As a result of Asia’s rapid industrialization and urbanization, air pollution and its protection have become an increasing topic of discussion in the global cosmetics market. However, the search continues for ingredients with higher efficacy levels. In addition to pollution protection for skin care, research into hair care products and ingredients targeting the issue is also increasing. 1-3 The most common external stresses on hair include not only mechanical abrasion, chemical damage, UV exposure and heat treatments, but also exposure to air pollution.
In a previous study, we used cigarette smoke to simulate a polluted environment. 7 Briefly, an experiment was conducted to understand the effects of pollution on raw and bleached hair. As an indicator of hair protein degradation, the tryptophan content of virgin hair, measured by fluorescence spectrophotometry, decreased after smoke exposure. Furthermore, both virgin and bleached hair exposed to smoke pollution resulted in damage to the hair cuticles, which was manifested by higher combing force, reduced contact angle and visual inspection by SEM. The experiment also demonstrated that polyimide 1, delivered from leave-in hair products, can effectively prevent this damage to virgin hair.
