The development and optimization of a cosmetic formulation that facilitates the process of detangling braids from African hair

A large number of people throughout the world have naturally kinky hair that may be very difficult to manage. These people often subject their hair to vigorous and harsh treatment processes in order to straighten it and hence make it more manageable. Hair braiding is a popular and fashionable trend amongst many people, in particular people of African descent. Braided hairstyles serve to preserve hair and protect it, and to give it time to rejuvenate after a period of harsh treatment. During the braiding process synthetic hair is attached to natural hair by weaving a length of the natural hair into one end of each braid. Other materials like wool or cotton may be use used to achieve different hairstyles and textures. Several strands of natural hair are used to secure each braid. The braids are normally left intact for a number of weeks or even months. Although braiding is a helpful African hair grooming practice, the process of taking down or detangling the braids is labor intensive and entails each braid being cut just below where the natural hair ceases and the natural hair being untangled from the braid using a safety pin, a needle or a fine toothed comb. The labor and long hours required to detangle braided hairstyles often results in braid wearers frustratingly pulling on their braided hair. This behavior inevitably destroys the hair follicle and leaves the hair damaged. According to a study conducted by the University of Cape Town’s dermatology department, braiding may be the root cause of traction alopecia (TA) amongst braid wearers. Traction alopecia is a form of alopecia, or gradual hair loss that is caused primarily by excessive pulling forces applied to the hair. The purpose of this current study was to investigate the factors, other than braid tightness, that affect the way and ease with which braids are detangled from the human hair. The study hypothesized that frictional forces present in braided hair were amongst these factors. It was hypothesized that introducing a lubricating formulation in the braids would allow for easier braid detangling. In order to decrease the prevalence of traction alopecia from braided hair, two hair strengthening actives were included in the test formulation. The study investigated the effects of the test formulations on braid detangling, hair friction and on the tensile strength of human hair. The study found that the method used did not pick up any significant differences between the braid detangling forces of treated braids when compared to the braid vi detangling forces of untreated hair. The same method used to measure braid detangling forces was able to show that there are variations in the braid detangling forces of different sections along the braid length. The method to measure braid detangling was based on the principles of hair combability measurements. The study also found that although the method used to measure braid detangling forces was unsuccessful in picking up significant differences in braid detangling forces of treated hair and untreated hair, the method used to measure the frictional forces of human hair showed that the frictional forces of hair treated with test formulations were significantly different than that of untreated hair. The method used to measure frictional forces was based on the capstan approach. The Capstan method measures the forces required to slide a weighted hair fibre over a curved surface of reference material. The interaction between the weighted fibre and the reference material simulates the movement of hair out of a braid ensemble in the braid detangling process. The optimum mixture with the minimum coefficient of friction, predicted a coefficient of friction of 0.61 ± 0.04. The optimum formulation was found to be one that contained 30% Cyclopentasiloxane , 0% PEG-12 Dimethicone, 10% 18-MEA, 29% water, 10% hair strengthening actives, 12.86% emulsifier combination and 8% other oils. The study also showed that including hair strengthening actives, such as hydrolysed proteins had significant effects in the tensile strength properties of chemically treated African hair