The Science Behind Hair Straighteners

Believe it or not, hair straighteners have been in existence in one form or another since the 1800’s. First noted in 1882 Erica Feldman used heated rods to style her hair, various other people throughout history have used heated appliances for the purpose of straightening or curling their hair. As well as heated appliances some mavericks used chemicals, which often resulted in severe burns to the recipient's scalp and neck. During the 1900’s different models were fashioned some involved a heated comb with teeth that brushed through the hair in an effort to straighten it. Generally speaking there are three different kinds of heated hair appliances in history, straightening, curling or crimping. A Scot named Lady Jennifer Bell Schofield invented the hair straighteners that we know and recognize today with the hinged flat heated plates system in 1912.

Hair straighteners have evolved greatly and today we have many different brands, sizes and styles. Ceramic hair straighteners are very popular as they heat up to an extremely high temperature making it easier to style hair and giving more likelihood that your style will last.

Now for the science bit! Your hair is made up of hydrogen bonds, which are found in your hair’s cortex, these are what cause your hair to be curly or wavy or frizzy. Hair straighteners works by breaking down these hydrogen bonds using the heat, therefore allowing the hair to be pulled straight. Once these hydrogen bonds have been broken the hair will remain straight and will not go back to its previous form unless it comes in contact with moisture.

In the case of some ceramic hair straighteners the ceramic plates are smooth and as they glide through the hair they give off ions, which in turn straighten the hair. These ions can aslo help seal in the hairs natural moisture and reduce the effect of static. Some ceramic plated hair straighteners heat up to a scorchingly hot 220 degrees quite daunting but if used with a little bit of care and caution will give you a great result.

I do not know how many times myself and my friends have uttered the words: "what on earth did we do before ceramic hair straighteners were invented?"