Natural ‘Green’ Sugar-Based Treatment for Hair Styling

A major drawback of current hair styling treatments is their use of toxic chemicals, such as thioglycolates, sulfites, formaldehyde, and others. Exposure to such chemicals is not only harmful to hairstylists but also to the millions who routinely receive hair treatments. The present research discusses the development of a benign sucrose-based crosslinker consisting of aldehyde groups to stabilize hair via crosslinking amine groups in keratin. ATR-FTIR and ¹H-NMR were used to confirm functional groups on sucrose. Hair straightening was carried out by crosslinking via flat ironing. Crosslinked hair swatches were hung in a high humidity environment and subjected to repeated washings with shampoo to characterize the permanency of the treatment. Hair straightening through crosslinking was found to be durable to high humidity and repeat shampoo washings. The tensile characteristics of hair, such as fracture stress, strain, and Young’s modulus, were unaffected by the treatment. SEM images showed no damage to surface scales. The sucrose-based crosslinker could be used to create curls in straight hair as well.