Final answer:
The application of acid-balanced shampoo or normalizing lotion helps to maintain the hair's natural pH balance, closes hair cuticles, enhances shine, and protects against damage. These products neutralize alkaline residues from chemical treatments and help to maintain chemically treated hair styles. They are formulated for manageability, hygiene, and hair repair benefits.
Step-by-step explanation:
The application of an acid-balanced shampoo or normalizing lotion is designed to help maintain the natural pH balance of the hair and scalp. Since hair and scalp are naturally slightly acidic, utilizing these products can help close the hair cuticles that may have been opened during a chemical process such as coloring or perming. Closing the hair cuticles aids in enhancing the shine and smoothness of the hair while also protecting against excess friction that can cause damage and breakage. The acidic nature of these products, which is typically slightly acidity (pH less than 7), helps in neutralizing any alkaline residues left by chemical treatments, thereby reducing the potential for hair damage and restoring the natural state of the hair and scalp.
Normalizing lotions frequently contain an oxidizing agent like hydrogen peroxide to help in re-establishing disulfide bonds within the hair structure after a chemical treatment. This process is important to ensure that chemically treated hair such as permed hair maintains its new shape. Meanwhile, acid-balanced shampoos ensure that the hair remains manageable and are formulated to leave hair clean without stripping too much sebum, reducing the microbial load on the skin, and providing repair benefits to damaged hair. Effective acid-balanced shampoos and normalizing lotions should also be defined by characteristics such as pleasing foam, ease of rinsing, minimal skin and eye irritation, pleasant fragrance, and good biodegradability.