Beautiful hair starts from the scalp
For many cultures hair has symbolic power, such as seduction in women and strength in men. A healthy scalp ensures beautiful hair; but it is regularly subjected to damage from the effects of grooming, drying, dyeing, thermal or chemical straightening, which in theory, are intended to beautify the hair. All these treatments, on top of daily stressors which include UV radiation, air conditioning, inappropriate cleansing agents, or pollution, mistreat the scalp and lead to damaged hair. Scalp, like any other part of our body, is also subjected to natural ageing processes affecting its structure and its performance as a protective barrier and its capacity to nurture healthy hair .That’s the reason why the need for scalp care has been increasing over the past few years.
The scalp
The scalp is 6 mm thick on average and is made up of five layers, the first of which is the skin, containing numerous sebaceous glands and hair follicles from which hair grows. The second layer, called the fascia superficialis, is cellular adipose connective tissue equivalent to the skin's hypodermis, in which nerves and blood vessels are found. Then comes the epicranial aponeurosis, fine, tendinous tissue strongly attached to the dermis by connective septa crossing the cellular adipose connective tissue, in which the occipitofrontalis muscle is inserted. And finally, Merkel's gap, non-vascularised loose connective tissue and the pericranium, joined to the skull bone.
Figure 1. Scalp layers
The scalp’s role and functions are comparable to those of the skin, yet it is more highly vascularised than skin; it is also relatively immobile due to the connective septa between the dermis and the aponeurosis through the hypodermis (fascia superficialis), which implies that, unlike skin, it does not store fat. It has a significantly higher density of hair follicles of 200 to 300 per cm². Its high density of sweat glands, rapid renewal of the stratum corneum and more highly developed sebaceous glands are responsible for the high proportion of micro-organisms colonising the scalp. The scalp’s normal microbiota differs from the skin and is mainly made up of Malassezia spp (Pityrosporum spp), Corynebacterium spp and certain cocci.
Dandruff - A natural solution for a pure and healthy scalp
Dandruff is a benign but unsightly scalp disorder which affects 40 to 50% of the world adult population, in acute or chronic form, with men being 2 to 6 times more affected than women [1, 2]. This state is characterised by the presence of whitish dead cells on the scalp, in the hair and on clothing and is often associated with itching [3]. In its most severe forms (Figure 2), this affection has a highly negative social impact and can create a lack of self-esteem in relation to the instinctive aversion it may incite.
Figure 2. Oily dandruff on scalp
Restoration of the scalp epidermal integrity
We are exposed daily to a diversity of external aggressions. Scalp and skin are our first lines of defence, providing physical, microbial and chemical barriers. Hair and scalp have similar barrier structures and form a highly interdependent ecosystem. Ensuring strong, healthy barriers is the foundation to scalp wellness and strong protective hair. Indeed, disrupted skin barrier has little-differentiated, little-cornified and less cohesive cells, with a lower predominance of ceramide type lipids, and shows increased transepidermal water loss and hydration problems. Ceramides, the most abundant lipids in the stratum corneum, are essential for hydration and barrier function.
Sphingo’HAIR™ Drypure™, a unique bio-fermentation- derived long chain fatty acid ceramide NP, acts as cement in both scalp barrier and hair barrier structures and induces scalp and hair barrier’s harmony and performance. Pre-clinical and clinical evaluation conducted with this active ingredient demonstrated significant impact on:
- Scalp health by reinforcement of the skin’s barrier function
- Scalp hydration increase, reduction of scaling, and soothing of inflammation
- Maintenance of optimal hair fibre moisture balance
- Smoothing of hair fibre cuticles, increase of both hair lustre and manageability
Sphingo'HAIR Drypure soothes, moisturises and reduces flaking of the scalp, restores hair smoothness and moisture balance, and leaves hair shiny and easy to comb. This skin- biomimetic ingredient is 100% natural origin content according to ISO16128 standard, Cosmos approved, and IECIC compliant.
Protect follicles and re-educate hair bulbs to avoid hair greying
Greying hair is inevitable, it develops with age, and is a universal problem unrelated to gender. However, for almost everyone, it is viewed as a tangible sign of ageing and one that can seriously affect self-esteem. In general, people start going grey between the ages of 25 and 35, depending on the population in question, but this can vary widely between individuals. For the majority, premature greying (<20 years) is caused by associated diseases. However, it can be associated with factors like stress, diet, medications , such as chloroquine, and smoking (4).
The term “grey hair” refers to a head of hair that contains a mixture of hairs with normal pigmentation and hair with deficient or no pigmentation. The majority of white hair lacks melanin. With age, the amount of melanin produced by follicular melanocytes starts to decrease, and eventually completely stops. Hair colouring treatments have been the most widely used solution for thousands of years. They provide instant results, but they are not without risks, such as irritations or sensitisation, or worse. The process of greying can also be curbed by stimulating melanin synthesis by melanocytes in the hair and providing antioxidant protection for melanocytes.
Silverfree™ intensively and progressively enhances the natural pigmentation of hair with an exceptional remnant effect that continues for at least 4 months after the last application. This biomimetic peptide re-educates the hair bulb to produce its own natural authentic pigmentation, while also providing enhanced protection against intrinsic and extrinsic oxidative damage. Its efficacy against hair greying was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo through four independent clinical studies. Based on these study results Silverfree visibly reduced the density of white hair (-32,4 % down to -86 %) and restored the original hair colour (+27.4 % pigmented hair up to +385 %). Being water soluble, Silverfree is highly suitable for cold process.
Enhanced anchorage to fight against hair loss
Last but not least, when dealing with hair, is alopecia.
Alopecia affects 20 % of men by age 20 and increases by 10 % per decade. This means that over half of men aged 50 suffer from baldness. It explains the strength of male demand in this personal care segment. But, even if hair loss is often considered as a male issue, 30 to 40% of the female population is also affected. It often starts after menopause, but can also happen prematurely due to styling, dyeing, stress or an unbalanced diet and takes the form of a diffuse alopecia over the mid-frontal scalp.
The cause of alopecia is multifactorial, and we use the term "androgenetic" to involve both androgens and inheritance. A number of aggravating factors exist such as stress, seasons, smoking, high blood pressure, maternity and, of course, hormonal therapy. There are other types of hair loss, generally non-androgenic but they are much rarer: such as telogen effluvium and hair loss by traction. The symptoms are clearly different, the first being that they concern all the hair and not a specific area. These are often sudden phenomena but are reversible.
With the aim of enhancing the anchorage of the hair sheath in dermis, a peptide sequence enriched with pro-matricial activities has been developed: the peptide Glycyl-Hystidyl-Lysine (GHK), a member of the Matrikine’s® series, bound to vitamin H (biotin). This active ingredient is called Procapil™, a vitamin-bearing peptide, with the ability of a dual matricial and metabolic action. Procapil combines, three active substances - oleanolic acid to inhibit 5α-reductase, apigenin to enhance blood perfusion and biotinyl-GHK for enhanced anchoring of the hair with strengthened growth.
In vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted to test its efficacy within men and women with results after 4 months that speak for themselves:
References:
- JEANMOUGIN M., “Les états pelliculaires du cuir chevelu”, La pratique Médicale, 1985, 40, p. 29-35.
- MISERY L., RAHHALI N., DUHAMEL A., TAIEB C., “Epidemiology of dandruff, scalp pruritus and associated symptoms”, Acta Derm. Venerol., 2013, 93, p. 80-81.
- TURNER GA., HOPTROFF M., HARDING CR., “Stratum corneum dysfunction in dandruff”, Int. J. Cosmet. Sci., 2012, 34, p. 298-306.
- Zayed A.A., Shahait A.D., Ayoub M.N. and Yousef A-M. (2013) “Smokers’ hair: does smoking cause premature hair graying.”Ind. Derm. Online J., 4, 90-92.