February is link love month at the Beauty Brains. All month we’re answering questions from other bloggers to introduce our readers to beauty blogs they may not have seen before. Today’s question comes from one of our new favorites, Michelle at Lab Muffin. Check out her site!
Michelle asks…Are there ANY hair products out there that can actually reconstruct/repair hair (as opposed to just protecting it from further damage)?
The Right Brain responds:
This is a great question because one of our favorite pet peeves are all the products that claim to repair hair but don’t. When you actually look at the science behind those products you find that they are almost always “regular” conditioners. That means they are very good at smoothing the cuticle and helping to prevent future damage but the do nothing to truly repair hair.
Does any hair repair product really work?
There is hope, however, because of new one technology that works differently. This technology is based on a polyelectrolyte complex, or PEC for short. This PEC complex consists of a negatively charged ion (PVM/MA copolymer) and a positively charged ion (Polyquaternium-28.) This combination of positive and negative charges creates a single complex with the unique ability to stick to damage hairs and to itself.
How does PEC technology repair hair?
What does all this mean? Well, instead of just coating the outside of hair like most conditioners do, the tiny PEC molecules are able to enter the split ends of hair. Because the complex can stick to the damaged hair protein and to other complex molecules, it creates little bridges across the open ends of the splits. As your hair dries, the water evaporates from the complex causing it to contract. The force of this contraction pulls the end of the split hairs back together again. Once the PECs are dry they bind the split end shut. Watch this video to see what happens when a drop of PEC complex is placed on a split end and dried with a blow dryer:
Which products contain PEC technology?
Nexxus, Joico, and Tresemme all make products containing the Polyelectrolyte Complex. If you’d like to try this new hair repair technology for yourself, please consider buying one of these through the links below. Your purchase helps support the Beauty Brains blog.
Nexxus Pro-Mend Conditioner
Joico K-Pak Reconstruct Split End Mender
Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner
Image credit: Splitender.com
Reference: Ending the Cycle of Split Ends