Depending Upon Elasticity

The elasticity of the hair is a measurement of how much your hair would stretch i.e. would come back to its normal state. Hair, when healthy but wet, usually stretches up to fifty percent of the standard length and returns to the usual shape without any breakage, whilst dry hair just stretch around twenty percent. The rate of elasticity is measured as being high, normal or low. The elasticity of the hair comes from side bonds in the shaft of the hair. Hair that has high and normal elasticity can get styled with ease using tools for thermal styling, wet roller set, and so on, whilst hair that has low elasticity might be a bit troublesome to curl, or it may even lose the curls soon.

In order to test your hair’s elasticity, you have to pick a few strands of your hair from 4 different regions on your head. Make sure that your hair is damp. Clasp the strand firmly and pull out your hair. If your hair gets stretched and then comes back to the normal length after it is released, then it means that the hair has a good elasticity. But if your hair does not return to its earlier shape or it breaks, then it means that your hair has got a low elasticity.

Hair that has a low elasticity is very much at a risk of breaking and will be troublesome to curl and might not perm properly.

The elasticity of your hair a very essential feature to think about when going for a thermal reconditioning or hair straightening treatment. Generally every hair is supposed to be elastic, however the elasticity of hair varies from being poor to very good. Hair that has really nice elasticity will bring about pliable straightness. Hair that has moderate elasticity will create a straightness that will be a little less than average. Limp hair or in other words, hair that has poor elasticity will bring about little bit of straightness.

Hair tends to alter its elasticity every once in a while. Porous hair generally loses the elasticity at a faster rate as compared to hair that is non-porous. This alteration might be momentary because of temperature and humidity, the kind of shampoo being used, the quantity of hair gels and hair sprays being used and the drying action of sun and wind.

What are the signs of bad elasticity? When your hair is damp, it feels limp and spongy and gets tangled quickly and stretches too much without coming back to its original shape. A common reason for such a grave situation is the use of chemicals, for instance, highlight, color, TR/permanent straightener that are given too often or improperly. Damage to elasticity can also happen because of brushing damp hair and as a result stretching your hair further than its limit. The quality of hair elasticity will find out the success rate of TR or permanent straightening of hair.

Hair that has poor elasticity tends to break easily and quickly when it is stretched. There make sure that the hair is acclimatized for twelve hours prior to running any sort of test.