GoosefootPrints Hair Analysis with My Analysis Results

This analysis was provided to me free of charge.  Feel free to skip down to my sample hair analysis report if you aren’t interested in my musings. In addition to the report below, you will also receive a document that helps you interpret your results.

So, last year the owner of Goosefootprints on Etsy needed some fine porous hair to experiment on. She tests hair in her spare time when she is not working as a scientist.  (Some people crochet...) Hey!  I have fine, porous hair!   So I sent her some.  Since she had my hair, she analyzed it for me and took some cool pictures under a microscope (see below) and she sent me a report about my hair.  (Some people collect stamps...)  I also had my mom send her some hair, so she could experiment on medium-coarse hair with low porosity.  Well, if I did hair analysis, I’d be fired.  My mom’s hair is fine-medium and porous, so I was way off in my “analysis”.  Since then, I stopped giving my mom  “helpful” advice on how to treat her “coarse, non porous” hair.  *smacks head*

Fast forward to last week.  People on the Wavy Hair Community were discussing a place that does hair analysis for $85.  I was joking that I think I owed her some money.   Well...yada, yada, yada...no, no,you should totally do it...messages back and forth...she decided to start a hair analysis business on ETSY.  Woo-hoo!  The report below is a report on my hair, and you can get a similar one about your hair if you order from Goosefootprints on Etsy.  The best part?  Only $22.  No, I think the actual best part is having cool pictures of your hair under a microscope.  That is pretty darned awesome!  But wait, there’s more.  Not only do you get this uber cool report with pictures, you also get a 9 page document that explains the science behind your hair, why certain things work for certain hair types, and all about hair product ingredients.  Plus, you get a chart that shows you which product ingredients will work for your hair type.  That’s 10 whole pages of solid hair info, people! 
 

Seriously though, I think this is a great service that gives you the information you need to know about your hair and hair in general.  I highly recommend it.  My sister's reaction was that if this existed when she started Curly Girl, she could have saved 3 years of experimenting with all the wrong products -- which cost far more than $22!  The documents that come with this report helps you to apply the results of the analysis to your haircare.  I have fine hair, so I just check the section with fine hair to learn how to treat it.  There are similar sections about kinking, pH, etc.  The hair analysis below is just the icing.  The cake is the accompanying documents from GoosefootPrints.

The Analysis

Hair Analysis Results For:

Pedaheh 

Hair strand thickness: Fine
25% is very fine, 35% is fine, the remaining 40% is medium - but most hairs are at the finer end of the medium range.


Key for strand thickness:
Very fine hair: Less than or equal to 40 microns
Fine hair: 40-60 microns
Medium hair: 60-80 microns
Coarse hair Greater than 80 microns
1 micron = 0.001 millimeters


Hair elasticity dry: Normal
Hairs stretched between 20% to 35%


Hair elasticity wet: Normal to low
Your hairs stretched between 28% to 40% of original length, so there is quite a bit of variability - you have a mixture of normal elasticity and low elasticity hairs.


"Normal" dry elasticity is the ability to stretch 20-30% of original length
"Normal" wet elasticity is the ability to stretch 50% of original length


Porosity: Normal to porous
Your hairs vary from normal porosity to porous, with only slightly increasing porosity from root to ends. Kinking adds increased porosity. In some cases, there is normal-porosity hair immediately next to a microscopic kink upon which there are many more broken cuticles. The kinking on your hairs, where it occurred, is microscopic and can occur as frequently as 0.4 mm apart (0.015 inches apart). Those hairs feel bumpy. When it occurred less frequently (and in finer hairs) the hair feels mostly smooth and slippery with just a few bumpy places.


Porosity is determined visually.
Low porosity: Hair with cuticles intact when viewed face-on and with cuticles overlapping snugly when viewed on the edge of the hair.
Normal porosity: Takes into account normal wear and tear. Viewed face-on there are chipped cuticles with rare small gaps, rare cracks. Viewed from the edge, cuticles look like shingles on a roof with few flaring or jagged ("raised") looking cuticle scales.
Porous: Many chipped, broken or missing cuticle scales. Cracks may be present and frequent. Viewed on the edge, cuticles can be seen flaring out at the ends or standing away from the hair.



Kinking: Kinking is present. 40% of the hairs examined had microscopic and some macroscopic (visible to the naked eye) kinks of the narrowing and also twisting type. This kinking is significant enough to add porosity to your otherwise healthy hair.



pH: Because you said you occasionally use citric acid rinses, I tested your hairs in a citric acid and distilled water solution at 2 concentrations: 1/4 teaspoon citric acid in 1 cup of water
(pH 2-2.5) and 1/8 teaspoon citric acid in 1 cup of water (pH 3). At the higher concentration, the hair began to show signs of acid moving into the hair (see photo) and more swelling than in water alone. The lesser concentration had a lesser effect.
You might consider reducing the amount of citric acid in your rinses if it will still give you the desired result.
I also tested your hair in a solution of 1 tablespoon baking soda per cup of water, pH 8. Your hair responded dramatically to this! Swelling was pronounced, cuticles were clearly lifted away as a result and bubbles were evolving from the hair, which is common when hair is placed in too-high pH - that high pH solution is diffusing in and proteins and lipids are going out into the baking soda solution.

The above 2 photos are the same hair with a different focus to show the details.

Disclaimer: This analysis is based on physical measurements and visual examination. There is
no guarantee that the suggested ingredients will work for your hair. Recommendations are based on ingredient manufacturer’s specifications and testing, articles published in peer reviewed journals, and hair science texts.

A gel by any other name...

A gel by any other name...might smell slightly different, but is still the same gel. 

Over at the Wavy Hair Community, we discovered something.  Aussie Instant Freeze Gel, Aussie Awesome Volume Gel, Herbal Essences Set Me Up Gel, and Pantene Smooth Definition Hair Gel are all virtually the same gel.  I put the ingredients that are different in the formulas in bold print.  These ingredients are mostly just extracts, which generally don't do much.  Three of the four look alike gels list panthenol as the very last ingredient.  Other then fragrance, all the ingredients not in bold are exactly the same and listed in the same order. 

Aussie Instant  Freeze Gel:  water, laureth 23, ppolyquaternium 4, hydroxyethylcellulose, benzyl alcohol, acrylates/beheneth 25 methacrylate copolymer, aminomethyl propanol, dmdm hydantoin, acrylates copolymer, fragrance, disodium edta, prunus serotina bark extract (wild cherry), humulus lupulus extract (hops), hedychium coronarium root extract (australian white ginger), panthenol

Aussie Awesome Volume Gel:   Water, Laureth 23, Polyquaternium 4, Hedychium Coronarium Extract (Australian White Ginger), Prunus Serotina (Wild Cherry) Bark Extract, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Hydroxycellulose, Benzyl Alcohol, Acrylates/Beheneth 25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Aminomethyl Propanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Acrylates Copolymer, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol

Herbal Essences Set Me Up Gel: Water, Laureth 23, Polyquaternium 4, Bambusa Vulgaris Leaf/Stem Extract, Cereus Grandiflorus Flower Extract (Cactus), Fragrance, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Benzyl Alcohol, Acrylates/Beheneth 25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Aminomethyl Propanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Acrylates Copolymer, Disodium EDTA

Pantene Smooth Definition Hair Gel:  Water, Laureth 23, Polyquaternium 4, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Benzyl Alcohol, Acrylates/Beheneth 25, Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Amino Methyl Propanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Acrylates Crosspolymer, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Panthenol

Proctor and Gamble owns the brands Herbal Essences, Aussie, and Pantene.   This isn't the first time these companies have produced look alike products.  They've done it with mousse. 
Curl Talk Thread on look alike mousse.  See posts 21 &25 on page 2.
And they have done it with conditioner. 
Beauty Brains:  Are you cheated when the company sells you the same product under a different name?
If you like a product from Aussie, Herbal Essences, or Pantene, you may want to check the other brands to see if they have the same formulation for less or with a scent you prefer.  If there is a product you hate, make sure you aren't buying it again under another name. 

Funny link.

This is a hilarious post on curly hair. 

My Youtube Channel

I was having problems uploading videos directly from my computer to my blog, so I decided to start a Youtube channel.  Here is the link.  My channel is Pedaheh (what else would it be?  :) ).  Since I did start a channel, I plan to have some videos that don't relate to wavy hair care.  I'll have nail polish videos, do some updos, maybe some make-up stuff, and whatever floats my boat.  I hope you like my channel.  I have a few videos uploaded already if you want to check them out.

SwtndSpcy's Adventures in Wavy-hood Blog

If  you haven't already, you should go check out SwtndSpcy's Blog.  She also writes a blog about wavy hair care..  Here are a few of her great blog posts.

Here is a subject I haven't written about yet, second day hair (it's on my "to do" list).  I'm sure what is written on her post will be better then anything I'll write anyway.
Second Day Hair, Refreshing Techniques

Always trust a redhead to know about hair color. 
How I Prepare for Hair Color

And before and after DIY haircut pics and tips.
What a Difference a Hair Cut Can Make!

And don't miss her Styling Technique/Product Review with Pictures page.

How to Diagnose Hair

Thanks to all the members of the Wavy Hair Community who gave me input on this post.

Diagnosing your hair is a tricky business, but at some point we all will have to do it.  I recommend that people do not use cones in the beginning stages of CG until you get to know your hair.  Using cones just gives you one more variable to consider when diagnosing hair.  It is complicated enough when you are learning to read your hair without the extra variable.

Smart people introduce one product at a time.  That way if there is a problem, it is easier to figure out what caused it.  I have a bad habit of trying several things at one time.  Do as I say, not as I do.

Change in Dew Points
Your very first question when diagnosing hair should always be "Have my dew points changed recently?".  You may be suddenly getting frizz because you are using products with glycerin and the dew points changed from normal to high.  Or, you may have dry hair because your dew points suddenly dropped to low and you need more moisturizing products.   

Over Conditioned:
If you your hair is over conditioned it may be very soft, mushy, gummy,dull, flyaway, lacking bounce, the bottom half of your waves may lack definition.  Your waves will be weak, sad, and wimpy. This link has a pic of over conditioned hair (needing protein). Over conditioned hair streeeeeeeeeetches in the stretch test but does not return to it's original shape.  I've heard over conditioned hair described as cotton candy hair.  I have no idea what that means, but I imagine if you have cotton candy hair, you know it.
 
HOW TO FIX IT:  Use only minimum moisture to detangle and use more protein, do more PTs until you are back to normal.  A sulfate wash may speed things along.

Too much protein:
Hair is straw-like, rough and brittle.  Unlike hair that needs moisture, when hair has too much protein it feels hard, especially when wet.  This link has a pic of hair with too much protein.  In some cases hair gets straighter with too much protein and possibly very soft.  It may feel greasy.

HOW TO FIX IT:  Do deep treatment.  Avoid protein and keep adding moisture until your hair is back to normal.

Dry, needs moisture:
 It is dry, straw-like, rough and brittle.Dry hair is very dull.  Lack of moisture causes frizz, especially in the outer layers.  Hair that lacks moisture does not stretch and breaks quickly in the stretch test (Hair that needs protein will also break quickly in the stretch test.) Your hair may not clump well, lack definition, and tangle easily.

Did you recently add a new product that might be drying your hair?  Ingredients that can cause dryness include, but aren't limited to:  Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)  drying alcohols (like the kind in hairspray),  and ACV rinses. Most hairsprays and mousses can be drying.  Glycerin and other humectants can be drying in low dews.

HOW TO FIX IT:  Deep Treatments, lots of moisture.  Stop using any products that are drying hair.  See my post on how to deal with dry hair.

Needs protein:
Limp curls that lack bounce.  Waves that don't seem to be able to support themselves.  Your hair may be frizzy, lack shine, lack definition, and may not clump properly.  Hair that needs protein will break quickly in the stretch test.  (Hair that needs moisture will also break in the stretch test.)  When hair needs protein, it snaps when you pull your fingers through it, even though you are using plenty of conditioner/moisturizing ingredients.
.
HOW TO FIX IT:  Do protein treatments and/or add protein to your daily routine.

Needs Protein and Moisture.
Keep in mind that your hair may be low on both protein AND moisture, especially in the beginning stages of CG.  It might not be either/or, it could be both.

Product build up:
If your hair has product build up it has frizz that looks like you rubbed your hair with a balloon or stuck your finger in a light socket.   Your hair looks heavy and coated and has a fake shine.  It looks wet when dry.  It is limp and weighed down. It may look dull.  Product build up tends to show up slowly after the addition of a new product.
Even if you only use CG products, you can get build up.  What will cause build up on your hair may not build up on other people.  Conditioner can adsorb (stick) to the outside of hair and build up.  Other things that can build up include, but aren't limited to silicones, polyquats, aloe, shea, jojoba oil, castor oil, mineral oil, and petrolatum.

HOW TO FIX IT:  If the build up is waxy build up or hard water build up, an apple cider vinegar rinse or citric acid rinse will remove the build up.  If you don't normally low poo, try a low poo.  If you low poo on a regular basis, use a sulfate shampoo to reset your hair.  Some people find they need to continuously rotate products to prevent product build up.

Hard Water Build Up-   An ACV rinse or a Citric acid rinse will remove some hard water build up.  To remove lots of hard water build up, you will need a cheleating shampoo.  Cheleating shampoos usually say "hard water" or "swimmer's" on the name or label.  They usually contain EDTA.  Swimmers and Hard Water shampoos are most often sulfate shampoos.  I use the Ion Hard Water shampoo once a month.  It is technically a low poo, but contains C 14-16 Olefin Sulfate, which some find to be as harsh or worse then any sulfate. 

Links with more info on diagnosing hair
The Fine Art of Protein and Moisture Balance for Black Hair Care
Pittsburgh Curly:  Protein vs. Moisture (linked above)
Curltalk Thread:  How to gauge your hair's condition?
The Long Hair Community:  What's wrong with my hair? (broken link?)
Curltalk Thread:  Learning to read your hair?  (post 4)

The Long Hair Community link appears to be broken. From what I can remember (I haven't read it in years), it suggested you do a single sulfate wash, don't use conditioner, and then access your hair's condition.  I'll leave the link here in case there it is just temporarily broken.  

How to Read the Label, Part 2

How do I find ingredient lists?
Ingredient lists online are often incorrect because they are rarely updated.  Make sure you double check the label on the bottle before you buy it.  Drugstore.com, Walgreens.com and CVS.com are websites that have ingredient lists posted.  Another option is to do a search for Name of Product and the word Ingredients.

What is this ingredient?  
You can do a google search for the name of the ingredient and that should give you the answer to what it does.  Or, this link lists ingredients found in hair care products in their respective categories.

Check to make sure you aren't buying a base with fragrance added.
If  you are buying a product from an ETSY seller or a small online business, make sure you aren't paying a premium for a premixed base with some fragrance added.  In 2010 some of the smart wavies and curlies on NC.com figured out that many of the products they were buying from online sellers were premixed bases with much higher prices. One woman found she had purchased the same exact base under different names from different sellers.  These threads are old, but they give you some examples of what I'm talking about.
Hair Products and their Bases (list many products and their equivalent bases)
Essential Wholesale Co-op (see post # 2, it lists a few products and their corresponding bases)
This thread was known to me as Duchess of Curls Gate.  Duchess of Curls, a popular curl enhancer at the time, currently sells for  $15 for 8oz.  It is Essential Wholesale Simple Aloe Jelly with some lavender added.  The Essential Wholesale base sells for 16oz for $7.40 or $14.65 for a half gallon. So, for slightly less money, you can get a half gallon instead of 8 oz and then add your own lavender scent.
To make sure you are not paying too much for a repackaged base, do a google search for your product's ingredients and see what pops up.  If you find many other products and/or a ingredient supply website, the product is probably a premixed base.  You may be willing to pay more for the convenience of a smaller bottle, but you should know what your options are.

Same Product Different Name
Keep an eye out for lookalike products.  The lookalikes are likely to come from hair companies owned by the same parent company (like Proctor and Gamble).  You don't want to have a product not work for your hair and then buy the same product again with different herbal extracts added.  Here are two links that have examples.
Beauty Brains: Are You Cheated When a Company Sells You the Same Product Under Different Names?  
Curltalk thread.  Page 2 posts 21 and 25 
And my post on look alike Aussie, Pantene, and Herbal Essences gel, A Gel By Any Other Name...

Salon vs. Drugstore
If you read the labels, you will find that the ingredients in salon products sound about the same as the ones in drugstore products.  Yes, formulation can make a difference, but IMHO you are usually paying for marketing when you buy a salon product.