Define curls naturally with a soft and flexible hold

Natural hair continues to be at the forefront of global beauty trends as more and more consumers are embracing their curls, waves, kinks and coils. The movement has encouraged a chain reaction of innovation among ingredients suppliers as hair care brands and manufacturers constantly look to win over new consumers with targeted solutions to comfortably and confidently manage, style and care for their curly hair. By Abby Vorster

In line with the upward trajectory of the natural hair movement, consumer demand continues to grow for a wider variety of styling aids and products developed specifically for curly and textured hair.

Styling is key in managing curly hair. In the past, harsh and damaging chemical straightening and heat styling methods were the most popular ways to “manage” curly hair. Yet, consumers are ditching these traditional methods in favour of natural-based styling products produced with effective, clean and sustainable ingredients. According to the UK’s Glamour Magazine, some of the most desirable attributes consumers want from styling products include “long-lasting curl definition”, “anti-frizz” or “frizz-free”, and “humidity control”.

ORGANIC SILICONE HYBRID EMULSION

Developed to address the unique needs of curly hair, SilForm HydroFlex emulsion from Momentive Performance Materials (Momentive) helps improve curl definition and the anti-frizz performance of styling products.

Based in the US, Momentive is a global silicones business whose products are used in a great number of industries, including the cosmetics industry. In South Africa, Savannah Fine Chemicals is the approved distributor of Momentive’s beauty and personal care ingredients and additives.

Styling products designed with SilForm HydroFlex emulsion help to deliver a flexible hold and soft touch on curly hair, owing to the excellent mechanical strength and superior elasticity of the silicone emulsion. The natural hold provided by the elastic film is a welcome departure from the hardening effect of some styling polymers on the market which crisp upon drying and weigh down hair.

Momentive designed this film-forming emulsion so that it is easy to incorporate in a wide range of hair care formulations, such as gels and styling sprays, as well as shampoos and conditioners, to assist customers in driving innovation in their product ranges while increasing their competitive advantage.

Characterised as an organic silicone hybrid emulsion, SilForm HydroFlex emulsion has been performance-tested for curl definition and curl retention against a market-leading hair styling ingredient.

FORMULATION GUIDELINES FOR SILFORM HYDROFLEX EMULSION:

• It outperformed competitive materials in improved curl definition when used at 5% and 10% in a shampoo formulation, and performed well from 2% to 8% in leave-on formulations.

• To improve curl definition efficacy in a shampoo, it worked best when formulated with a depositing aid polymer (i.e. cationic guar).

• It outperformed a competitive material in frizz control and performed best in high humidity when formulated in a shampoo with a depositing aid polymer.

• The fluid is easy to incorporate in shampoo and leave-on formulations.

• It formed stable shampoos with a low to moderate viscosity change in formulation.

• It is compatible with most anionic and non-ionic ingredients typically found in pump sprays, hair gels and mousses.

Did you know?

Momentive’s SilForm fluids help formulators achieve a favourable combination of long-lasting reliability and comfort in hair and skin care products. The range of fluids is produced without the use of ethylene oxide and promoted as highly flexible silicone film formers. SilForm fluids enable various consumer-perceivable benefits in finished products, such as long-lasting comfort on skin, extended fragrance retention on hair and superior water-, oil- and colour-transfer resistance in colour cosmetics.

LONG-LASTING CURL DEFINITION

In mousses, creams, gels and sprays, the high elasticity and mechanical strength of SilForm HydroFlex emulsion translated into a flexible hold on curly hair with the added benefits of enhanced humidity resistance, easier control and longerlasting performance.

To study the curl definition effect, bleached wavy hair tresses (5g, 20cm) were washed with a 10% SLES solution for one minute and rinsed for another minute. Water was then squeezed out of the tresses and an aqua styling spray formulated with 15mg of SilForm HydroFlex emulsion was applied on one tress.

A second tress was treated with a PVP/VA styling spray while the third tress was left untreated as the control. The tresses were air dried for 12 hours and placed in a climatic chamber for another five hours which was set at 90% relative humidity (RH) and 25°C. Before and after, photographs of the tresses showed SilForm HydroFlex emulsion offers a superior curl definition effect compared to PVP/VA (see Figure 1).

SHIELDING CURLS FROM HUMIDITY

A similar study was performed for curl retention, on undamaged hair tresses. One hair tress was treated with 15mg of SilForm HydroFlex emulsion in a styling spray and a second one with a PVP/VA styling spray. Both tresses were mounted on a curler and left to air dry for 12 hours. After being removed from the curlers, the tresses were placed in a climatic chamber (90% RH and 25°C) for five hours, removed and combed 10 times.

Before and after photographs, also taken at each stage of the study, revealed that the curl retention performance of SilForm HydroFlex emulsion was equivalent to that of PVP/VA when exposed to high humidity for an extended period. Yet, after combing, Momentive’s silicone emulsion showed more effective performance than PVP/VA in delivering lasting curl retention (see Figure 2). •

Momentive Performance Materials – www.momentive.com Savannah Fine Chemicals – www.savannah.co.za

Figure 1: SilForm Hydroflex emulsion (far right) offers superior curl definition benefits compared to PVP/VA (Note: Test results. Actual results may vary)

Figure 2: The curl retention performance of SilForm HydroFlex emulsion (middle right) showed equivalent performance to PVP/VA when exposed to high humidity for an extended period. After combing, SilForm HydroFlex emulsion (bottom right) showed more effective performance than PVP/VA in retaining curl memory (Note: Test results. Actual results may vary)