Promotion of hair growth by newly synthesized ceramide mimetic compound.

Based on the crucial roles of ceramides in skin barrier function, use of ceramides or their structural mimetic compounds, pseudoceramides, as cosmetic ingredients are getting more popular. While currently used pseudoceramides are intended to substitute the structural roles of ceramides in stratum corneum, development of bioactive pseudoceramides has been repeatedly reported. In this study, based on the potential involvement of sphingolipids in hair cycle regulation, we investigated the effects of newly synthesized pseudoceramide, bis-oleamido isopropyl alcohol (BOI), on hair growth using cultured human hair follicles and animal models. BOI treatment promoted hair growth in cultured human hair follicles ex vivo and induced earlier conversion of telogen into anagen. Although we did not find a significant enhancement of growth factor expression and follicular cell proliferation, BOI treatment resulted in an increased sphinganine and sphingosine contents as well as increased ceramides contents in cultured dermal papilla (DP) cells. Taken together, our data strongly suggest that biologically active pseudoceramide promotes hair growth by stimulating do novo synthesis of sphingolipids in DP cells.

Silicone oil emulsions: strategies to improve their stability and applications in hair care products.

Silicone oils have wide range of applications in personal care products due to their unique properties of high lubricity, non-toxicity, excessive spreading and film formation. They are usually employed in the form of emulsions due to their inert nature. Until now, different conventional emulsification techniques have been developed and applied to prepare silicone oil emulsions. The size and uniformity of emulsions showed important influence on stability of droplets, which further affect the application performance. Therefore, various strategies were developed to improve the stability as well as application performance of silicone oil emulsions. In this review, we highlight different factors influencing the stability of silicone oil emulsions and explain various strategies to overcome the stability problems. In addition, the silicone deposition on the surface of hair substrates and different approaches to increase their deposition are also discussed in detail.

Evaluation of novel synthetic conditioning polymers for shampoos.

Cationic polymers have traditionally been used in shampoo formulations to impart conditioning properties to hair. In this study, commercial synthetic cationic polymers were investigated using coacervate formation, objective wet comb analysis, silicone deposition and panel studies to determine structure function properties with the goal of developing novel conditioning polymers. New polymers were synthesized and, based on criteria determined in the first part of the study, found to have marginal improvement over existing synthetic cationic conditioning polymers. A novel experimental polymer developed for a different industry was also investigated for conditioning properties. This polymer showed significant enhancement of silicone deposition over current commercial polymers, including cationic guar, even at significantly reduced silicone and polymer concentrations. The experimental polymer exhibited parity or improvement over benchmark polymers in panel studies, and similar performance to other synthetic polymers in objective wet comb studies.

The role of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in hair science.

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a virtual prototyping tool is widespread in the consumer packaged goods industry. CFD refers to the calculation on a computer of the velocity, pressure, and temperature and chemical species concentrations within a flowing liquid or gas. Because the performance of manufacturing equipment and product designs can be simulated on the computer, the benefit of using CFD is significant time and cost savings when compared to traditional physical testing methods. CFD has been used to design, scale-up and troubleshoot mixing tanks, spray dryers, heat exchangers and other process equipment. Recently, computer models of the capillary wicking process inside fibrous structures have been added to CFD software. These models have been used to gain a better understanding of the absorbent performance of diapers and feminine protection products. The same models can also be used to represent the movement of shampoo, conditioner, colorants and other products through the hair and scalp. In this paper, we provide an introduction to CFD and show some examples of its application to the manufacture of consumer products. We also provide sonic examples to show the potential of CFD for understanding the performance of products applied to the hair and scalp.

A proposal of an alternative in vitro method for the evaluatiopn of the safety of shampoos

Although tests using animals are still demanded in the evaluation fo shampoos, there is a strong evidence of a tendency for replacing them by in vitro systems. This study aims at defining conditions for the application of a method using NCTC clone 929 cells, as an alternative. Procedures employed to test non diluted samples of shampoos for adults resulted in irritation (in the in vivo method); the same result was not observed when samplesdiluted to a 25 per cent concentration were tested. In the in vitro tests, the same shampoos presented a perfect correlation of results when not diluted (cytotoxic) and when diluted to a 0.1 per cent concentration (non cytotoxic). When the shampoos for children use were tested, the only case of irritation happened with one of the 4 non-diluted shampoos. The absence of cytotoxicity was observed in the in vitro test, after diluting all the samples to 1 per cent and 0.1 per cent. It is possible thus to use the in vitro test instead of the vivo one, if preceded by a careful validation with emphasis on the concentration of the product