Improvement of Hair Damage by Lipophilic Vitamin C (Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate)

Abstract

It is well-known that healthy hair is damaged by such factors as heat, friction, and sunlight. By the damage incurred above, the functional groups like sulfo and amino groups appear on the hair surface due to the removal of 18-MEA (a natural protective material of hair). As a result, the hair condition becomes more hydrophilic and cuticle lifting occurs on the hair surface. We focus on the amino group in damaged hair in order to improve the hair texture. Lipophilic vitamin C (ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate) is known as a pro-vitamin C in the field of skincare, and the chemical structure is close to that of acid anhydride. Generally, acid anhydride has high reactivity with amino groups. Therefore, the efficiency of ascorbyl tetraisopalmitateon damaged hair improvement was examined based on its high reactivity with amino groups. First, the reaction between ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and amino groups was confirmed by using amino modified glass plate. The results showed that glass plates treated with common oils (hydrocarbon, ester, etc.) did not have a change in their contact angle value, but the glass treated with ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate showed a high hydrophobicity by contact angle measurement of water. Next, ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate in squalane solution was used to treat a damaged hair. The treated hair showed an improvement in water repelling and cuticle fluffing by contact angle measurement, via scattering electron microscopic observation.