Minimalist hair masks

As technology progresses, it has become more possible to simplify formulations. To create simple conditioning emulsions, it’s no longer necessary to stock an excessive amount of ingredients and you no longer require heat, which wastes energy and increases your carbon footprint. Jacques Strydom, technical manager of personal care and home care at AECI Specialty Chemicals, explores simplified solutions to create pre- and post-hair treatment products.

Pre- and post-shampoo treatments in hair care are becoming perpetually more important as we learn more about how hair chemistry works and, in particular, about how the needs of one hair type differ from another. However, there is one thing that all hair types have in common – the need for manageability, which is often achieved through some form of conditioning.

We are also learning more about the role of the scalp in hair health – which is seeing more and more skin care ingredients introduced in hair care formulations to maintain a healthy scalp microbiome. The type of products that fall within this sphere of treatments include conditioners, hair masks, scalp scrubs and hair oil elixirs. Most of these treatments, especially hair masks, are based on emulsion technology.

How a cationic polymer works to deliver conditioning benefits

Modern four-in-one ingredients

The classic way of making emulsions involves emulsifying waxes and significant heating, not to mention the large number of raw materials required to bring the product to life. Luckily, advancements in emulsion technology have led to the possibility of creating cold process hair masks in minutes, using polymeric inverse emulsions.

These inverse emulsifiers act as four-in-one ingredients, in the sense that they emulsify, thicken, emolliate and condition all in one. AECI FlowCat 37 is an example of a four-in-one type of ingredient. The benefits and versatility of this ingredient are shown in the formulation in Table 1. Formulations such as this one can be as simple as three to five ingredients in total (including water and a preservative).

This type of technology makes particular sense for hair masks, which are often sold in small volume sachets. When you consider the elimination of the heating step and the reduction in processing time, number of raw materials needed and in the carbon footprint – it is easy to understand why these products are so appealing to hair mask brands and manufacturers.

A closer look at conditioning polymers

When examining the INCI name of the material, it is clear that it already contains polyquaternium-37 for conditioning. Yet the level of conditioning can be tweaked even more by including high, medium or low conditioning actives like polyquaternium-39 as per the example in Table 1.

These ingredients may also be used to develop conditioners as well as semi-permanent hair colour creams.

Polyquaterniums are very large molecules that periodically have negative charged sites along the molecule, inherently making them cationic conditioning polymers. Cationic charge is a trait that is shared among many hair care conditioning agents, due to the fact that the hair, especially damaged hair, has a negative charge, allowing the cationic polymers to stick to it, typically smoothing the shaft and making it easier to comb and manage.

The level of condition required by the consumer is dictated by the length, shape and complexity of the polyquaternium molecule, of which many variations exist. At AECI Specialty Chemicals, we offer a wide range of polyquaterniums, including but not limited to polyquaternium 6, 7, 10, 11, 22, 37, 39 and 67. •

AECI Specialty Chemicals – jacques.strydom@aeciworld.com or Thureya.Sarlie@aeciworld.com