My hair has not been in good condition lately, so I decided to check it out under the microscope. I snipped off three different types of damaged hair. One which is a split end, second is a knot and last is a slightly rough/bendy hair. I made a permanent dry mount when I should have really used a mounting medium.

Did you know your hair you see is actually dead? This is why hair does not decay so easy. The root of your hair is alive, but once it leaves your skin, it becomes dead. That means if you leave you hair at a crime scene, you will not be caught unless you had your hair pulled out from the root. Your DNA can only be found in your hair root.

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So what makes up the dead part?

Hair Diagram - Source

The hair shaft is made of a hard protein called keratin and is made in three layers. This protein is actually dead, so the hair that you see is not a living structure. The inner layer is the medulla. The second layer is the cortex and the outer layer is the cuticle. The cortex makes up the majority of the hair shaft. The cuticle is a tightly formed structure made of shingle-like overlapping scales. It is both the cortex and the medulla that holds the hair's pigment, giving it its color.

Source

Remember GiGi’s hair was saw and the pigmentation forming near the root? That was the medulla.

Okay, time to check my damaged hair out.

Here is a microscopic view of my split end. Eek can you see the damage at the very tip! I did not expect it to look like that. You can see how brittle it is. 😭😭

Here is a microscopic view of the knot I found in my hair. Oh my there is even a foreign matter stuck in it. It looks like fluff got caught in there. If you look closely at my hair, you can see the medulla. It is not as thick as GiGi's. I would have thought it would fill up more of the space than this.

Lastly here is a microscopic view of the slightly rough hair I had found. We can see how brittle certain parts are where part of the hair is torn.

As much as I would love to look after my hair with products, I cannot due to allergies. I can only use one type of shampoo and conditioner. Sometimes I do try to use a better conditioner or treatment to make my hair healthier, but I end up suffering afterwards. I will have to find another way to look after my hair because this looks horrible under the microscope!