Wavy Strands of Hair

Woman who is brushing her long wet hair — Photo: Shutterstock

Q: I have been growing my hair for a good two plus years now and the problem has been bothering me for quite a while now. It is not dominant, but I often get several strands of hair that is abnormally wavy by itself. By wavy I do not mean normal curly, I am talking about it being like a longitudinal wave, but not as cursive and often rough to feel. This happens mostly to strands that are cut at the tip. Only recently it also affected, or appeared, in my new hair strand, I think that is what it is called, not cut at the tip but smooth. Also, the strands that have that condition are relative easy to pull out, practically no tugging needed.

I have tried looking for it on the internet, but I do not even know what the condition is called for a start. If necessary for diagnosing, I do not use any other hair product besides Shampoo and conditioner. I wash my hair practically everyday, before going to school, and only skip one day a week, weekend. I predominantly use Garnier's products, dry & frizz shampoo and dry & frizz conditioner. I used to brush my hair with a rather rough brush before right after shower, only recently I switched to a wide gap comb.

Another quick question if you do not mind. Is it ok to use different purposed shampoo for different hair? Ex: Shampoo that labeled "for Perm & Colored hair" for hair that is neither perm nor colored.

A: It actually sounds like you have certain hairs that are changing in texture and wave pattern as a result of their transition into the shedding phase of the hair's growth cycle. Each of your hair's follicles operates independently, although many may be on the same "cycle" at a given time.

In the average person 90 percent of the hair on the scalp is in the growth phase (anagen phase) at any one time, and 10 percent of the hair is in the resting phase (telogen phase) before it is shed. The anagen phase can last from three-to-five years or as much as ten years in some cases, and the telogen phase lasts three to six months, after which the follicle returns to the anagen phase and begins growing new hair.

In between these two phases is the transition (catagen) phase where the root of the hair detaches itself from the follicle and prepares to enter the resting phase. Only about 1 percent of the hair is in the catagen phase at a given time. It sounds as though your hair may be changing in texture as it goes through this transition. This could be resulting from the loss of connection to the root of the hair shaft.

Of course, the use of the rough brush can also be a factor since the pull of the brush on wet hair can stretch the hair tremendously and physically alter the hair. If you see a decrease in the occurrence of these abnormal hairs now that you've stopped using the brush and been using the wide tooth comb, then you'll know the problem was largely due to the stress of the brushing when wet.

As for the question regarding the shampoos: All shampoos have some key formulations that are common to them: namely the presence of surfactants to remove dirt and oil. Conditioners all contain some form of moisturizer and emollient. Because of this, they can only be so different before they cease to perform their purpose. The different formulas of shampoo and conditioner contain variations of the base ingredients and added ingredients to help with certain needs for different hair circumstances.

To use your example of shampoo for permed and color treated hair: These shampoos and conditioners are generally designed to be lighter on the cleansing agents and have more moisturizing agents to add condition to the chemically treated hair. They would be perfectly safe to use on virtually all hair types, although those people who have very oily hair may find that the shampoo isn't as effective as another formula would be.

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See also:

Hair growth stages

Analyzing your hair

I have just noticed I have one single hair strand that is very different from all the rest.