Passing a hair drug test involves cleansing the drug metabolites from the cortex of the hair. (For more on this, please read our section on
hair follicle drug test information if you haven't already.). This is not easily done, which is why passing a hair drug test is difficult.
As we mentioned in the last section, the drug metabolites that are being tested for grow into the cortex of the hair. The cortex is packed tightly with keratin proteins and pigments that give your hair its color. One of the only things that can actually penetrate the hair cortex is bleach, which changes the pigment color. However, bleaching will not remove the drug metabolites.
So if you are thinking of bleaching your hair for passing a hair drug test, don't bother, it doesn't work. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it.
|Let's now focus on the hair strand itself, and its cortex (middle) for a better understanding of passing a hair drug test.
As you can see from the image on the right, the outside part of the hair is called the cuticle. The cuticles, for a lack of a better description, look like
layered like shingles on a house, scales on a fish, or bark on a tree.
The cuticles protect the cortex of the hair.
What's important to note here, is that the drug metabolites do not reside in the center of the cortex. As they are deposited into the thickly packed cortex they are pushed to the outer edge of the cortex by the proteins and pigments. This is key to understanding why it's possible to pass a hair drug test.
Drug testing companies will lead you believe that the toxins are in the direct center of the cortex, and if this was true, it would be impossible in finding a way in passing a hair drug test since the center cortex is impenetrable.
Our bodies are built to reject poisons and toxins, and this includes our hair. So the drug metabolites, which our bodies consider toxins, are pushed outward towards the edge of the cortex where they are reachable. But
you have to get through the cuticle first to reach this outer cortex edge, a key concept in passing a hair drug test.
Getting through the cuticle involves using an acid. The acid must be strong, but not too strong where it would melt your hair! But before using the acid, it’s extremely important to clean the hair cuticles so that the acid may effectively penetrate.
The use of hair care products like shampoos, conditioners, mousse, gels, and waxes all coat the hair and seal the crevices in between the cuticles. Add the environmental pollutants that our hair is exposed to everyday to this mix, and you have a thick film of dirt and residue that’s blocking the cuticle crevices.
One of the steps in passing a hair drug test is to clean this muck off the hair strand, before using the acid to penetrate the cuticle and get to the outer cortex. Regular shampoos do not do a good job at this, and actually only add more reside to the hair.
So now that you understand what's involved in passing a hair drug test, we can move onto our next section where we review and recommend different methods and products that help in passing a hair drug test.
Click here to go to reviews of methods to beat a hair