Have you ever wondered what causes your hair to be wavy or curly? And why your curly hair tends to be dry? We’ll, we have the answers for you…
First, a few things about your hair that you should understand. All hair has two major components: The shaft and the follicle. The shaft is the visible strand that you see on your head while the follicle is the portion within the skin on your scalp.
The shape of your follicles is a major factor that determines your hair texture. If you were to look at the follicle of straight hair, you would find that it is perfectly round while the follicle of wavy and curly hair is oval. The flatter the oval, the curlier the hair will be.
Hair texture is also determined by the way the follicle tunnels into the scalp. Follicles of straight hair channel vertically down into the scalp while curly hair angles causing hair to curve as it grows, therefore resulting in curl.
Although this curving of the follicle can create beautiful coils, it does offer one major drawback: Dryness. Special glands within the scalp line the follicle to secrete oil, or sebum, which works to naturally lubricate hair. When follicles curve, sebum isn’t able to travel the length of the hair, which leads to dryness.
And there you have it!
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