So, you decided to change your hairstyle. Maybe you added some wispy bangs, perhaps switched to an undercut bob. However, no matter what you do, it’s just not looking the way you had envisioned. What have you been doing wrong? Why doesn’t your hair behave the way you want it to? The answer could lie in your hair’s memory. Yes, your hair — just like all of the cells in your body — has its own “memory,” which means you will have to retrain it in order for it to be styled differently. If you’ve ever experienced a problem changing up your hairstyle, it’s because your hair has memory and it doesn’t take on a new style easily. That’s because your hair’s roots determine how it grows in a certain direction, and changing its direction will take some time and patience. Imagine a plant on your windowsill that’s growing toward the sunlight. If you decide to move the plant to another area, it will take some time for the plant’s leaves to turn toward the direction of the sun again. Let’s say you have curly or wavy hair that you always straighten. When the humidity hits, it starts to frizz. That’s because the keratin protein in your hair has a certain “memory.” It’s like turning a ship…….you turn the wheel, but it takes a little while for the boat to come around. To correct your hair problem, you’ll have to work consistently against its memory tension, and that doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it could even take months for your hair to adapt to its new shape. Now that you know how hair memory works, you just have to practice a little patience in order to achieve the style that you really want. If you’re running into hair memory problems, it's worth trying a sulfate-free shampoo, which can helps to speed up the process.
