The Untold Language of Hair
- Brainz Magazine
- 16 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Written by Vanessa Rose Chykerda, Hairstylist Educator
Vanessa Rose Chykerda is a rising hairstylist whose passion for hair and educating fellow industry professionals is propelling her career to new heights. In January 2025, she accepted a job where she shares her expertise in product knowledge for Matrix and Biolage.
Across every continent, in every culture, every age group, and every climate, there is one universal truth, people have an intimate relationship with their hair, yet almost no one has been taught how it actually works. Hair is misunderstood everywhere! not because humans lack the interest, but because the industry has never slowed down enough to explain it in a way that respects the individual.
People learn from trends, advertisements, influencers, and product labels written in a language built for sales, not clarity. They are trained to treat their hair as a problem to solve rather than a living, shifting part of themselves that evolves with time, environment, and identity. Children grow up hearing that certain hair is “good” or “difficult,” “manageable” or “wild,” as if hair comes with personality flaws that need correcting. And this conditioning follows them into adulthood, shaping the way they see themselves before they ever sit in a salon chair.
As a professional, the first truth I wish the world understood is simple. Hair is a system, not an aesthetic. Behind every strand is a blueprint of porosity, density, texture, elasticity, hydration balance, mineral exposure, hormonal influence, and environmental pressure. Until you understand that blueprint, nothing else will make sense.
But the world was never given that blueprint. It was given shortcuts. And shortcuts, no matter how shiny, always leave people confused.
Hair doesn’t exist in isolation
Most people believe their hair reacts to products. Few understand that hair reacts to conditions. Your water source changes your hair more than your shampoo.
Your climate dictates hydration far more than your conditioner. Your stress levels affect your scalp as much as your styling tools do. But this is rarely explained. So people blame themselves when their hair behaves differently from a tutorial or when the routine that once worked suddenly stops delivering results.
The truth is this, hair responds to its environment the same way skin does. Move to a humid country? Your curls reshape. Travel to a cold, dry climate? Your cuticle tightens. Experience hormone shifts? Your density changes. Go through stress? Your scalp recalibrates.
Hair is not static. It is not meant to stay the way it once was. It is constantly adjusting, adapting, and communicating. The problem is that the world was never taught how to listen.
Every strand on your head is influenced by something deeper than surface-level products, the mineral content in your water, the friction of your pillowcase, the humidity in your air, the chemical load you’ve accumulated, and even the pH balance of your sweat. This is why copying someone else’s routine is like taking someone else’s prescription. It doesn’t belong to you.
True hair health begins with context. And no one has ever been taught their context.
What most people call “bad hair” is misunderstood hair
The global conversation around hair is full of labels. People everywhere say the same things, “My hair is too frizzy.”
“My hair never listens.”
“My hair gets greasy overnight.” “My curls won’t hold.”
“My ends keep splitting.”
“My waves don’t look like the ones online.”
But none of those complaints are personality traits, they are symptoms. Frizz is communication. Grease is communication. Flatness is communication. Breakage is communication. Limp curls are communication.
Hair is constantly sending signals about what it needs, but people have been taught to silence the signals with heavier products, more heat, tighter ponytails, and quick fixes that leave the true issue untouched.
Professionals know that “bad hair” is almost always misdiagnosed hair. The root causes are usually simple and solvable. Wrong moisture/protein balance. Incorrect styling tools. Mineral overload. Product buildup. Heat tension is used incorrectly. Overwashing or underwashing. Porosity not understood. Fragrance-heavy commercial products are suffocating the cuticle.
But because the world never learned hair at a foundational level, people blame themselves instead of the lack of education. There is no such thing as difficult hair, only hair that has never been correctly interpreted. Once understood, any texture becomes manageable, expressive, and beautiful.
The expertise you should have been given from the beginning
Professional hair education goes far beyond cutting and coloring. True expertise is about decoding the science behind the hair someone lives with every day. If the world were taught hair correctly, here is what everyone would already know, hair is a fiber. A living fiber at the scalp, a dead one past the follicle, but still a fiber that communicates, reacts, transforms, and responds.
Porosity is not a trend, it is the foundation that determines everything you should or shouldn’t do to your hair. Density shapes how you should cut your hair, not the trendiest shape on Instagram. Texture pattern is not a category, it is a spectrum that shifts with age, medication, weather, and even seasonal changes.
Color chemistry is not magic, it is math. It is pH balance, pigment concentration, cuticle behavior, and oxidation. Most people think their color “fades,” when in truth it is undergoing chemical changes they were never told about. Scalp health is not separate from hair, it is the soil that determines the strength of the strand growing from it.
These are basic truths in salons around the world, yet rarely explained to the people who need them most. Education has been gatekept, simplified, or overshadowed by marketing. But when you hand someone real understanding, their hair becomes easier instantly, not because the hair changes, but because the relationship does.
Hair as identity, expression, and emotion
Hair is not just biology. It is memory. It is culture. It is emotion. It is a transition. It is belonging, rebellion, and personal evolution. Across the globe, hair has always carried meaning, braids as storytelling, curls as heritage, length as status, color as identity, shaved heads as reclamation, volume as confidence.
People underestimate how deeply hair influences the way they feel. A haircut can close a chapter. A color can mark a transformation. A new routine can feel like reclaiming control. Growing out of damage can feel like growing out of an old version of yourself. The emotional weight of hair is real. But so is the emotional damage caused by never understanding your own.
When people say they “hate” their hair, they never mean the hair. They mean the frustration, the confusion, the failed routines, the lack of guidance. Once understanding replaces confusion, people stop fighting their hair and start partnering with it. That shift can change the way someone sees themselves, not just in the mirror, but in life.
Hair is not vanity. It is expression. It is connection. It is identity. And every person in the world deserves a relationship with their hair that empowers rather than exhausts them.
The truth the world deserves to hear
Here is what I want every person on the planet to know. Your hair is not wrong. Your hair is not broken. Your hair is not a failure. Your hair is not supposed to behave like anyone else’s.
It is a language that is yours alone. Once you learn to read it, everything changes. Healthy hair is not about perfection. It is about understanding. Understanding leads to confidence. Confidence leads to expression. Expression leads to authenticity. This is what people deserve, not trends, not pressure, not shame but clarity, education, and permission to embrace the texture they were born with.
The world has spent decades learning hair the wrong way around. It is time to learn it correctly from the inside out, from the root to the ends, from science to identity. Hair is not just something you style. It is something you know. And once you know it, you will never see yourself the same way again.
Read more from Vanessa Rose Chykerda
Vanessa Rose Chykerda, Hairstylist Educator
Vanessa Rose Chykerda was born with a passion for beauty, education, and helping others. Inspired by her father’s words – “Pick a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” – she’s built her career on purpose and passion. Her mission is to bring out the beauty in every client while empowering fellow professionals through education, mentorship, and meaningful connection. Vanessa believes everyone deserves to feel their best, look their best, and achieve their best, both in the salon and in life.
