Croda Personal Care has published a new study proving the performance benefits of its novel hair strengthening complex Keravis.
The flexabrasion study compared the performance of Croda’s leading hair strengthening agent with one of the most popular ingredients used to support hair strengthening claims. Results showed that Keravis, a protein-silicone copolymer, significantly increased the strength of hair fibres through both conditioner and shampoo formulations. The Croda product provided strength improvements at all test concentrations and relative humidities. The other ingredient offered no strength benefits at any test concentrations when delivered from a conditioner or a shampoo.
Croda commented: “Hair care formulators will find these new results interesting as they are scientific proof of the real strength improvements possible with Keravis.”
The desire for strong, healthy-looking hair is currently a key market driver, with consumers recognising that prevention is better than cure when it comes to treating split ends and other styling-related damage. Keravis has an average molecular weight of 1800 Daltons, low enough for a significant portion to penetrate into the hair cortex. Once there, its hydrophilic nature provides excellent moisture binding capacity.
It also has the ability to cross-link on drying to produce a film-forming polymeric structure – a key factor contributing to its hair strengthening functionality, Croda claims.
The study used flexabrasion fatigue lifetime testing, an instrumental technique considered to be a method very relevant to the impact of normal grooming influences on hair strength. Testing was carried out on bleached European hair from a conditioner (1:5 water dilution) or shampoo (1:10 dilution).
