Wavy Hair Care

Bond Builders For Damaged Wavy Hair

March 4, 2023 by Emily Evert 2 Comments

Can You Really Repair Hair Bonds Damaged by Bleaching or Dyeing?

There are several types of hair bonds that can be broken. The ones broken during the process of bleaching hair or dyeing hair are primarily disulfide bonds, which are a type of covalent bonds. Those disulfide bonds cannot be fully repaired with any technology that we currently have.

The cosmetic chemists on the Beauty Brain podcast say bond builders like Olaplex and wellaplex do more conditioning than bond rebuilding. Covalent bonds or disulfide bonds are the ones damaged when hair is dyed. “It’s literally impossible to fully restore disfulfide bonds”. Hair repair products may rebuild hydrogen bonds or electrostatic bonding.

Episode 216 on bond building explains how Olaplex has a patent that claims they rebuild disulfide bonds, but patents aren’t evidence of effective peer-reviewed science.

What percentage of hair bonds are damaged while bleaching hair?

Typically 15-25% of bonds are damaged while bleaching hair, but it can be up to 45% in cases where “severe” bleaching is being done.

This is a quote from from Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair by Clarence R. Robbins.

“Robbins and Kelly [5] have shown that 15–25% of the disulfide bonds in human hair are degraded during “normal” bleaching, however, as much as 45% of the cystine bonds may be broken during severe “in practice” bleaching. This latter amount of damage may occur while frosting hair, or while bleaching hair from black or brown-black to light blond”

What Type Of Hair Bonds are Damaged by Bleaching?

Wavy Hair Stats Quiz – Easily Figure Out Your Wavy Hair Type

February 23, 2023 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

One of my more popular posts is How To Determine Your Wavy Hair Type. It goes over density, porosity and thickness. To make testing your hair as easy as possible, I made these little quizzes! Leave a comment letting me know what you think.

Hair Type Test - Porosity

When your hair is dry and free of styling products, use a mister to mist your hair.

What do you see?

Which of the following have you done to the hair on your head?

Select all that apply.

Your porosity is likely:

Hair Type Test - Density

Make a part in your hair.

What do you see?

Make a ponytail with the hairtie an inch away from your scalp.

What is the circumference of your ponytail against your scalp?

Your density is likely:

Hair Type Test - Strand Thickness

Place a strand of hair between two fingers and close your eyes. Rub your fingers together. Can you feel that strand without seeing it?

Compare a single strand of your hair to sewing thread.

Your strand thickness is likely:

Curly Girl Method Basics

August 12, 2022 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

What you need to start the curly girl method

A clarifying shampoo to use for your reset wash. This should have a sulfate cleanser, but should not include silicones.
A sulfate-free shampoo (aka low-poo) or a cowash.
A silicone-free conditioner.
A silicone-free gel.

If you want an easy way to check if a product you’re considering purchasing meets the curly girl method standards, you can try sites like IsItCG, CurlsBot or CurlScan.

The basic steps of the curly girl method

Dyson SuperSonic Hair Dryer Review | Is It Worth It?

March 22, 2022 by Emily Evert 5 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

In my gift guide for wavy curly girls, I mentioned how getting the Dyson SuperSonic Hair Dryer as a gift would make anyone feel spoiled! My boyfriend doesn’t read my blog unless I ask him to edit or otherwise help me. I didn’t ask him to edit that post, so I was shocked that he got me the Dyson SuperSonic for Christmas. I didn’t ask for it, I hadn’t told him about it, etc. I’m usually a frugal person so I felt a bit bad that he bought it for me, honestly. He’s super sweet. $400 is a lot for a blow dryer though.

I can’t deny that I love it, though! My hair would literally take all day to air dry, so I have to diffuse. Yet, I find diffusing to be my least-favorite part of styling my hair wavy. It just gets boring because it takes so long. The Dyson makes washday more enjoyable for me because it reduces how long I have to spend diffusing.

Using The Dyson SuperSonic And Diffuser On Wavy Hair

My first thoughts and biggest overall takeaway? It’s REALLY hot. You can use it heatless, or on low, medium or high heat. The “low” heat on this is equivalent to the ‘high’ heat setting on my old dryer. It’s so hot that I have to push the ‘cool burst’ button often or it would be uncomfortable on my scalp.

The Dyson website says that they use intelligent heat control, which measures the air temperature 40 times per second to regulate the heat. This regulation of the heat prevents extreme heat damage. I assume this is, in fact, true – but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t feel really hot on your head.

They also say that their blow dryer attachments are engineered to stay cool to the touch. I have found his to be true. When I had my hair diffused in a salon last summer, the prongs of the diffuser she used were painfully hot on my scalp. With the diffuser on the Dyson SuperSonic, I don’t find that the diffuser prongs get painfully hot, it’s just the air itself that can get uncomfortably warm.

My next big takeaway from using this blow dryer is how much more comfortable it is to use. The Dyson blow dryer is shorter than many blow dryers, so even with the diffuser on it, it’s shorter than just the body of my old blow dryer was. This means I don’t have to hold my arm as far out from my head when holding this blow dryer. It’s easier on my arm and shoulder.

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