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hair gel
How do you choose which hair gel to use? The shelves of supermarkets are heaving under the weight of all the different products. Every type of hair seems to be catered for – long, short, dry, greasy, curly, straight – so you’ll never be without a product designed especially for you.
Really? Can all these products be that different?
Ingredients
Take a look at the label on the side of your favourite hair gel. The first ingredient listed is aqua - or as we call it, water. The other ingredients are a mixture of polymers (plastics), plasticisers, glossening agents, perfumes and colours - all dissolved in the water.
Out of all the ingredients, it is the polymers that do the hard work of holding your gravity defying hairdo in place. Once the gel is applied, the water evaporates leaving a thin film of the polymers surrounding the hairs and creating the hold.
Formulations
So what makes all the different brands of hair gel, well, different? The answer lies with the many combinations of polymers and plasticisers that are possible.
The plasticisers are used to modify the elasticity, flexibility, hardness and moisture resistance of the polymer film surrounding the hairs. So different hair gels containing different formulations of polymers and plasticisers have different properties.
Of course, various combinations of colour, smell and glossiness also make a brand individual and allow you to choose a product that suits you.
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