There’s another crucial piece of the puzzle that keeps hair happy and healthy – lipids
Found on the surface and inside the hair shaft, lipids make up about 2-6% of hair’s total weight. Lipids hair are separate molecules in the cuticle, cortex, and medulla of the hair shaft. Lipids hold a significant role in protection against damage and maintenance of healthy hair.
Let’s break down how lipids protect hair, why losing lipids matters, and whether they can ever really be restored:
– Lipids provide a protective barrier layer: a protective barrier to environmental and chemical damage, protect the inner structure of hair, prevent hair breakage and desorption affect the elastic and tensile properties
– Lipids maintain the hair structure: The “Brick and Mortar” model: keratin corneocytes serving as the bricks and the extracellular, lipid-rich matrix structured into lipid bilayers serving as the mortar. Supply hair with a cell membrane complex CMC, which is present in both the cuticle and cortical cells to hold hair components together.
