For our early ancestors, the hair on the head and body served as protection against environmental influences such as cold, wetness, sun, and injuries. The body hair decreased and what was left of it now functions as a characteristic of the (male) gender. The protective functions were taken over by clothing. The function of the main hair has also changed significantly. Today, hair is essentially an expression of individual personality. With your hairstyle, you send out social, psychological, and erotic signals. It goes without saying that most people want beautiful, full, shiny hair and an appealing hairstyle. Both can significantly increase personal charisma and attractiveness.

The young, freshly grown hair is an almost perfect structure. If there are no pathological changes, it cannot be further improved in its natural form. Whether hair is in good or less good condition and how attractive it looks depends largely on external influences. In addition to frequent washing and hairdressing, there are environmental influences and hair treatments that can additionally damage the hair. Sunlight, the chemical processes involved in permanent waves and other hair deformations or coloring can, with their inevitable side reactions, impair the quality of the hair and lead to signs of wear and tear.

The hair flakes provide clear evidence of this: If the protective cuticle near the scalp is still completely intact and almost closed on freshly regrown hair, its condition deteriorates as the hair length increases. In extreme cases, the cuticle on the ends of the hair has even been completely lost. Split ends - split ends - and hair breakage is common consequences. With the help of targeted care, damage can be prevented; within certain limits, existing damage that is not too severe can even be compensated for, and deterioration can be prevented. The wide range of hair care products on offer ranges from conditioners, treatments, and masks to hair serums and tonics.

Easy to Blow-dry And Styling With Conditioners and Balms

Hair is often rough and stubborn, especially after shampooing. The reason: water and friction during shampooing have roughened the cuticle of the individual hair. It supplies the outer cuticle with proteins and conditioning substances that smooth the surface and gives the hair more suppleness. In addition, the products have an antistatic effect, which means that the hair is not so easily charged electrically when blow-drying and styling the hair later.

Since the conditioner such a Pureology Smooth Perfection Conditioner 1000ml wraps around the individual hair like a protective film, the comb then glides more easily through wet hair. After drying, the hair can then be styled more easily, a comb or brush does not fly after it, it feels better and shines more. In addition, the wafer-thin film acts as invisible protection until the next wash, making the hair more resistant to external influences such as heat from a hairdryer. The care effect is most evident on the hair tips, which are most damaged and absorb correspondingly more care substances. It makes sense to use a nourishing conditioner regularly, especially with long hair.

Hair conditioners or hair rinses are among the most widely used hair products by consumers. Often formulated on the basis of oil-in-water emulsions, conditioners are used immediately after shampooing. Either a conditioner such as shampoo is massaged in briefly and washed out again after a maximum of five minutes, or it is sprayed into damp or dry hair in the form of a spray, which can then be dried or styled. Nourishing foam balms or foam gels, whose fine-pored foam is usually easy to distribute, are also conditioners that remain in the hair.

Which Ingredients Hair Conditioner Products Consist Of?

In the rinsable products, special ingredients ensure that the care substances can attach to the damaged hair surface despite contact with water. Quaternary or quaternary ammonium compounds are organic compounds in which all four binding points of a nitrogen atom are organically bound. They are also known as QAVs or quats. QACs belong to the group of surfactants - substances with a surface-active effect. They are substances that combine a water-repellent chain and a water-soluble group in their molecule. QAVs belong to the so-called cationic surfactants. They are also used in textile cleaning products such as fabric softeners. Some have a disinfectant effect and are used in the medical field.

Shine conditioners for warm, cool, or neutral blonde contain micro-care ingredients and amino acids that are supposed to perform three tasks at once: strengthen the hair, repair the hair structure and at the same time ensure a balanced moisture balance. Amino acids are the building blocks of the hair fiber keratin. Pigments support color retention, freshen up the color, and should make it shine more intensely. The sophisticated recipes, e.g. with liquid rock crystal (reflects the light), special UV filters as well as silicone and apricot oils are intended to ensure that the hair is coated and has a smooth surface. Other products contain water-soluble silicone oils. The goals here too: suppleness and shine. The light conditioners are offered as a rinse or spray and are suitable for daily use.

From Nature To Beauty With Repair Kits

The market also has a “repair kit” for particularly unruly, difficult to control, and brittle hair: special smoothing rinses and balms. They are supposed to improve combability, even with stubborn and damaged hair, without weighing the hair down. These care products are also suitable for users who want to wear their naturally curly or wavy hair straight from time to time. The remedies are enriched with plant essences such as magnolia extracts. The South American palm contains a nourishing oil; magnolia extracts, for example, contain antioxidant ingredients. 

With the help of innovative technologies, manufacturers are now able to combine nourishing micro-oils with smoothing ingredients in intensive anti-frizz serums. The active ingredients penetrate the inside of the hair very quickly and are supposed to relax the hair. Because they also shield it from moisture, the hair hardly frizzles even in wet weather and high humidity. The "fluffing up" can be prevented for a long time, at the same time the occurrence of split ends is prevented.

Deep Rebuilding Process In Hair

The same category also includes deep repair or rebuilding cures that provide intensive care for very dry, stressed, and damaged hair. Here the manufacturers rely on active complexes of up to 20 ingredients. The recipes contain amino acids, proteins, vitamins, plant extracts, and moisturizers and promise a long-lasting repair effect. Amino acids, for example, are the building blocks of hair fiber proteins, keratin. External influences such as coloring, perming, or styling put a lot of stress on the hair and lose more and more of its putty substance, which ensures that healthy hair has an intact structure and resilience.

The latest generation of cures promises all-around repairs and quick help for damaged and dry hair: lost hair substance should be renewed deep inside the hair fiber, hair breakage should be significantly reduced and the resistance of the hair increased. The “magic tools”: so-called ceramide compounds. Ceramides are special lipids that, as one of the main components of the natural skin barrier, protect the skin from drying out and prevent the penetration of foreign substances. Cement-ceramide complexes in hair treatments contain the replication of the natural cement substance of the hair. The products such as KMS Moist Repair Anti-Breakage Spray 100ml are supposed to work specifically on the damaged areas by filling up cracks and "sealing" the hair fiber anew. The hair is supposed to be repaired and also protected from new damage.

Well-Groomed Right Down To The Tips

Hair treatments also play an important role in hair care. In addition to rinsing, they are used regularly at somewhat longer intervals. Hair treatments are available in various forms of application and degrees of intensity with different focal points. In order to optimize the care effect, it is important to choose the right type of cure in each case. In addition, the following applies: the more stressed and damaged the hair, the more often a spa treatment should be carried out. While hair treatments used to require more time, the exposure times have in some cases been greatly reduced in recent years. Even those who have little time can now give their hair extensive care.

In general, hair treatments are used to care for heavily damaged hair as well as after permanent waves, colorations, and bleaching. Special products are intended to counteract split ends and hair breakage or are used for scalp problems. In addition, longer exposure times are recommended for washable products. The care effect can be enhanced by the influence of heat, for example by covering the hair with a terry towel or a plastic hood.

As with the hair conditioner, there are both washable products and variants that remain in the hair. Leave-in hair treatments such as KMS Add Volume Leave-In Conditioner 150ml are based on aqueous-alcoholic solutions or gels. The proportion of alcohol makes the hair dry faster. The products are preferably available in the form of sprays so that the active ingredients are distributed well in the hair. However, emulsions are also offered in which special ingredients such as nylon derivatives are intended to guarantee rapid and even distribution. After shampooing, the spa products are either evenly distributed in towel-dried or dry hair or applied to the ends of the hair. The dosage of leave-in hair treatments should be done very carefully, as the hair could be weighed down if applied too large and then hang limp and limp, or it cannot be styled well and permanently.

Rinse-off or wash-out care treatments such as Kevin Murphy Repair Me Rinse are worked into washed, damp hair-like hair conditioners. The main aim of the application is to improve the grip, manageability, and shine of the hair. Mustard contains the emulsifier lecithin and thus combines water, or vinegar, and oil. This product area also includes silicone emulsions and gel formulations. Washable spray cures are primarily intended to protect against split ends and make the hair more flexible. Hair treatments are much thicker than conditioners. With exposure times between five and 15 minutes, the specific active ingredients can penetrate deeper into the hair.

What Are The Most Crucial Ingredients of Deep Repair Hair Products?

Deep repair products contain, for example, so-called omega-ceramide, which is composed of a replica of the hair's own lipids (omega 6) and a repair agent called ceramide R. Especially with fine and sensitive hair, Ceramide R is intended to fill in internal cracks and porous weak points in the outer hair coat and at the same time return lipids to the hair fibers - if possible without weighing them down. Fine hair can easily be overloaded by too much care or unsuitable care substances. Combinations of active ingredients with panthenol or so-called protein hydrolyzate should give even highly porous, brittle hair new vitality. Valuable oils with high proportions of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E are supposed to build up brittle hair and protect it from drying out.

To obtain protein hydrolysates, keratin-containing proteins are broken down into their building blocks, the amino acids, in a chemical reaction (acid hydrolysis with subsequent neutralization). These are various (up to approx. 20) amino acids in powder form. Protein hydrolyzates are plant-based. In haircare, the amino acids are supposed to be built into the hair proteins as repair components. Applied once a week, products in this category such as Shu Uemura Instant Replenisher Full Revitalizing Serum 100ml promise comprehensive hair recovery and a more vital appearance. The treatment packs remain on the hair for approx. 20 minutes before being rinsed out. Here too, warmth increases the caring effect. Multi-day treatments are also available for very badly damaged hair. For several days, spa products that build on each other are used to optimize protection and ensure long-lasting care.