of the inside of the hair, the hair loses some of its protein (amorphous protein). Hair in this condition is truly damaged. In this state hair can and will break off on some parts of the head, generally an inch away from the scalp. (The reason for this is that the hair is the healthiest the first inch). Remember it is not falling out. It is breaking off. The cause is usually bleaching and coloring your hair every four weeks to achieve.
Truly damaged hair will have lost its elasticity and bounce and it won't bend, won't hold a style because it has lost too much of its protein. It is the protein which gives hair its elasticity and bounce.
When your hair is wet, its structure is altered, causing it to become thicker and longer. It gets longer because it absorbs water and stretches. Your hair's elasticity is the measure of how much it will stretch (and then return to its normal length).
Elasticity
The elasticity of your hair depends on a couple of factors - whether it is wet or not and whether it is healthy or unhealthy. Healthy hair stretches up to 35% of its length before snapping off whereas unhealthy hair breaks more quickly because it does not have much elasticity. Healthy dry hair stretches up to 20% of its normal length and healthy wet hair can stretch up to 50% of its usual length and then return to its former length without breaking. Wet hair has more elasticity than dry hair. Elasticity is often described as being low, normal, or high.
Effects of Elasticity
How does this affect you? It can help you decide what hairstyle is best for you or your client. Hair with normal or high elasticity is easy to work with. It responds well to wet-roller sets, curling irons, etc.
Hair with low elasticity is more difficult to work with because it can be hard to curl or lose it’s quickly.
Testing Elasticity
You can determine the elasticity of your or your client's hair with this simple test. Take at least 4 strands of hair from different areas of the hair. Make the hair wet. Hold one end of one strand in each hand and pull the hair taut to stretch it. If the strand stretches and then returns to normal after you release it, you have good elasticity. If the hair snaps or does not return to its former length, you have low elasticity.
Test each of the 4 strands separately. Make your decision based on the average result of your "stretch tests".