HAIR COMPOSITION

Human hair is an appendage which grows from follicles, tube like sacs in the scalp or skin
containing the hair root. The hair that we cut, relax, color and style is a non-living fiber
comprised of keratinized protein. Within the hair follicle cells are produced. These cells
mature in an upward moving process through the follicle. This maturing process is known as
keratinization. During keratinization cells absorb keratin, a fibrous protein. As the cells
continue to move upward they lose their nucleus and die off, producing the non-living
keratinized cells (appendage) that emerge from the scalp.

Hair is comprised of many contributing factors. Proteins, raw elements, amino acids and
bonds work together in forming hair fiber. The dominant contributor in the composition of
hair is protein, accounting for 91 percent of hair fiber.

Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are made up of COHNS elements, (Carbon,
Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Sulfur).

The percentage of COHNS elements in hair is as follows:

These elements form bonds called side bonds which link together the long chain of amino
acids known as the polypeptide chain. This chain forms a helix by creating spiral movement
that intertwines.