Experience the innovation of Cargill Beauty’s lamellar phase-free and silicone-free conditioner, providing instant rinse for reduced water use. By Dr Emmanuel Everaert, global innovation, principal scientist, Cargill Beauty, France
Components such as silicones are often used for their conditioning properties and great aesthetics on the hair. However, most of these components have an impact on the environment, first because of their polluting manufacturing process, and secondly because they are not biodegradable and therefore contaminate water.1 For instance, when a silicone-based shampoo or conditioner is rinsed-off in the shower, it remains in the water and has the potential for accumulation in aquatic organisms.
Studies have also shown that cationic surfactants cause differentiated toxicity towards marine species (fish, crustaceans, algae, and bacteria) and most are not readily biodegradable.2
REPLACING THE LAMELLAR PHASE
Hair conditioner performance is mostly driven by the lamellar phase structure (cationic surfactants and fatty alcohols), and silicones. As a result, the typical rinsing time in the shower is long. To overcome this challenge, Cargill Beauty proposes a novel hair conditioner structure that has instant rinse properties (in shower) as well as great wet and excellent dry conditioning feel performance. For this purpose, the lamellar phase is replaced with three ingredients:
1. Actigum™ CS 11 QD (INCI: Sclerotium Gum), used for its hair conditioning and high yield stabilisation performance.
2. StarDesign™ Power (INCI: Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate (and) Sodium Starch Octenylsuccinate) is a clever blend of starches with a great ability to stabilise emulsions and deliver pleasing sensorial benefits.
3. StarDesign™ Care (INCI: Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate), a starch for additional texture build of the hair conditioner.
SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN WATER USE
A very low water level is needed to rinse the novel instant-care hair conditioner. Measurements in a controlled lab rinsing flow rate study on hair switches estimated an approximate 7x reduction in water usage. The exact amount of rinsing water that is saved will always depend on consumer shower flow characteristics with the opportunity to reduce water consumption by 7x when rinsing hair in the shower.
A reduction in hot water usage has also been shown to reduce one’s overall carbon footprint. In line with this, the manufacturing process of the instant-care hair conditioner uses a lower temperature (45°C to 50°C), which is a significant energy saving compared to current high temperature hair conditioner production processes.
REPLACING THE SILICONE PHASE
The dry conditioning performance is principally driven by the addition of silicones, which are neither sustainable nor biodegradable. Cargill Beauty’s selected emollient blends can match the performance of silicones on dry hair with lower combing forces. Great hair alignment and curl definition have also been measured.
This new approach to hair conditioners allows for a novel structure that has instant adsorption characteristics on hair as well as great wet and excellent dry conditioning feel performance. For this purpose, the silicone(s) phase is replaced with two ingredients:
1. Sustainable cocoa butter (INCI: Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter) for a pleasing conditioning experience
2. Agri-Pure AP620 (INCI: Hydrogenated Coconut Oi) for its additional conditioning power on hair and perfect fibre alignment in dry hair.
The combination of these two emollients is an ideal alternative to silicones to deliver a pleasant dry feel and visually beautiful hair.
Contact Savannah Fine Chemicals, Cargill Beauty’s South African agent, for more information on the instant-care hair conditioner.
