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A Little Hairy Chemistry

4 Mar 2025

Hair is composed of a type of protein called keratin that is formed within the hair follicle, a cavity in the skin surrounded by cells that provide the amino acids and other components needed for...

Can You Repair Split Ends?

24 May 2024

I decided to start off my summer break with a much-needed haircut after neglecting to get a trim for a couple of months. As I settled into the salon chair and watched chunks of hair fall to the...

Stress Can Change the Shade of Your Strands

25 Aug 2023

My first gray hair appeared when I was the age of twenty-three, within two months of my mom passing away. Of course, this is anecdotal evidence and should not be taken as proof that stress causes...

Wrap Your Hair Around Biotechnology

6 Jul 2023

What comes to mind when you think of biotechnology? Maybe it’s Dolly the cloned sheep, or GMOs, or stem cell therapy, or DNA profiling, or mRNA vaccines. Rightly so. These are indeed examples of...

Salon-Free Highlights are Just a Spray Away

19 May 2022

Summer is almost here! Tans will get darker and hair will get lighter. If you really want to get blonder this year, many brands sell hair lightening sprays – a way to heighten the sun’s natural...

The Pill That Promises to Delay the Grey

4 Sep 2021

The website has a subtle grey background. The banner image shows an elated young woman with dark hair streaked with reddish-brown, basking in the sunlight. The company’s proposition is bold: “delay...

Washing your hair? In Vancouver soap will work, but in Montreal it has to be shampoo.

2 Jul 2021

Did you know that in Vancouver you can wash your hair with soap but in Montreal you need shampoo? Why? Because Vancouver water is soft and Montreal water is hard. That makes a big difference when...

No Need to Shave the World: Why Your Beard Is Not a Problem in the Age of COVID

3 Apr 2020

In 1843 a letter to the editor entitled “The growth of the beard medically considered” published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal argued that beards were medicinally beneficial, and that ...

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