Healthy Hair: A Rarity in Modern Life
Healthy, undamaged hair is a rarity in today’s reality. Frequent coloring, use of styling products, poor environmental conditions, an unbalanced diet, and harmful habits all take a toll on the health and appearance of the hair. Even with properly selected care, it can be difficult to eliminate dryness, brittleness, and dullness. In such cases, a professional can help by assessing the degree of damage and recommending restorative treatments or products.
Below, we’ll explain how hair damage is diagnosed and classified.
How to Assess Hair Quality: Professional Methods
Hair is made up of about 90% keratin, lipids, natural pigments, and moisture-binding compounds. When examined under a microscope, hair resembles the structure of wood. The inner part is covered by a layer of cortex, while the outer shell consists of keratinized (hardened) cells.
How is hair elasticity tested?
A specialist uses a microscope and gathers all the necessary information through the following steps:
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Gathering client hair data.
Since everyone’s hair grows at different rates, the professional will ask how often the client trims their ends, what hair dye and developer they use. Information is also collected about past intense color treatments, chemical perms, and procedures such as hair Botox, keratin, nanoplastia, lamination, etc. -
Visual analysis of hair strands.
The specialist inspects the strands to assess color quality. If the color is uneven, corrective steps may be taken to balance the tone before applying pigment. The ethnic hair type (Afro, Asian, Slavic) is also considered—this helps determine porosity when preparing for coloring or restorative procedures. -
Washing with a deep cleansing shampoo.
The stylist washes either the whole head or at least one strand. Rinsing off any product residues reveals additional data about the hair that may not have been previously visible. -
Air drying without styling.
A strand is dried without a comb, brush, or any styling product. This helps show the hair's natural condition. -
Testing for elasticity, porosity, and curl strength.
These tests help determine the hair’s structural integrity.
Based on the gathered data, the professional determines the degree of hair damage.
The 5 Levels of Hair Damage
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Level 1 – No Damage
Hair has never been colored or chemically treated. It looks healthy, shiny, and does not stretch during the elasticity test. -
Level 2 – Mild Damage
Signs include dryness, split ends, and dullness. -
Level 3 – Moderate Damage
Often caused by lightening with a 3% peroxide developer. Restorative products can address the resulting issues. -
Level 4 – Advanced Damage
Visibly dry ends that don’t reflect light and stretch when tested for elasticity. -
Level 5 – Severe Damage
Hair strands stretch significantly and do not return to their original shape, indicating extreme structural breakdown.
