Hair styling products analysed

In the following article I will attempt to deconstruct what is, in my opinion, the most technically innovative and complex area of the personal care sector. A couple of decades ago the only products available to consumers were pink, green or blue hair gels, waxes, mousses or hair spray. Nowadays there is such a vast range of well marketed and cleverly formulated styling product that it can be difficult to know where to start when looking to develop a new range or, indeed, match a market leader. It became apparent while researching the styling market some time ago the vast majority of styling products actually, from a purely technical point of view, fitted into a relatively small number of “categories”. These categories could be subdivided further to give a relatively complete overview of the styling products currently available in the marketplace. What was creatively known as a putty or fudge was actually a wax; what was marketed as a “crystal wax” was actually a micro-emulsion (or “ringing gel”). It was important to follow a number of “rules” so as not to get too focused on the detail and lose sight of the objective, which was to unravel the multitude of product names into a coherent and technical analysis of what is out there. It must be understood that there will always be products which fall between the gaps and some which could fit in a number of different categories. A brief definition and key attributes have been included for each category to help explain the reasoning. The following classification system resulted: The two main categories: “Light” and “Heavy” can be defined and described by the following performance attributes of the formulation, independent of the end setting of the hair (Fig. 1).

•  Light – Light, liquid, mobile, spreadable.
•  Heavy – Heavy, gunky, thick, solid.

The sub-categories can be defined and described as follows:
•  Serums – Low viscosity, usually clear liquid. With or without water.
•  Liquid Emulsions – Opaque, viscous liquids with cream/lotion texture. Containing some oil phase.
•  Gels – Gelled liquid. Standard carbomer type, modified gel type or micro-emulsion.
•  Dry – Free flowing powder.
•  Mousse – Aerosol or pump.
•  Sprays – Aerosol or pump.
•  Wax – Waxy feeling, little or no water.
•  Emulsion – Less waxy, more cream like, higher water content.
• Stick – Stick.