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From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia Hair gel is a hairstyling
product that is used to stiffen hair into a particular hairstyle. The
results it produces are usually similar to but stronger than those of hair
spray and weaker than those of hair glue or hair wax.
Types
Many brands of hair gel in North America and the United Kingdom come in
numbered variants. Higher numbered gels maintain a greater "hold" on hair,
while lower numbers do not make the hair as stiff and in some products give
the hair a wet look. A category typically referred to as "ethnic" gels are
designed and manufactured specifically for sculpting the hair texture common
to African Americans. Ampro Industries is a common example of this category.
Some forms of hair gel include temporary hair coloring for the hair,
including variants in unnatural colors associated with various subcultures,
and are popular within the goth and raver subcultures.[citation needed]
Cationic polymers
Cationic polymers are one of the main functional component of hair gel. The
positive charges in polymer cause it to stretch, making the gel more
viscous. Hair gels resist natural protein conformations and allow hair to be
styled and textured. This is because the stretched-out polymer takes up more
space than a coiled polymer and thus resists the flow of solvent molecules
around it. The positive charges also bind the gel to the negatively charged
amino acids on the surface of the keratin molecules in the hair. More
complicated polymer formulas exist, e.g. a copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone,
methacrylamide, and N-vinylimidazole. |
