Reshaping hair

Setting can help you reshape your hair’s natural appearance by
giving it more volume. Blow-drying with a round brush to form the
hair and then using rollers to hold it in position until the drying is
complete is a common setting technique.
Setting wet hair with the help of a foam or gel increases the curva-
ture of the hair shaft. Shampooing helps this process because sur-
factants in the shampoo penetrate the hair shaft, making the dried
hair respond better to what you’re doing to it. (Refer to the earlier
section, “Keeping things slippery with surfactants,” for more on
these compounds in shampoo.)
Teasing hair is a common method of increasing volume, but
repeated teasing will permanently damage the hair because it
breaks the scales off the hair cuticle, and these broken scales can’t
repair themselves. (The section, “Combing the cuticles,” earlier in
this chapter explains the cuticles and scales.)
All the following materials are useful in setting hair because they
create adhesion of the hairs. They form films on the hair shafts
that dry and hold one hair to another (like a weld on the hair),
producing a better lift and therefore a better illusion of volume and
fullness.
 Water-based materials such as gels, mousses, and foams:
These wash off easily with a good shampoo.
 Hair spray: Hair spray forms a hard film that bonds the hair
into place. Combing sprayed hair that has dried can break the
hair at the bonding point. Therefore, it’s best not to mess with
the hair after you apply hair spray, or if you do attempt to
restyle it, be very careful not to tug on the hair as you comb it
again.
Many people spray on way more hair spray than needed,
leaving the hair overly saturated and making it very difficult
to remove the hair spray completely with one shampoo
application.
 Hair waxes and pomades: These are more complex to apply
and much more difficult to remove, but a good strong sham-
poo with a very active surfactant will clean waxes and
pomades off the hair shafts, although it may take more than
one washing.
The advantage of waxes and pomades is that they stay in
place and hold the hair against wind and even rain because
they’re not water-soluble. Waxes act like a plaster cast,
imparting a rigidity to the hair shaft, and they work well in
hair of any length. The spiked hair of many movie and rock
stars is achieved using waxes and pomades.
Unlike hair-sprayed hair, which is difficult to remold, wax-
based products make it easy to rework the shape of the hair
again and again. They’re so durable that you could restyle
your hair as you walked down the street (although you may
prefer to do it in front of a mirror)!