Chemical researchers look into the root cause of bad hair. Image: Miss Pupik/Flickr.
If ‘bad hair day’ frustration is the bane of your existence and regular shampoo and conditioning products prove largely ineffectual in taming your otherwise uncontrollable mass of hair, then perhaps new scientific research into the ‘root’ cause of your distress will help ease the bedraggled pain.
More pointedly, research chemists this weekend revealed the results of microscopic analysis aimed at establishing what happens to individual hair strands as they interact with one another.
The purpose of the research is to provide important information towards the development of improved shampoos, conditioners, and other related products designed to repair damaged hair.
Presented on Sunday at the American Chemical Society’s 236th National Meeting in Philadelphia, the researchers outline that, while consumers currently inject an annual $60 billion USD into the hair care industry, many products are not able to meet the demands of modern hair treatments.
“Given all the new hair treatments out there, there’s a growing need to make hair feel more natural, especially for women,” commented study co-author Eva Max, a doctoral student in chemistry at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, who also noted that an understanding of hair care still hasn’t been nailed down from a scientific perspective.
The research covered by the study revolves around “haptics,” the science of touch, which assesses how the subjective perception of touch connects to objective surface properties of hair and other materials.
“For the first time, we present an experimental setup that allows measuring the subtle forces, both physical and chemical, that arise when single hairs slide past each other or are pressed against each other,” explained Max. “The findings will help provide clearer strategies for optimizing hair care products.”
By developing a unique technological approach for analysing hair, which involves mounting individual strands on the cantilever tip of an atomic force microscope and then measuring their haptic interactions, the researchers say scientists can now contribute to the creation of optimised hair care products by better exploring the effect of “hair-to-hair interactions.”
Using this new technique, the BASF Care Chemicals-funded study was conducted on a collection of volunteered hair samples that were pre-bleached across a selection of colours from light blonde to dark blonde.
Its results returned that hair feels rough to touch and is difficult to comb through because mechanical damage to its surface (or cuticle) leads to scaly projections that protrude at perpendicular angles to other strands and cause increased friction upon interaction. The researchers say that improved conditioning products need to offer active agents in order to successfully smooth these scales.
Further to that, the study also revealed that hair reacts notably when influenced by chemical changes, which sees negative charges amassing on the hair’s surface and causing individual strands to repulse, making them rough and difficult to comb. The researchers note that conditioners must include positively-charged polymers to counter this effect and create a smooth, silky feel.
While the chemical research provides greater incite into the microscopic interaction of hair and the contributing effects of products upon it, senior BASF scientist Claudia Wood Ph.D., noted that establishing the correct formula to ensure the repair of damaged hair remains a moving target, largely through external influences including humidity, water content, and stickiness.
However, the researchers believe that, by formulating the right ratio of beneficial elements in emerging hair care products, hair care developers can create fully optimised shampoos and conditioners to provide consumers with the feel of perfect hair.
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