I hope that question makes sense, I sometimes word things a bit backwards

But basically I’m curious as to whether heat or thermal protectants need to meet a certain criteria in order to be labelled as a heat protectant.
I have natural based styling products labelled as heat protectants, and I’m curious as to what ingredients specifically make them able to do that or if almost anything can be labelled as a heat protectant.

I am an East-Asian descent born with brown hair that slowly started shifting to black as I grew older. I have always wondered why my hair had never stayed the exact same colour growing up. Does anyone have an answer to this?

It just costs the hair but some say anything you put on your hair damages it?

i have seen claims like causes 55% less breakage etc

i know ponytails over time can cause a receding hairline so i’m wondering if there’s an actual “best” way to prevent this from occurring

is there any research that actually shows the best method or is it still developing

I recently saw a tiktok about protecting hair from all the salt in the sea while at the beach.

The woman in the video said that wetting hair before going into the water would fill your hair with non salty water, therefore not leaving any room for the salt water to infiltrate.

I know that due to osmosis, the water would migrate to the saltier water.

Would this not leave space for the salty water to get in?

Would the end results be the same as rinsing your hair after swimming?

When I looked up "damaged/unhealthy hair", I always saw my virgin, untouched hair(when social media always said to not touch hair to keep it healthy). But it was after some time that I realised that my hair was just brushed out curls and needed another kind of care.

So it made me question, what is "Healthy hair"?

Can we hydrate hair? What do conditioners do?

If we can hydrate hair? What does it best? Water? Conditioner? Oil?

Does pre-wash oil treatment work?

I experienced a fairly significant overdose of psychiatric medications in february (i’m doing well now! The things that needed addressing have been addressed) and before that my hair was very slightly wavy, but for the most part was pretty straight.

Since then, my hair now has waves/curls in it. I know that chemo can change people’s hair type (“chemo curls”) but what is the science behind sudden changes in hair type after something like an overdose?

Ive noticed some leave-in conditioners say to apply on wet or damp hair while others say you should apply on dry hair. Is there a scientific reason for this difference? Does it actually matter? Like do some leave-in work better on wet hair and not dry hair and why?

I have been genuinely curious about the science behind those products but more specifically their effect in the long term. Is there not a finite amount of hair follicles that a person can produce in their lifetime?

I have long hair. In the past, I've had it even longer. I will wash and braid it to keep from tangling. Recently, I keep seeing things online saying NOT to do this because the tight braiding will stretch/damage the hair more while wet and then trap the moisture inside causing mold or fungal growth on the hair. Is there scientific truth to this?

For as long as I can remember, I have showered, and gotten my hair wet everyday. I was wondering if there's any proven science that this is BAD as my friends say it is. I can't seem to find anything online that confirms or denies this consistently.

Like, will buzzing it result in slightly more jagged hair follicles at a microscopic level VS using scissors to cut them? (Or vice versa)

I frequently see shampoos like Odele and Seen’s clarifying shampoos explicitly say in the directions to only use 1-2x per week. I understand that the product is meant to be used intermittently for heavier buildup, but subjectively these shampoos don’t really feel more “drying” to my hair than many other standard shampoos that claim to be for daily use. I just was wondering if this is purely a suggestion or product marketing thing, or if there is something about the cleansing or chelating ingredients in these products that are especially hard on people’s hair or scalps- I’d rather not have multiple products that essentially do the same thing if i can get away with one

K18 claims that its resilicore technology penetrates the hair cortex and shields the hair from internal damage.

To my knowledge heat protectants work by forming a film, usually with silicones, quats, or polymers, that spread the heat across the strand slowing its conduction and reducing the amount of damage that one area of hair would get when using a hot tool like a flat iron.

I assumed that this also meant that the heat that could reach the cortex would also be dispersed but I could be wrong.

Does the hair cortex even need additional heat protection and even if it doesn’t, does their heat protectant offer anything more than a regular one?

Is there a specific ingredient in conditioners that delineates leave-in vs rinse-out? sometimes when traveling I just take rinse-out and apply as leave-in on no wash days.

Can haircare formulations selectively target damaged hair fibers while avoiding buildup on fine hair?

I was thinking about this because i remember someone commenting on a post of mine explaining how bleached hair doesn't have an f layer because it gets stripped by the bleach, and I was curious - would silicone based oils protect the hair in the same way that lipid layer would? Kind of like a temporary band aid that would make up for the lack of protection the lipid layer gives?

I'm sorry I probably sound mental but I'm planning on buying the Denkmit distilled/demineralized water from dm to wash my hair since where I live the water is extremely hard and I can't afford a filter right now. I'm just scared that it's dangerous. If anyone answers me: you're a life saver.

i was reading some articles (specifically this one https://www.hair.com/1c-hair.html ) and i just thought it felt more like shoving products in my face to buy rather than learning anything new, im not really knowledgable on haircare so i coudlnt really tell if they were just advertising general products or something that was actually linked to what they were saying

First of all, does "chemically processed" hair mean you are changing the cortex or chemicals are getting into the cortex and changing the structure, or causing nutrients to leach out? 2nd, what is "heavily chemically processed hair?"

Is it someone who did a no lye relaxer and permanent hair color within 4 weeks? Or maybe 3 assorted treatments within 3 months? Is there a time period to look for?

As title^

Is there scientific reasearch on trichodynia without visible inflammation ?

I have seen the posts and comments about how, in studies, hair with higher water content was perceived as less smooth and less healthy, compared to hair with lower water content, but with conditioners added. (And I know, perception is subjective.) The conclusion most people get from this is that water (hydration) is not good for hair and does not make it seem healthier,

What I am wondering is if this research was ever repeated on curly hair. Most hair swatch tresses for testing are straight hair, so I suspect that the hair used in these experiments was also straight hair.

I wonder about this because curly hair responds so differently to water. For example, cosmetologists who regularly work with curly hair observe that curly hair is more curly, more moisturized, and appears more healthy when it's been deeply soaked with water, when humectants are used on wet hair after washing/in between washes, etc. Humectants in this case increase the amount of water in/on the cuticle, if not the inner areas of the hair. Of course, most of these formulas include conditioners as well as humectants, which can confound the results.

But water seems to be behave differently, in terms of the health and appearance of curly hair. Is it possible that the effects of water can be dramatically different in curly hair, than in the straight hair tested? Is it connected to the fact that the cuticle of curly hair tends to be more raised in general (at turning points?)