The Afro

The Afro is commonly known as the natural. The Afro hairstyle is achieved by combing hair away from your scalp; this allows hair to extend from your head in to a big rounded shape. The hair usually stays in place by spraying hairspray on to it or by using hair gel. This hairstyle was particularly popular with the African-American community in the late 1960s.

This hair style was one of the results of the Black Power Movement. The hair style was a political statement; it allowed black people to express their cultural and historical identity through their hair. At first it was not popular with many elders but as time went on it became increasingly popular. James Brown was the man who made the Afro more acceptable, he let his hair grow out naturally when recording the song, '' Say It Loud.''

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Hair Dye

Hair dye is what you can use to change the color of your hair. It is very popular with many people, over 75% of american women use hair dye. Hair dye was traditionally applied to hair for one overall color whereas nowadays several colors are used to produce streaks or gradations in the hair.

There are three main types of hair dye; permanent, semi - permanent and temporary.

Semi - Permanent; It has smaller molecules than temporary dyes. The color will last repeated washing, normally 4–5 shampoos. Semi-permanents have very low levels of  peroxide and ammonia so they're much safer for damaged  hair. However, some dyes may still contain the carcinogenic compound p-phenylenediamine. 

Temporary; Is available in many forms such as shampoos, gels, and foams. Temporary hair dye is brighter than semi-permanent and permanent hair dye. It is often used to die hair for special occasions.The pigment molecules in temporary hair color are large so they can't penetrate the hairs cuticle layer. The color particles remain adsorbed in the hair and are easily removed with a single shampoo wash.

Permanent; A popular way to acheive permanent coloured hair is by using oxidation dyes. The ingredients of these products include 1,4-diaminobenzene or 2,5-diaminotoluene  a coupling agent, and an oxidant. 

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Hair Products

Hairspray : It is a product which is sprayed on to hair to keep it in place. It was invented in the 1940's. Hairspray is made up of an array of simple industrial polymers. This includes polyvinyl acetate and copolymers of polyvinylpyrrolidone. Then the mixture is modified so it gets the physical properties wanted such as foaming. The mixture is modified with plasiticers, surfactants and other agents. The main ingredient of hairspray however is solvents needed to solubilize the mixture. This solvents include ethanol and tert-butyl.

Hair Gel : It is a product used to mould hair in to a particular style. Modern hair gel was invented in the 1960's but hair gel can be dated back to almost 3500 years ago. Cationic polymers is the  main ingredient of hair gel. The positive charges in the polymer cause it to stretch which causes the gel to be viscous. Another main ingredient is water which evaporates once you apply the gel leaving you with a sticky film around your hair.

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