For a long time, I've been wondering about how to properly check elasticity. I've heard you take a strand and wet it, then stretch it. If it stretches to a number that seems to differ by blog, (30%, 50%) and snaps back, holding the curl, it has a good elasticity. If it breaks instead, it has none and your hair doesn't have enough moisture, if it stretches and stretches until breaking, or plops without retaining its original state, you have too much moisture and not bough protein.
Why did I mention moisture and protein? Because they affect hair elasticity. The more moisturized your hair is, the stretchier, and the more protein, the more it holds its shape. You need to balance the two to maximize elasticity. This does not mean 50/50. Everyone's hair is different.
Before now, I had checked but I still didn't understand, now that I have texlaxed hair, I tried again.
Before:
I took a strand and stretched. It stretched and snapped back, curling into a ball. Didn't help. I mean, I didn't have anything else to go by, is it good? Average? Bad?
How I figured it out:
Then I streched only the relaxed section; I grabbed it, made it straight, and then began stretching. It stretched and snapped back. Then just the texlaxed/ng; pulled it straight and started stretching. It didn't stretch at all.
This isn't how it's normally done, but it makes more sense to my mind. Anyway, I now know that my texlaxed hair needs much more moisture than my relaxed hair. I knew that, but now I have proof. This is my way, find yours. As a hugely intellectual individual (culturally speaking) I know that everyone learns differently. Being able to see two distinctly different responses gave me insight on elasticity. If you don't have two textures, try doing it fresh after a protein dc, and fresh after a moisture dc, the difference should help!
I wrote this for everyone else who is confused by elasticity, I hope it's more enlightening and can help you understand your results.
Healthy hair, everyone!
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