As hair grows out of the scalp, we first see the hair shaft. A formed hair is composed of three main components: the scales, cortex and medulla. The main component is keratin. Besides keratin hair contains water, lipids, pigments and other trace elements. The main characteristic of the material is solidity, some is also amorphous which is important for flexibility, suppleness and adaptability of hair to applied products. At the same time, the material is sensitive to the way we treat hair and easily gets damaged. This way hair loses many excellent qualities.
Healthy hair should be solid, slightly rough but smooth to the touch. Strong but light, shiny, evenly thick and not brittle. Hairstyle should be voluminous. The condition of hair should be normal as the cycle of growth and dying off is in balance.
But today we tend to be convinced that hair must be soft, silky and gentle. However, this is not the truth. For keratin to become soft and gentle we must expose it to softeners – conditioners. But at the expense of the nice touch that the conditioners provide, hair loses the most important characteristics. These are the solidity which provides persistence and volume, two key factors for most hairstyles. But that is not all, conditioners make hair thin in the long run. This way hair loses its qualities. In the end, we are forced to using more and more of these products to maintain a pretty hairstyle.
And because conditioners contain lots of grease, the sebaceous glands are encumbered. This is the reason why hair gets greasy fast and we need to wash it often, which additionally negatively affects hair.
Hair becomes soft after using a conditioner. This is pleasant to the touch, however styling becomes very hard and requires the application of multiple products for fixation, hair control and to achieve a hairstyle which would last at least some days after washing. Using the following products (e.g. shampoos, conditioners, products for fixation) often has the opposite results from the desired, as the quality of our hair might worsen in the long run.
An alternative to conditioners exists on the Slovenian market. This is the hydrolyzed keratin which is water soluble and may penetrate hair structure and upgrade it. This way the damage of cuticle can be eliminated. However, Eddy van Dyck (the founder of the LITERAM philosophy) added the LITERAM KERACARE product two kinds of grease. In every LITERAM therapeutic salon, the team will be happy to help you find out how to achieve healthy hair without using a conditioner.
