Just Add Water Emulsifiers in Hair Care Formulas

Disposable plastic packaging is polluting the Earth’s waterways. Cosmetic and personal care manufacturers are beginning to more fully appreciate that plastic packaging which includes water as a primary ingredient is not necessarily a sustainable way to ship and sell finished formulations. Technologies that help minimize the need for water are gaining in desirability. Yet, designing completely waterless formulations remains a moving target and most consumer products companies remain sold on single use, disposable plastic containers. For the past decade, Jeen International has been leading the industry in promoting and developing unique, patented cold-water dispersible wax emulsifiers that allow manufacturers to quickly and conveniently add water to form luxurious wax-based emulsions and dispersions. Use of these JAW (Just Add Water) emulsifiers is growing and they are starting to find more extensive use in hair care products. This article details recent studies that examine how various JAW ingredients help improve damaged hair fibers treated with conditioning formulations designed from the cold-water dispersible wax dispersion technologies called Jeesperse and Jeequat powders. Employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine damaged hair fibers treated with conditioning formulations designed from various conditioning dispersible wax technologies, it was noted that in general, the delivery of the waxes and conditioners to the hair fibers helps to create a smoother surface on the damaged fibers compared to untreated control fibers.

The problems associated with single-use disposable plastic consumer product containers is becoming manifest and a growing problem of considerable concern.

Solutions to this problem are, however, not easy to come by as consumers are very accustomed to purchasing their consumer care products quickly and in containers that do not break or degrade while they store them for 2–3 years. Nonetheless, the problem is real and growing and consumers are starting to more fully appreciate that their packaging is contributing to this global problem.

In addition, as is typical of most hair and skin care products, a large portion of the formulations are typically water which means that when consumers buy their ingredients, they are purchasing a significant amount of water besides the key functional ingredients. Ideas for delivering consumer cosmetic and personal care products in more waterless forms is becoming more attractive. But, often, the consumers will sacrifice functional benefits using waterless delivery forms compared to the same ingredients delivered in a well formulated emulsion or dispersion. So, there are no straightforward answers to these questions with which consumers and manufacturers struggle.

Jeen recognized more than a decade ago that the industry would be seeking technologies that can be offered without water that can help principally manufacturers but, now perhaps, also consumers, start working with less water.^1,2 These patented technologies are essentially fully formulated, powdered, emulsified wax dispersions that simply require the addition of cold water and energy to create elegant wax emulsions and dispersions.

One advantage of the cold water dispersible powders is they lend themselves to addition of other functionally important ingredients that can have a direct impact on both skin and hair. For example,  Jeen has taken the basic Jeesperse and Jeequat technologies and expanded the ingredients to develop a series of unique, cationic formulations designed for hair care applications. These ingredient blends are summarized in Table 1 and included Jeesperse CPCS, Jeequat MDCS MOD, Jeesperse GARN and Jeesperse Optitress.




Methods
Eighty percent (80%) of each of the conditioning powders listed in Table 1 was carefully blended with 20% of an olive-derived antioxidant powder called Olea HT-10 (BotanicalsPlus, Fairfield, NJ).^3,4 The olive antioxidant has been previously shown to have benefits at improving hair damage due to oxidative and thermal stress.5 The resulting blended powders were then dispersed at 5% into water using simple stirring to create the conditioning formulations. 

The study examined two types of hair fibers—heavily damaged blond and lightly damaged light brown hair fibers which were purchased from International Hair Importers. The hair tresses were initially washed with a mild, non-sulfate containing shampoo to standardize the tress surfaces for the treatments. Control tresses were simply the shampooed damaged tresses. The remaining tresses were treated with approximately a nickel-sized portion of each conditioning formulation for 1 minute, the tresses were rinsed from the root to the tip in warm (35°C) water for 1 minute. The tresses were dried using a 1200 V blow drier and the process was repeated two more times. The final dried tresses were then examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM).

The SEM was a JEOL JSM-7800F field emission electron microscope and employed the lower secondary electron detector. The hair fiber samples were taken from the middle of each tress and were prepared by attaching them to the sample holder using conductive double-sided carbon tape. The samples were then sputter coated using a Denton Vacuum Desk V Sputter/Etch Unit with a gold/palladium target. The samples were coated by sputtering for 30 seconds at 20mA. The resulting fibers were examined at a stage height of 15mm and a tilt of 70°, with the root of the hair fiber in the “up” direction. By examining the images in this fashion, the appearance of the hair cuticles is emphasized which shows more vividly the damage and possible improvements to the cuticles because of the treatments. The images were examined using Long Depth of Focus (LDF) modes as it allows imaging without the peripheral distortions that can occur in SEM modes at low magnifications.

Results
Figures 3-7 show SEM images of the Control and JAW-treated fibers from the heavily damaged blond hair tresses.
Results of Scanning Electron Microscope Imaging of Lightly Damaged Hair Fibers
Figures 8-12 show SEM images of the Control and JAW-treated fibers from the lightly damaged light brown hair tresses.

Discussion
What becomes immediately apparent when examining Figures 3-12 is that the heavily damaged hair is very badly damaged. The control tress fiber indicates the entire cuticle was removed by bleaching and shampooing. While it is impossible to restore missing cuticles in damaged hair, some of the treatments, particularly the treatment with Jeequat MDCS MOD and Jeesperse GARN, demonstrate the existence of smoothed, but shortened cuticles indicating a potential reparative effect from the treatment processes. Yet, even with the missing cuticles, the treated fibers do appear to be smoother and lack the apparent flaking noted in the control fiber. 

Examining the hair fibers from the more lightly damaged hair tresses is more enlightening. The hair cuticles are beginning to lift and separate because of the bleaching and shampooing treatments. However, in every case where a JAW powdered conditioner was applied, there are indications that the hair fibers are smoother, and the damaged cuticles are returning to their more natural layered structures. Treatments that include the dispersion waxes and the cationic conditioners significantly restore hair fiber integrity. Such smoothing effects manifest in better combing and superior tactile benefits for the consumers.

Although the Jeesperse and Jeequat cold-water wax dispersion technologies do not eliminate the need for water, they do offer the potential to offer consumers a way to create functionally useful and luxurious formulations on their own by simply adding water to the powders and mixing the subsequent aqueous dispersions well at home. However, for manufacturers of finished hair products, the JAW technologies can significantly reduce the need for heat in manufacturing operations and can, when used expeditiously, increase capacity in the manufacturing operations by eliminating the need for the secondary tanks required for creating the initial molten waxes. And, as shown in the accompanying photomicrographs, these unique ingredients can also transfer to perceivable consumer benefits and improved products. 





References

1. Gruber JV, Perle A. Accelerating Product Development Through Cold-Water Dispersible Wax Technologies. HAPPI; Nov 2018: Pgs 1-4.
2. US Patent 10,138,374 (2018) Low Energy, Cold Process Formulation Aid
3. Avola R, Graziano ACE, Pannuzzo G, Bonina F, Cardile V. Hydroxytyrosol from olive fruits prevents blue-light-induced damage in human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. J Cell Physiol. 2019:234:9065-9076.
4. Cavallo P, Dini I, Sepe I, Galasso G, Fedele FL, Sicari A, Censi SB, Gaspari A, Ritieni A, Lorito M, Vinale F. An Innovative Olive Pâté with Nutraceutical Properties. Antioxidants 2020;9:581.
5. Barbagallo M. Mediterranean eco-conscious active for hair protection. Person Care, Eur. Sept 2020:Pgs 65-69.    

Jeen International
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