Reconnect Broken Bonds and Improve Hair Strength with a Reparative Hair Mask
Over time, daily wear and tear from styling, chemical processing, and environmental factors can cause serious damage to your hair. The resulting broken bonds and weakness not only cause undesirable frizz, split ends, and breakage, but can continue deteriorating your hair’s structure if not treated.
Fortunately, using a targeted reparative hair mask can help turn back the clock by reconnecting broken disulfide bonds within your hair’s keratin protein chains. Read on to learn all about the causes of bond damage, the science behind reparative hair products, and tips for restoring your hair’s strength from the inside out!
Four Main Culprits Of Hair Bond Damage
Many factors over time can contribute to broken bonds and diminishing integrity of the keratin proteins that make up your hair fibers. Here are four of the main causes:
Repeated Chemical Processing
Chemical services like bleaching, perming, straightening, and permanent coloring rely on harsh chemicals that penetrate deep inside the hair shaft and sever disulfide cystine bonds. This causes significant structural damage that is cumulative and irreversible over many treatments. Even a single bleaching session destroys approximately 30% of bonds!
Daily Heat Tool Styling
Repeated use of hot tools like curling irons, flat irons, and blow dryers subjects hair to very high temperatures. This can denature and rearrange hydrogen bonds between hair proteins when done daily over time. Frequent heat also causes cracks and openings in the hair cuticle protective outer layer.
Environmental Elements
Sun exposure degrades hair proteins and moisture via UV radiation. The minerals and metals in hard water deposit on the hair over time to make it coarser and more brittle. Chlorine from pools, salt from ocean water, and pollution all degrade and damage hair through similar mechanisms.
Natural Weathering and Aging
General thinning, weakening, increased fragility, and breakage also happens as part of the natural weathering process over the years. Hair fibers become more porous allowing moisture loss. Melanin and protein content also decline with age.
How Bonds Become Broken And Hair Structure Weakens
To understand reparative hair products, you first need to understand how your hair is structured and reinforced on a molecular level.
Hair Structure Relies On Internal Bonds
The hair shaft is comprised of an alpha helix polypeptide chain of keratin protein helices held tightly together by:
- Disulfide Bonds: This is a strong covalent bond that forms between two sulfur atoms in the cystine amino acid. It gives hair the majority of its elasticity, durability, and strength.
- Hydrogen Bonds: The slower weak electrostatic interactions that form between polar peptide chains contribute flexibility and shape.
- Ionic Salt Bridges: Formed between positively and negatively charged areas of keratin for stability.
- Hydrophobic Interactions: Where non-polar side chains interact to exclude water molecules. Improves integrity.
Several Mechanisms Of Bond Breakage
Damage happens when the chemical, physical, and thermal factors outlined previously alter both the strong disulfide and weaker hydrogen bonds between keratin chains:
- Disulfide bonds can be permanently rearranged into lanthionine bonds
- New ionic bonds may form in undesirable configurations
- Amino acids like cystine can be permanently oxidized
Over enough cumulative exposure, these bonds break, weaker segments form, protein chains unravel, and holes/gaps result. Hair becomes more fragile and brittle.
Four Key Advantages Of A Reparative Treatment
Reparative masks, conditioners, oils, and leave-in treatments can help restore bonds and structural integrity through several mechanisms:
Reconnecting Broken Disulfide Bonds
Reparative actives with thiol groups can penetrate into the cortex and reform damaged disulfide bonds by creating new keratin cross-links.
Strengthening Existing Bonds
Protein-rich nutrients reinforce side bonds like ionic salt bridges and hydrophobic interactions to better stabilize existing keratin proteins.
Improving Moisture Content
Plant oils and butters fill gaps caused by weathering to reinforce the lipid (fatty) barrier and boost moisture retention levels.
Protecting From Future Damage
Ingredients often form a protective layer to shield from chemical, thermal, and UV damage and prevent weathering.
Choosing The Best Reparative Hair Product
There are many reparative hair products available, but look for ones containing these key ingredients:
Amino Acids from Multiple Sources
Amino acids are hair’s basic building blocks. Hydrolyzed proteins with amino acids from plant, marine, and keratin sources reinforce bonds. Great options include keratin, wheat, soy, silk, and collagen proteins.
Plant Oils Like Argan, Marula, and Camellia
These antioxidant-rich oils penetrate the cortex to condition, reinforce lipid barriers, and protect hair strands from free radicals and moisture loss.
Direct Bond Rebuilders
Actives like bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate and cysteine (an amino acid) can directly repair broken disulfide bonds through thiol reduction oxidation reactions.
Sugarcane Extract
Contains biotin, zinc, magnesium, and polyphenols to stimulate new growth and circulation to boost shine, smoothness, flexibility alongside strength.
Cell-Reinforcing Vitamins
Vitamins A, E, and B-complex provide nutrients while vitamin C protects existing bonds from free radical damage.
Five Tips For Using Reparative Hair Treatments
To maximize the bond and strength boosting benefits from your reparative mask:
Use 1-2 Times Per Week
Focus on regular use to build cumulative improvement over time for best results.
Apply Generously From Roots To Ends
Thoroughly coat every strand, massaging to stimulate blood flow and penetration of key ingredients before covering with a shower cap.
Increase Processing Time
Allow a minimum of 15-30 minutes for actives to properly penetrate the hair cortex before rinsing – consider using gentle heat from a shower cap or hooded dryer to open cuticles.
Always Shampoo After
Gently shampoo out all residual oils, butters, and products after the processing time to avoid buildup that can lead to limp, lifeless hair between uses.
Pair With Other Recovery Treatments
Use reparative masks 1-2x per week in conjunction with weekly protein treatments and moisture masks for amplified, well-rounded strengthening and damage reversal tailored to your hair’s needs.
The Bottom Line
While most previously broken disulfide bonds generally can’t be completely restored, excellent reparative masks and conditioners provide the next best solution. Used consistently 1-2 times per week, they reinforce and protect existing bonds while ingredients like bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate reform some damaged linkages.
Focus on hair masks with reparative proteins, oils, vitamins and bond-rebuilding actives to steadily boost moisture content, shine, elasticity alongside improved tensile strength, resilience and density over time. Make reconnection and fortification a priority for your healthiest, strongest hair yet!