Soft, shiny, and healthy. Every woman (but also many men) dream of having hair like this. And along the road of research and innovation, a “new” ingredient has arrived that promises to make that dream a reality.
It’s ZETEMOL MM – RSPO – MB (INCI: Myristyl Myristate), a solid ester noted in skincare but that thanks to the company Zschimmer & Schwarz, has also been tested in haircare with truly excellent results.
THE INGREDIENT YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING
“With the help of our highly-qualified application technology team in Tricerro, we’ve extended our studies on the behaviour of ZETEMOL MM – RSPO – MB to applications for haircare: the ingredient appears to be promising in terms of brushing wet and dry hair and makes hair shiny and smooth without any build-up – explains Elisa Altieri Global Product & Marketing Manager for the Personal Care Division of the German company specialized especially in emollients, including pure raw materials-. It’s a 100% vegetable fatty alcohol of natural origin. Since it’s a high-quality ingredient, it’s suitable for any type of cosmetic application. It helps improve the viscosity of emulsions that have a medium-high viscosity as a viscosity booster. Since this ingredient appears as white flakes, it can be added to an emulsion to improve how white the final product is”.
TESTING, TESTING, TESTING
To evaluate how an ingredient performs, Zschimmer & Schwarz has developed a base formulation exclusively focused on the ingredient of interest, analyzing its behaviour and comparing the results with other benchmark products.
“The performance tests in terms of wet and dry combing were carried out with the Dia-Stron MTT 175’s combing module – continues Altieri -. Moving to the friction tester, we obtained optimal results in terms of hair softness thanks to the chemistry of ZETEMOL MM – RSPO – MB. The shine power was measured using the Courage + Khazaka MPA 10 with the Skin-Glossymeter probe. All the tools are part of the laboratory of our competence center for haircare in Tricerro, in Italy, that offers an extensively-equipped lab for a vast range of applications”.
The experts at the German company weren’t satisfied with only in vitro tests: “We went above and beyond but we wanted to go further by carrying out in vivo tests – emphasizes the product manager-. Inside our Zschimmer & Schwarz Italian Academy, we’re able to evaluate panel tests with ten volunteers. So all the results obtained are compared with specific benchmarks. In this case, we used two COSMOS-certified hair masks that claim to be “natural” and are commonly found in stores. Our product performed better overall with respect to reference products. A dose from 1 to 5% is recommended”.
A WORLD OF RAW MATERIALS
But the immense world of cosmetic ingredients branded Zschimmer & Schwarz doesn’t end here: with 30 companies in 17 countries on five continents with its headquarters in a Lahnstein, in Germany, the company has a Personal Care division dedicated to the development of new solutions for skin and hair care, color cosmetics, and toiletries. “What characterizes our business is strong attention to service, as well as flexibility and a responsible commitment to the environment – comments Altieri—The Personal Care Division has combined its experience and know-how in three competence centers. Developing projects from the initial idea to the final solution, all offer application support and generate ideas supported by constant market analyses. Thanks to a consistent exchange of knowledge, the different geographic locations and individual areas of competence of our centers of expertise, our experts can advise customers operating at the multinational level on trends for different markets“.
PREMIUM HAIR & SKIN (LAHNSTEIN, GERMANY):
The ZETESAP line is the perfect base for soap-free cleansers and the mix of LUMOROL surfactants allows customers to produce sophisticated rinse-off formulations like delicate shampoos or shower gels. “With our attention to multi-functionality and efficacy, we develop tailor-made special ingredients and formulate premium and luxury products to satisfy the needs of a market in continual evolution”.
HAIR CARE (TRICERRO, ITALY):
“Thanks to our hair care portfolio- from the high-quality ZETEMOL emollients to sophisticated emulsifiers in the SEBUMOL (W/O) and PROTELAN (O/W) product lines – we develop formulations that help our customers create the desired characteristics for a cosmetic product”.
COLOR COSMETICS (WISSEMBURG, FRANCE):
The high-performance SYNTRAN® line polymers and the first-class ZETEMOL emollients are functional ingredients that help customers create perfect advanced makeup formulations. “What unites our centers of competence is the attention to constant research and development of new stable, high-performing, and sustainable ingredients”.