"Chemistry & Curls" Poster

Whether we know it or not chemistry and physics play a big role in our lives. The simple process of getting your hair styled or permed is one way we benefit from the science. It's all about hydrogen bonds, and, disulfide bonds. For example: If you want a permanent change, you can perm your hair. In a perm, you don’t just break hydrogen bonds, you also break the disulfide bonds that hold the proteins together. You add chemicals that break the disulfide bonds (bonds between sulfur atoms). Then you reshape your hair and add chemicals that reconstruct those disulfide bonds, holding your hair in a new shape. Since these disulfide bonds withstand water, your new hairdo will be waterproof. Unfortunately, about 10 percent of the disulfide bonds that break when you are perming your hair don’t reform again. So the proteins in permed hair are held together more weakly, and the hair is more likely to break and get split ends.