Shinier and Healthier Looking Hair

26.05.2022

Shinier and Healthier Looking Hair : 100% Plant Based and Biodegradable Silicone Alternative ProShine from Chemyunion*

Shine is a fundamental attribute for the healthy appearance of hair and is a key part of the success in the development of hair care products, since it is one of the most desired and sought-after consumer benefits. After the “Botanical / Herbal” claim, “Brightening” is the most explored benefit in products launched globally for this category, and this claim is the remaining around 40% of all hair care product launches since 2012 according to the research carried out on the Mintel GNPD platform. Shiny hair is considered to be healthy and, the shine can be affected by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, heat treatments, chemical treatments (such as bleaching and straightening), and even vigorous combing and brushing, due to the damage caused to the cuticle or cortex regions by an increase in diffused light off the fiber. In the cosmetic market, the ingredients currently used in hair care products to promote shine are: vegetable oils, plant extracts and silicones. Vegetable oils and extracts, despite coming from renewable sources, have a weak interaction with the hair fiber and can be easily removed with water and shampoo, which generates a superficial and short-lasting shine. In addition, vegetable oils can add a heavy and oily feel to the hair. Silicones are widely used for this purpose and the most common are: phenyltrimethicone, cyclomethicone, dimethicone and amino propyl phenylthymethicone. However, these products have low biodegradability and are obtained by chemical reactions that involve chlorinated compounds of petrochemical origin (a non-renewable source) in addition to presenting bio-accumulative properties, making the hair heavy and difficult to style. Currently, the cosmetic industries are looking for more sustainable and biodegradable alternatives for the development and production of cosmetic products that make hair shiny. In addition, the concept of Green Chemistry of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has directly influenced the search for alternative routes that aim to reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances harmful to human beings and the environment, in the design, manufacture and application of products. In order to address this challenging market demand of combining effectiveness with obtaining a process that incorporates the main principles of Green Chemistry, Chemyunion developed ProShine using 100% plant-based esters, with a high refractive index, to activate an intense shine that enhances color when interacting with hair fiber proteins. ProShine was created based on the study of molecular structure considering three elementary properties required to obtain a good hair shine performance: refractive index, reflection index and intermolecular interactions between the hair fiber cuticle with the chemical functions present in the molecules. This product was developed to have a high refractive index, a key property to increase the reflection of light, which leads to an increase in brightness intensity. Pro-Shine has a refractive index of 1.4790, a higher value than the benchmarks commonly found.

Action Mechanism

It was possible to verify the interactions between chemical functional groups, present in the hair fiber, with molecules of ProShine. Through this study, it is possible to suggest a mechanism of molecular film deposition with high refraction index and fixation by intermolecular interactions between ProShine and the main structures of keratin (tyrosine, arginine, lysine and aspartic acid). The ProShine has hydroxyl residues that interact well with hair keratin through hydrogen bonds, dipole-dipole and London dispersion forces, as shown in Figure 1. Among these interactions, the hydrogen bonds stand out. action mechanism

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Figure 2: Evaluation of the Shine on virgin hair strands before and after treatment with pure ProShine. (b) Graphics: T0 - Before Treatment and PT - Post treatment.[/caption] Based on the results (Figure 2), it was possible to observe that the strands of virgin hair treated with the pure Pro-Shine showed a significant increase of 19% in the values of Shine when compared to the strands before treatment. [caption id="attachment_139905" align="aligncenter" width="463"]

Figure 3: Evaluation of the Shine on bleached hair strands before and after treatment with pure ProShine. (b) Graphics: T0 - Before Treatment and PT - Post-treatment.[/caption] Based on the results presented in Figure 3, it was possible to observe that bleached hair strands treated with pure ProShine showed a significant increase of 127% in the values of Shine, when compared to the strands before treatment. [caption id="attachment_139906" align="aligncenter" width="395"]

Figure 4: Evaluation of the Shine on dyed hair strands before and after treatment with pure ProShine. Image of the strands.[/caption] It is possible to see the bleached hair strands treated with 1% ProShine showed a significant increase of 428% in the value of shine compared to Placebo (Figure 5). The results obtained by ProShine showed no significant differences in relation to the Benchmark. [caption id="attachment_139907" align="aligncenter" width="622"]

Figure 5: Shine evaluation on bleached hair strands treated or not (Control) with conditioner with or without (Placebo) ProShine 1% or Benchmark 1%.[/caption]

Summary

ProShine is designed to ensure high gloss performance. ProShine also enhances color on natural or dyed hair. ProShine follows the main concepts of Green Chemistry, it is 100% biodegradable and 100% plant-based. Thus, eco-friendly hair care formulas are developed by using ProShine. In addition, the efficacy tests of ProShine show that; • 127% more shine in bleached hair, 42% in dyed hair and 19% in natural Caucasian hair (applying 100% ProShine as hair finisher) • 428% more shine compared to placebo on bleached hair and 184% more shine compared to placebo on virgin hair (using 1% ProShine conditioner). *Translated and summarized from ProShine brochure of Chemyunion.