Chapter 3: Good Hair Day: The Science Behind Hair-care Products

Hair, for many of us, defines who we are and is our ‘crowning glory’. This chapter provides an overview of the science that underpins product development in the hair-care category. It describes the structure of the hair fibre and the processes involved in hair growth. It then shows how things can ‘go wrong’, resulting in hair damage, greying, hair loss or combinations of these effects. The chapter also covers the chemistry that is used to create the products that we use every day and the measurement techniques used to test product performance.