Maybe silly question, but what causes this phenomenon?

[shikara]

So I CWC my hair, its wet (duh) and it air dries and the last five inches or so are pretty darn dry. I wet my hands and wrap them around the braid tassles for a second, its wet, and it air dries to beautiful softness? Why doesnt it dry this way the firsr time?:confused:

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/lmarie29/th_16f67a70.jpg (http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/lmarie29/?action=view&current=16f67a70.jpg)

[whit3c00ki3]

I want to think that the protein linkages in your hair reform their bond when you apply physical manipulation. Protein bonds can be broken and reattached if you change the temperature (that's why you get curls from curling irons), pH (that's why apple cider vinegar works to smooth the hair shaft), physical manipulation (leave in wet braids to form waves), or heavy metals (thats why hair becomes dull in hard water). I'm just guessing at this particular situation but I took organic chemistry last semester and we talked a lot about denatured proteins in cells and such. Hope i answered your question.

[luxepiggy]

When your hair is wet, it's slightly swollen; moreover, the cortex swells more than the cuticular scales, causing them to lift slightly. This means the cuticle is not as smooth as it is when dry. During the time it takes for your hair to air-dry, the strands continuously rub against one another, your back, etc., further ruffling up the cuticle, which then dries that way.

When you wet the braid tassel with your hands, you're basically realigning the uneven cuticle scales. Since your hair is mostly contained in the braid, (so the strands rub against each other less) and because it takes a much shorter time to dry, the cuticle surface dries smoother.

[ktani]

So I CWC my hair, its wet (duh) and it air dries and the last five inches or so are pretty darn dry. I wet my hands and wrap them around the braid tassles for a second, its wet, and it air dries to beautiful softness? Why doesnt it dry this way the firsr time?:confused:

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/lmarie29/th_16f67a70.jpg (http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/lmarie29/?action=view&current=16f67a70.jpg)


The surface of the hair is drying first. When you wet the hair for that second or two you are not wetting it deeply. When that dries, the hair is more dry as in more of the ETA total - water has evaporated and you are getting a true read on how soft your hair really is or is not.

ETA:2 When I first remove the towel after gently squeezing the excess water out of it, my hair looks and feels dry. I finger comb gently and shape my waves and just let it dry fully. Then and only then can I tell how soft my hair really is and how much moisture (water) my hair has retained as in not lost through evaporation.

ETA:3 That is after I have rinsed out catnip. This last time while my hair was still damp, I added the drops of mineral oil on shampooed hair only to help keep in moisture and not let all of the water in my hair evaporate. It worked very well. Normally, the catnip does that by coating my hair to a degree ETa:4 with the oils it contains and other constiuents, as well as it having penetrated my hair to a point.

[ktani]

Not all coatings in products build-up. However, they contribute to the hair retaining moisture. Moisture is water. Sebum works the same way. It coats the hair and helps prevent moisture loss although being waxy it does build-up. It is easily removed though.

ETA: That is the point of the cosmetic companies saying their shampoos do not strip out all natural oils. It is also the point of women in India pre-oiling with vegetable oil which is harder to remove with herbal washes than sebum.

Mineral oil does help the hair retain moisture better than sebum or vegetable oils though. That is why people are having great results with it including me. I would say it works as well as catnip on that point. I still need the catnip colour though, lol. And I love it on my skin. Mineral oil baby oil works very well on skin too. The only issue I had was how much oil was needed. The study in my article solved that problem.

[shikara]

OH Thank you thank you all of you for clueing me in here! This info will make such a difference in my hair care, and it helps me understand so much else, especially why my hair will turn out one way or another - hehe its not always the product is it!? Sometimes its soft, others not so much, sometimes it hangs nice and full, other times very much notso!! It was its worst when I fingercombed it while slightly damp, but fingercombed quite a bit longer than needed. I am much too impatient when my hair is drying sometimes. I used to drape my hair in front of a fan I have so it woukd dey quicker without me handling it, and it always came out deliciously soft and tangle free! Once again, thanks for your replies! (ps after my second dampening last nit I appkied a tad of a petrolatum product (African Gold super rich formula Coconut Oil Hair Conditioner) and it is performing its wonderful dance now:)

[ktani]

Glad to read your hair is once again dancing, lol. I love the way you describe that. It just needed some extra moisture.

Now that you know the signs, you can adjust things accordingly. Your hair will tell you what it needs. It is the interpreting that can be awkward, lol.