Your cuticle isn’t a fortress wall — it’s more like a living gatekeeper, reacting to every rinse, UV ray, and salty breeze. Protect it, and your hair stays smooth, strong, and light-catching. Ignore it, and it will tell the world about every rough towel, hot day, or overzealous shampoo it ever met.
Understanding the Hair Cuticle - Where Frizz Begins
The hair cuticle is composed of flattened, overlapping cells arranged in a manner similar to roof shingles or fish scales. They’re not static — they shift, swell, and contract depending on their environment.
Think of them as tiny protective doors:
- When they’re closed: Light bounces off smoothly, moisture stays balanced, and hair feels silky.
- When they’re ajar: Humidity, heat, salt, or chemical stress can slip in, swelling the inner cortex unevenly and roughening the surface.
- Shield the cortex from mechanical and chemical damage
- Regulate moisture entry and exit
- Reflect light for shine- They are coated with a lipid layer (18-MEA) that helps maintain hydrophobicity
Each cuticle cell is made mostly of keratin proteins, bound together by lipids — like the natural glue keeping your hair watertight. One of these key lipids, 18-MEA, acts like a water-repelling raincoat for your hair. Lose too much of it (from UV, harsh washing, or friction) and your hair suddenly becomes a sponge, greedily soaking up moisture from the air — cue frizz, brittleness, or loss of shine.
Inside, the cortex is where the real architecture lives — bundles of keratin that give your hair strength and elasticity. This is also where your hair’s pigment sits, so when the cuticle is damaged, colour can fade faster.
And beneath it all? The medulla — the airy core in thicker hairs that acts a bit like insulation. Fine hair often doesn’t have one at all, which is why it reacts differently to humidity than coarse hair.
What Summer Does to the Cuticle
1. Humidity Lifts the Cuticle
Moisture from the air penetrates the cortex unevenly, causing the shaft to swell. This leads to cuticle lifting and irregular light reflection - aka frizz.
2. Sweat Adds Salts and pH Disruption
Sweat can alkalise the hair surface, leading to cuticle swelling and brittleness. The salts also strip away the natural lipid layer.
3. UV Radiation Degrades the Surface Lipids
Sun exposure breaks down 18-MEA and internal proteins, leaving hair more porous and less smooth.
4. Water Imbalance from Swimming or Rinsing
Frequent wetting and drying, especially in chlorinated or saltwater, leads to hygral fatigue - repeated swelling and shrinking that cause cuticle erosion over time.
The Scalp Connection: It Starts at the Root
- Dry or inflamed, it may produce weaker hair shafts
- Sweat-disrupted, the follicular environment becomes less supportive of optimal keratin structure
- Oxidatively stressed, hair emerging from the follicle may have compromised strength
That’s why cuticle support begins with scalp health — especially in summer.
Dakmatter’s Approach to Summer Hair Resilience
Frizz isn’t a cosmetic flaw — it’s a signal of structural disruption in the cuticle. Summer introduces multiple threats: humidity, sweat, UV, and water imbalance. Dakmatter’s scientific scalp-first strategy builds healthier hair from the root, helping your strands resist frizz from the inside out.
Recommendations:
A wash that respects both the scalp and emerging hair shaft is the 010 Slip Wash Pro. Formulated to reduce lipid loss, water loss and fibre swelling, it is an excellent choice to minimise humidity and electric frizz.
2. Weekly Masking
Use an ultra-hydrating mask like O22 Hydro Mask Pro| Light with Cupuacu Butter and Trehalose that seals, protects and recompacts the cuticle.
3. Scalp Balance
is a calming spray that restores the pH to lock and flatten the cuticle while balancing the microbiota post-sweat and sun.
Want to know more about our science-backed organic hair & scalp products?
Bonus Tip: Don’t Skip Rinsing
Always protect hair and scalp from oxidation. Minimise direct sun exposure, use breathable head coverings, and avoid harsh heat styling after sun exposure.
Even if you don’t wash daily, always rinse away sweat, chlorine and salt after a day in the sun or pool. Allowing them to dry on your strands can contribute to long-term cuticle damage.
Knowledge Is Power.
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