Patent Picks—Pumice Capillary Treatment, Protein-fixing Agents and More for Hair

Chosen biweekly for their relevance to personal care, Patent Picks are taken from publicly available sources. This edition highlights patents related to hair styling and repair.

Styling agents giving an high degree of hold
US Patent 8168162
Publication date: May 1, 2012
Assignee: Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

The object of this invention was to make available an agent for temporary deformation of keratinic fibers, such that it would be characterized by a very high degree of hold without loss of flexibility or good moisture resistance. Described herein are agents for temporarily shaping keratin fibers, which contain: a) at least one film-forming and/or setting amphoteric polymer A, and b) at least one copolymer B formed by at least one monomer B1 selected from: acrylamide, methacrylamide, N-alkylacrylamide and N-alkylmethacrylamide; at least one monomer B2 selected from N-vinyllactams; at least one monomer B3 selected from quaternized N-vinylimidazoles; and the monomer N-vinylimidazole. The invention also relates to an aerosol styling mousse that contains a corresponding agent and at least one propellant.

Hair fixatives
WIPO Patent Application WO/2012/054278
Publication date: April 26, 2012
Assignee: Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC, Rohm and Haas Company, S Jordan, M Wang and AC Keenan

Described in this patent are hair fixative compositions including an aqueous dispersion consisting of an ethylene acrylic acid copolymer, and optionally a metallocene catalyzed polyolefin. According to the inventors, hair fixatives such as sprays, mousses, pomades, gels and the like are designed to hold hair in a particular arrangement. To achieve long-lasting hold, the treated hair must be resilient to stress and resistant to humidity. While this can be accomplished by a number of materials in theory, the hair fixative must also be able to be removed by shampoo. Moreover, aesthetic considerations of the fixative upon drying are important, particularly shine, combability and feel enhancement. While users value a soft feel, they have assumed they must sacrifice feel for superior holding properties, or vice versa. Thus, the aim of this invention is to provide hair fixative compositions with strong hold that are readily removable with shampoo and demonstrate improved aesthetics.

Hair-mending compositions and associated methods
WIPO Patent Application WO/2012/054243
Publication date: April 26, 2012
Assignee: Alberto-Culver Company, M Wright, M Szerszen, J Cohen, D Petroski, D Eagan, C Felski and GM Verboom

This invention relates to hair-mending compositions containing a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC). Also disclosed are methods of their use, manufacture, efficacy testing and related marketing. According to the patent, it was desirable to formulate a stable hair care composition including intact PECs in combination with other hair benefit agents, especially those that are charged, and to develop test methods that can effectively communicate the split-end mending results to consumers. The present invention provides these advantages.

Cosmetic composition based on MQ-type resins and T-propyl resin for improved gloss and staying power
US Patent Application 20120100089
Publication date: April 26, 2012
Assignee: L'Oréal

This invention relates to a cosmetic composition intended for horny tissues, especially the lips, skin, hair and nails comprising at least one siloxane resin and at least one film-forming polymer. One objective was to provide compositions that easily deposit a completely non-transferred film, which not be too thick and/or tacky during application and wear, and good impart level of gloss.

According to the patent, individuals skilled in the art know to use polymers to obtain these properties of staying power; however, such polymers have different chemical natures and are conveyed either in a fatty or aqueous phase. Although these polymers effectively impart properties of staying power, especially of non-transfer, they are most often accompanied by discomfort either during application, i.e., difficult spreading, sticking, etc., or in the course of the day, i.e., tugging, mask effect, etc. This invention therefore provides a technical solution with good staying power and that is comfortable to use, based on: an MQ-type resin of the formula M0.43Q0.57 and of Mn= 3,230 dissolved in xylene with 70.8% by weight of solids; and T-propyl resin, a propyl silsesquioxane resin, at 74.8% by weight in toluene.

Separated two-layer hair cosmetic
European Patent Application EP2444055
Publication date: April 25, 2012
Assignee: Kao Corp.

According to this patent, hair cosmetics in the form of hair water have been known in which an oily component is incorporated for hair protection and feel enhancement, etc. This type of product leaves hair softly manageable without stickiness and gives a light, natural finish. However, if a greater amount of oil is to be incorporated, the preferred form is an emulsion; yet this deteriorates the feel, compared with the hair water, and is less stable. Therefore, in either case, the amount of oil is inevitably limited.

To solve these problems, a two-layer hair cosmetic has been proposed that can be homogenized by shaking immediately before use and is separated again after standing still. It provides improved performance due to the capability of incorporating larger amounts of oils. Specifically, the composition includes components a) and b) at a mass a)/b) ratio of from 0.2 to 10, consisting of: a) a silicone with a number-average degree of polymerization of from 300 to 20,000 having a number-average particle diameter of from 0.05 to 20 µm, and selected from the group consisting of dimethicone, dimethiconol, and amino-modified silicone and in an amount of from 0.1% to 6.0% mass; and b) a water-soluble cationic polymer with a weight-average molecular weight of from 50,000 to 1,000,000, selected from the group consisting of polyquaternium-6, polyquaternium-7, polyquaternium-16 and polyquaternium-22, wherein the composition consists of an o/w emulsion layer and an aqueous layer.

Polyester acrylate-based fixative polymers
European Patent EP1915124
Publication date: April 25, 2012
Assignee: BASF SE

Disclosed in this patent is an aqueous cosmetic preparation comprising: a) at least one cosmetically acceptable carrier, which is chosen from: i) water-miscible organic solvents, preferably C2-4-alkanols, particularly preferably ethanol; ii) oils, fats and waxes; iii) esters of C6-30-monocarboxylic acids with mono-, di- or trihydric alcohols that are different from ii); iv) saturated acyclic and cyclic hydrocarbons; v) fatty acids; vi) fatty alcohols; vii) propellants (propellant gases); and viii) mixtures thereof; and b) at least one polymer A, which comprises, in copolymerized form, i) 40–89.5% w/w of at least one ester of (meth)acrylic acid; ii) 10–49% w/w of at least one olefinically unsaturated, anionogenic or anionic compound; iii) 0.5–10% w/w of at least one compound, chosen from polyesters comprising at least two free-radically polymerizable, olefinically unsaturated double bonds, and polyethers comprising at least two free-radically polymerizable, olefinically unsaturated double bonds. In addition, c) 0–30% w/w of, optionally, further olefinically unsaturated compounds.

Protein-fixing compositions and methods for treating keratin based fibers
WIPO Patent Application WO/2012/051629
Publication date: April 19, 2012
Assignee: Maneworx Inc., J Humphreys and J Sherman

Described in this patent are compositions, formulations, kits and methods for temporarily or semi-permanently transforming the shape of individual hair filaments or keratinous fibers by applying no heat or heat below about 300°F to prevent damage to the keratinous fibers. The disclosed composition comprises, in a cosmetically suitable carrier, 1.0–45% w/w of at least one protein-fixing agent selected from: 2-propanone, ethyl lactate, butyl lactate, butanone, ethanol, t-butanol and n-butanol; in addition to a quaternary ammonium salt such as quaternium-80 and a polymerizable monomer. The example embodiments do not coat the hair with film, thereby achieving a weightless feeling on hair. They can render hair smoother, shinier, softer and more manageable, and minimize static charge, tangling and scattering of the hair, such that the hair becomes smooth and straight after application. Further, the compositions and processes disclosed avoid the deleterious actions caused by conventional high heat treatments or highly alkaline lanthionization chemical hair relaxer processes.

Pumice capillary composition for treating hair
US Patent Application 20120093900
Publication date: April 19, 2012
Assignee: L'Oréal

This invention relates to a capillary composition comprising at least particles of pumice, at least one silicon-containing quaternary ammonium group, and at least one non-siliconized polymer. The composition cares for the keratin fiber homogeneously without impairing it by unifying the deposition of the treatment agents. Further, excellent smoothing of keratin fibers and controlled volume of the hairstyle are obtained. These effects are more noteworthy when the hair is sensitized and/or thick, and the effects are long-lasting and especially withstand shampoo washing.

According to the inventors, the composition may free hair of any deposits before abrasion, making the edges of the scales of the cuticle made more regular, which allows for increased efficacy of the silicone-containing quaternary ammonium groups. Furthermore, after-treatment products intended for reinforcing certain properties of hair can penetrate more easily and deeply into the hair.

More in Literature/Data