Hair Care Advice

Setting Your Hair - Hair Care Advice

What are setting agents and hair sprays? Setting agents keep the hair set longer. They are applied to wash the hair before it is set. A film of the agent is left on the hair and as the hair dries, it is glued together giving it a stiff and thick appearance. Hair sprays, on the other hand,are used on hair which has been set. They keep hair in place.

Both, setting agents and hair sprays have very little chemical effect on the hair proteins. They both contain water soluble polymers, but in different formulations. Mechanically, they have two different effects: because they minimize the need to comb, they reduce hair damage; but they make hair stiffer, so it becomes difficult to comb, thereby increasing the damage to the hair while combing. Both these opposing effects are generally balanced.

BLOW DRY:
Many of us use a 'dryer' for setting hair. Sometimes we use it simply to rapidly dry wet hair. Heat is potentially damaging to the hair because it results in the loss of natural oils and moisture. Also 'heat treated' hair is more prone to damage, because heat weakens the hair protein. This is especially so if the hair was wet prior to heat drying.

It is best to avoid a dryer altogether; but if this is not possible follow these precautions:

· Use the dryer when the hair is comparatively dry.
· Be gentle.
· Use a wann/cool setting on the dryer and keep moving it, so that no one section ofhairis subjected to heat for too long.
· Don't hold the dryer too near your head.
· Direct the wann air along the direction of hair growth, so that you are blowing flat on the scales of each hair shaft and not ruffling them up.