WHAT DOES HAIR CONSIST OF?
No matter how many hair care products are sold to meet the needs of buyers, beauty problems seem to be endless, am I right? Today, I will help you to know more about our hair because I believe that the better we know our hair, the easier we can take care of it properly.
WHAT IS HAIR?
HAIR IS FROM THE OVERLAPPING OF DEAD CELLS, CONSISTING OF AMINO ACIDS AND MINERALS C, H, N, P, S, WHICH IS DIVIDED INTO 2 PARTS: HAIR (HAIR SHAFT) THAT GROWS ABOVE THE SKIN AND HAIR ROOTS (HAIR ROOT) WHICH ARE UNDER THE SCALP.
HAIR (HAIR SHAFT) IS DIVIDED INTO 3 MAIN PARTS:
- Cuticle: The cuticle is the outermost layer of the hair, formed by keratin cells arranged in layers. It serves to protect the hair texture from external things. Whether or not our hair is beautiful and healthy depends on this cuticle because if the cuticle is destroyed. The hair won’t be soft, smooth, or shiny, but it will be frizzy and dry.
- Cortex: Cortex is what lies beneath the cuticle. It is the largest of the three components, consisting of multiple long keratin fibers bonded together by an adhesive called a membrane complex. It also contains the pigment melanin that determines the hair color. And if the hair is damaged, it will make your hair weak, fragile, and split ends.
- Medulla: The medulla is the center of the hair with a hollow structure. It may not exist throughout the whole strands, but with this, it is the one that increases the thickness of the hair.
HAIR ROOT
It is the part that is embedded under the scalp. It is shaped like a narrow mouth tube called the Hair Follicle. The last part of the hair follicle looks like a bulbous bulge that opens into a hollow concave inward like a plier called the Hair Bulb. The hair roots are on the base of the connective tissue that looks like a finger that extends into the cavity of the hair bulb and is called a Papilla, causing each 1 hair follicle to have 1 papilla and with this papilla that is very important for hair growth because there are blood vessels including the nerves to nourish them, causing the hair roots to divide and new hair cells are born. (As for people with baldness, it is caused by the dead or atrophy of the papilla, making hair malnourished until falling eventually.)
In addition, each hair follicle has a Sebaceous Gland wrapped around the mouth of the hair follicle, acting to create Sebum to maintain softness and help hair shine.
You see, our hair has many components that are much more delicate than you think, so don’t forget to take care of our hair health to be clean and strong. See you again soon!
