Repair Hair: The marketing trap for consumers
“How do I repair hair that’s damaged?” This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions. Come to think of it, hair is constantly growing in length. So, shouldn’t it be able to repair itself like skin would?
Well, while it seems alive, this is just a big illusion. Hair basically consists of dead keratin cells, pretty much like your nails but not as hard. If your nail breaks or chips off, it doesn’t repair itself. And hair does the same. The only part that is living is on the scalp: the follicles. Follicles generate the hair fibers.
Products claiming to repair hair
There are many products out there that are targeted for damaged hair. In an attempt to catch the consumer’s eye, many will loosely slap words such as ‘repair’, ‘fix’, ‘renew’, or ‘mend’ on the bottles. Moreover, many blogs intentionally use appealing titles such as “best products to repair hair” to catch the readers’ attention. This of course is misleading as they encourage consumers to believe that their hair can be repaired.
Below are a few examples of products you’ve probably come across, that promise to repair hair among other things.
What do hair repair products do?
Alright, so now that we know the hair repair products do not actually repair the fiber, what do they do?
Well, most of these products are designed to provide preventive measures. They consist of ingredients that coat the hair to protect against further damage, to add softness, to add smoothness, to retain moisture, to add shine to hair etc. In brief, they make the hair manageable and mask the damage so that the hair looks/feels more pleasing.
They differ from regular products because, they are (usually) formulated with damaged hair symptoms in mind. Note that not all damaged hair products are created equal. Some brands put in more effort in their formulations: they use superior ingredients or patented ingredients to deliver more benefits than others.
Bottomline: yes, damaged hair products offer several benefits to those who suffer from damaged hair. But no, they do not repair hair as they are advertised to do.
