FUNdamentals #27 - what does molecular repair mean?

You may have seen or heard of molecular repair. It’s those two words on our bottle but it’s also the technology that has allowed us to deliver true hair renewal + hair freedom for ALL. If you’re not in the know, it’s time to bring your work into the future.

You get a booboo. Uhoh. You can put a bandaid on the booboo to contain the bleeding for now but the booboo needs time to get all better. When you hurt your hair with heat or chemicals you are creating booboos all over. When you use conditioners to temporarily cover up the damage, that's like putting a bandaid on the booboo. Repairing hair at the molecular level is like the healing you get from stitches or the skin healing over time.

Your hair has a lot going on in it. Just from brushing your hair into a ponytail or going outside to hang with your friends, your hair is exposed to all kinds of damage. A lot of products only cover up this damage or try to make it look all pretty. Molecular repair works all the way inside hair to heal it from the inside out. Think of it like an ambulance versus a hospital. Things like conditioners + bond builders are like the ambulance, a temporary fix or reliever to a much more serious problem. Molecular repair is like the hospital where the true healing + repair can offer a long-term solve to the issue.

Your hair fibers may seem tiny, but there’re lots of layers in there. When you do things like bleach, color, or expose your hair to harsh chemicals + heat, it gets damaged all the way in the inner-most layers of your hair where the polypeptide chains are. These are responsible for your hair’s core strength and elasticity, which break and disconnect when hair is damaged—leaving it weak, dull, and lifeless. So, how do you fix it?

Think of your hair as a house that got hit by a harsh storm. The main structure (aka those polypeptide chains in hair) is showing major signs of foundational damage. You wouldn’t paint over the cracks in the house and ignore the damage underneath. This is like conditioners and traditional hair masks that cover up signs of damage. You also probably wouldn’t go in with glue to stick some broken pieces back into the house, since that’s not going to last or do enough to reinstill strength. This is your bond builder temporarily addressing damage.

The best repair would be repairing the house with new beams and support systems for a solid structure—this is the molecular repair returning your house (your hair) back to its original sturdiness to weather the next storm, like the next bleach appointment.

Hair is a dynamic, complex biomaterial. It is primarily made of the protein keratin and comprises two key structures: a protective external cuticle layer of flattened overlapping scales and the interwoven fibrous alpha-keratin in the interior cortex. The cortex makes up the bulk of hair and is responsible for hair’s tensile properties, i.e., its strength and elasticity.

Proteins are large macromolecules made up of amino acids and held together by bonds. When hair takes damage, as it can from so many things, the structure of hair—its proteins—begins to degrade as bonds break.

While traditional conditioners improve manageability by temporarily modifying the surface properties of hair (i.e., its hydrophobicity, lubricity, and shine) they don’t address the underlying damage to the structure. Bond builders reinforce structure by zeroing in on one type of bond, but fail to address holistic strength. K18’s molecular repair takes things a step further. Recognizing that molecules like hair proteins interact via many different types of bonds (peptide bonds, disulfide bonds, ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic/Van der Waals interactions, etc.), the biomimetic K18PEPTIDE™ is made of the same proteins as hair, so it can interact and reinforce structure holistically: through formation of numerous types of bonds with hair proteins. This makes reconnection of broken bonds by the K18PEPTIDE™ an authentic and lasting repair.

Now when you hear your fellow stylists or friends talk about molecular repair, you’ll be in the know. Still stuck? Get inside the world of hair through our augmented reality experience here.

See ya soon for more FUNdamentals.