Inclusivity: strengthening for African-textured hair

Daily grooming activities like styling or combing alongside colouration, hair perms, straightening and thermal treatments, and even exposure to environmental aggressors like UV and pollution can lead to the degradation of hair’s structure and mechanical properties. Whether it is via mechanical or chemical means or a combination of both, the hair fibre will get damaged and become weak, dull, brittle, and more susceptible to breakage over time.1 Hair damage occurs globally and affects all hair types regardless of ethnicity, but does it mean the effects are the same? 

Hair is something that we all have or at least had at one time or another. Its basic structures are essentially the same across different ethnicities. Hair fibre is composed of protein, 91%, of which is approximately 50% keratin, and can be divided in two parts: the cuticles and cortex. The cortex is the thickest part and the primary source of hair strength, elasticity, and resilience. It consists of a complex internal structure formed from elongated cortical cells. The cuticle is the protective sheath that surrounds the cortex. It covers the cortex, acts as a resistant barrier and influences hair appearance, manageability and feel

However, the hair anatomy can vary from person to person, there are genetic variances in hair type across ethnicities that generate differences in oiliness, cuticle size, hair shape and natural hair style (Table 1). At one extreme, African hair is the curliest, most elliptical, flattest, and driest of the hair types. It has the smallest diameter of hair types, which, moreover, varies radically along the fibre, leading to weak points and hair fragility. At the other extreme, Asian hair is the straightest, most round, and most oily hair type. The properties of Caucasian and Hispanic hair tend to fall in between these two extremes.