Science Banishes Bad Hair Days

Mid Brain muses:

I saw an article in US News and World Report that would catch the eye of any red blooded beauty blogger: “Science May Banish Bad Hair Days.” I thought “Wow, did the Beauty Brains miss something?” because I’d be very surprised if such a major breakthrough was made and we didn’t hear about it. So of course I read the article to see what I was missing. Here’s a quick summary of what it said:

In a new study, said to be the first of its kind, German researchers say they’ve gotten extreme-close-up views of how hair fibers interact. Their insights could lead to products that banish bad hair days for good, they say.

In the new study, Max and colleagues explored the workings of hair with an atomic-force microscope and samples of Caucasian female hair. The study authors were scheduled to present their findings Aug. 17 2008 at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting, in Philadelphia.

According to the team, damage to hair causes scaly projections to protrude from hair fibers. These projections create friction with other fibers and make hair feel rough to the touch and hard to comb. The researchers also found that electrical charges build up on hair, causing friction.

Exaggerated experiment?

I was just surprised at the breakthrough tone of this article because it suggests that something  brand new has been discovered, yet the information mentioned in the article is already fairly well known to cosmetic scientists. For example, we know that electron micrographs of hair (at about 2000x magnification) clearly show the “scaly protrusions” which are broken protein fibrils that can create friction. And that fact that hair holds electrical charges is pretty obvious to anyone who’s had static flyway (or rubbed a balloon on their head!) So I guess I’m skeptical that this research is worthy of such an impressive title but I guess I’ll have to wait and check out the full study report once it’s available. Don’t worry though, if I see anything that’s really newsworthy you’ll read all about it here on the Beauty Brains.

Poetic justice

All this talk about scaly hair protrusions reminded me of one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems. It’s called “Medusa” and it goes like this:

Coil and hiss- writhe and twist-
My hairdo won’t get done.
‘Cause one hair’s hissing, “Ponytail,”
And one yells, “Simple bun.”
One whispers, “Cornrows,”
One screams, “Bangs.”
One shouts, “Just wash and dry it,”
One snaps, “No, curl and tie it,”
One hollers, “Bleach and dye it.”
And how am I to fix my hair
If my hair will not keep quiet?

What do YOU think? If you have any favorite hair poems, leave a comment and let us know. Maybe we can have a sciencey poetry slam!