Sign of healthy hair

[shadowclaw]

Has anyone else ever noticed that very dry and damaged hair will stand straight up if you hold a section of it upside-down? On the other hand, healthy hair flops to the side. Here is an example of the hair flopping to the side:

http://www.snowdragon.org/stuff/bend.jpg

Once a few years ago when my hair was exceptionally damaged after stripping it on the journey back to blonde from black, I held maybe the last four inches of hair upside-down and it stood straight up. I showed it to some friends and commented on how horrible my hair was. Another girl who was with us decided to show off her damage and held up probably ten inches of hair, and it stood up!

So now whenever I feel that my hair is too dry or just doesn't feel very silky (which is often), I hold up some hair to see if it flops to the side. Thankfully, it does, so I am pretty sure that my hair is reasonably healthy.

[Fractalsofhair]

This makes me feel good about my hair! Only the last inch or so in the front stands straight up. That being said, I know I have very damaged hair there, 75% of it has broken off. Maybe all the damaged hair broke off! XD

[ClareDee]

Wow, it'd have to be very dry and straw-like to stand up. I knew a girl at school whose hair was so dry (from bleaching) that she could put it in a fairly loose plait in the morning, with no tie at the end, and it would stay firmly like that all day :eek: It had no flop to it at all.

[Roseate]

This also depends on hair texture. My coarse hair naturally holds itself up- it's not dry or brittle, but it's not naturally floppy, either. That's why I've never been able to do peacock twists, the ends just stick out instead of bending over in a graceful way.

[redcelticcurls]

This also depends on hair texture. My coarse hair naturally holds itself up- it's not dry or brittle, but it's not naturally floppy, either. That's why I've never been able to do peacock twists, the ends just stick out instead of bending over in a graceful way.

Ditto.

I have coarse curls, and that texture won't allow that kind of flop.

I can't do peacock twists either, lol.

[Sarahmoon]

If you make that section short enough, it will always stand straight up no matter the texture :D

[Dyan]

'
I have fine hair with ends that are dry and brittle, and it flops. Sadly, it also tangles and then forms new tangles within the first tangle.

[LilyMunster]

What Roseate said. And look w have same hair type. Makes sense.

[RancheroTheBee]

That's kind of a fun test. It might not work for everyone, but I've noticed that in my own hair. Luckily, I'm all floppy now. :D

[lilalong]

I don't know. My boyfriend has really coarse (and beautiful, thick, healthy, shiny) hair. The hairdresser doesn't want to cut it shorter than 2 or 3 inches, because then it will stand straight up from his head. It really depends on the thickness of the single hair strands.

[swanns]

I will have to test this once my hair dries, but I know at least the last 3-4 inches stand up when I hold them upside down. Damage - yes, but it's also the texture of my hair (or at least I try to tell myself so because I don't want to trim it ;) )

[shadowclaw]

Good point about the coarse hair types. I don't really know anyone with coarse hair, though. My family all have fine or normal hair, and my friends are likewise. In fact, most of my friends have straight hair, too. I only have one curly friend. Hmmm. I wonder if I gravitate towards people with similar hair types as mine?

[Finoriel]

Hmm I have stick-straight and medium to coarse hair and mine does not ´flop´, never has. When I had short hair it actually used to stand straight up :lol: until it had enough length to weight it down some.
:wink: And it´s not damaged and not buildup/product, I´m sure.
I assume eventual product/oiling could also make fine healthy hair stiff enough to stand...

[ericthegreat]

Shadowclaw I'm sorry to say but I don't think the floppy ends test is a surefire way of determining healthy ends. I have very coarse, thick straight hair and believe me the ends stand up quite firmly when I hold them up. I know for sure my hair isn't damaged in the least bit!

[bellawave]

My ends flop right over. It's coarse but maybe not as coarse as some of the other coarsies here. :) But when it was short, it wanted to stand straight up until I had about 3" length!

[redcelticcurls]

If nothing else, this does show that texture and curl/straight pattern show up in small as well as big things.

[neon-dream]

Mine does this near the bottom, but not all the way up so I'm quite happy :D!

[Copasetic]

Wow, it'd have to be very dry and straw-like to stand up. I knew a girl at school whose hair was so dry (from bleaching) that she could put it in a fairly loose plait in the morning, with no tie at the end, and it would stay firmly like that all day :eek: It had no flop to it at all.

I think this is a texture issue as well. My hair isn't very dry, and not particularly damaged, but when I put it in a braid without an elastic, it will hold pretty well. Thats usually what I do at night :D

[Wanderer09]

Yep, texture matters. My hair's a little on the C side and the ends don't flop completely. They're not dyed and I don't straighten, so they can't be all that damaged.