Nowadays its become popular for some people to push ideas that "hair is hair", "all hair is the same", "its just hair", "any product can work for anyone" or that the shampoo & conditioner you can buy in aisle 7 of your local supermarket is an all-encompassing solution for every hair type.
Here is why they are wrong:
If you go back to slides 14-22 in my Structure of Hair presentation that I gave, you have all the evidence needed to debunk the myth that all hair is the same.
Skip to Slide 15, and focus on the cross-section of the cortex towards the right hand side.
You should notice a difference in the cellular makeup of the cortex. Half of the cortex is comprised of big round shaped cells, and the other half is made up of smaller irregular shaped cells...right?
The bigger round shaped cells are called paracortical cells, and the smaller irregular shaped cells are called orthocortical cells. So what is the difference between these cells? Jump to slide 18 to notice the differences.
In a nutshell, paracortical cells are stronger due to higher amount of cystine, matrix, and stabilization by disulfides. They're also typically arranged in a hexagonal format. Paracortical cells are those bigger rounder shaped cells in slide 15.
Orthocortical cells are weaker as they have less cystine and less matrix. They're typically configured in a whirly orientation. Orthocortical cells are the smaller and more irregular shaped cells from slide 15.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of paracortical cells and orthcortical cells in the cortex. Can you tell which is which?
So what do these cells have to do with varying hair types? Take a look at slide 17.
East Asian hair is made up exclusively of paracorticals cells, which is why that type of hair is straight. African descent hair is made up of equal rows of paracortical and orthocortical cells, which is why the hair tends to curl and excessively curl. Mixed racial hair is generally made up of paracortical cells but with narrow rows of orthocoritcal cells which give the hair a wavy appearance.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Next time you hear someone say something to the effect of "all hair is the same," be sure to remind them that we all have varying degrees of paracortical and orthocortical cells in the cortex of our hair, which determines how strong/weak or straight/curly our hair is.
I love how you break down the science! This is amazing information.
In terms of haircutting Mr Atchison has taught us to cutt hair, not ethnicity which makes sense since we are concerned with elements of lines and space.
In terms of hair structure you have shown that it is necessary to acknowledge ethnicity in so far of what the results will be after high pH chemicals have have been applied to the hair strand.
Mr. Fahiym
Question:
What is the Meso-Cortical cell and its characteristics as well as its presence among ethnicities?
Mr. Fahiym
Meso Cortical cells are present in wool and not in human hair. They are the third kind of cells and are different in shape than para and ortho cortical cells.
Dr ali syed
Now I'm curious as to the cellular structure of wool because as a youth mother trained us not to wear woolen headwear or woolen scarves unless it was lined because the woolen fabric eats human hair.
Mr. Fahiym
Dr. Ali,
I attended the demo class for the Affirm/Avalon products in Denver Colorado this past Monday November 3rd. I had a question. If you have a client who already has a full head of color, would you be able to use the affirm fiber guard relaxer system and also do color same day?
Dorena, I not sure if I understand your question. What is on the hair of the patron now? Is it already treated with permanent color and if so, what permanent color and what level color? What is the natural color level of the hair? And what exactly do you want to do to her hair?
hello,,,dr,,,ali,,syed,,,how are you,,, i like to call you,,, can you give please your pfone nr,,, ??? my hair looks pretty,,, i,m very happy,,, with my,, hair,,,thank you,,, i hope you can com to germany again,,, to wiesbaden,,, see you,,, bye..gruss ms.belgin germany-wiesbaden
Thank you so much Dr. Syed for the information given on this site. As a technical consultant, I appreciate the on-going accesible education you have provided. This site helps my presentations stay accurate as I teach others. Thanks again.
My pleasure, Amina. Keep in touch.