Hair Treatment

Use of flower wax in liquid hair-treatment agents

Hair Treatment Abstract
The use of flower wax, preferably from flowers of the jasmine, the mimosa, the narcissus, the bitter orange or the wild camomile in liquid hair treatment agents, as well as liquid hair treatment agents containing flower wax.

Hair Treatment Claims
What is claimed is:

1. A liquid hair treatment composition in the form of a hair shampoo, a hair styling preparation or a hair spray, said hair treatment composition comprising

water;

from 0.01 to 12 percent by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax; and

at least one conventional cosmetic ingredient for liquid hair treatment agents selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and propellants, with the proviso that no strongly oxidizing substance is present.

2. A method of treating hair consisting essentially of the steps of:

a) providing a liquid hair treatment composition comprising water, from 0.01 to 12 percent by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax and at least one conventional cosmetic ingredient for liquid hair treatment agents selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and propellants, with the proviso that no strongly oxidizing substance is present; and

b) applying said liquid hair treatment composition to the hair.

3. A hair shampoo comprising

35% by weight of at least one fatty alcohol sulfate selected from the group consisting of sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium myristyl sulfate, sodium cetyl sulfate and sodium stearyl sulfate;

9.0% by weight of stearic acid;

0.5% by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax;

0.1% by weight of 1,2-dibromo-2,4-dicyanobutamine-2-phenoxyethanol;

4.0% by weight of triethanolamine;

3.0% by weight of sodium chloride; and water.

4. A hair spay for a humid climate, said hair spray comprising

0.05% by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax;

2.00% by weight of vinyl acetate/crotonic acid copolymer;

0. 16% by weight of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol;

0.10% by weight of perfume oil;

37.84% by weight of ethyl alcohol; and propyl alcohol/butane as propellant.

5. A hair conditioning composition for intensive hair conditioning, said hair conditioning composition consisting of:

1.0% by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax;

20.0% by weight of hydroxyethyl cellulose;

6.0% by weight of neutralized glycerol monostearate;

2.0% by weight of lanolin alkoxylate;

2.0% by weight of cetyl alcohol;

1.5% by weight of tris-(oligooxyethyl)alkylammonium phosphate;

1.0% by weight, of a mixture of lanolin alcohol and paraffin oil;

0.2% by weight of sorbic acid;

0.1% by weight of citric acid; and water.

6. A foam conditioner with stabilizer, said foam conditioner comprising

5.0% by weight of polyvinyl pyrrolidone/imidazoliniummethochloride copolymer;

1.0% by weight of polyvinyl pyrrolidone/polyvinyl acetate copolymer;

0.05% by weight of at least one wax ingredient selected from the group consisting of jasmine wax, mimosa wax, narcissus wax, bitter orange wax and wild camomile wax;

0.15% by weight of polyoxyethylene-12-cetyl stearyl alcohol;

0.10% by weight of perfume oil;

10.00% by weight of propane/butane, 40/60, as propellant; and water.

7. A hair treatment composition consisting of

2.0% by weight of cetyl alcohol;

1.0% by weight of mimosa or jasmine wax;

1.0% by weight of sorbitol stearate;

1.0% by weight of lanolin oil, isopropyl palmitate and/or castor oil;

1.0% by weight of paraffin oil;

2.0% by weight of glycerol;

1.0% by weight of lauryl alcohol polyethylene glycolic ether (20 EO);

2.0% by weight of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride solution, 25%; and water.

Hair Treatment Description
The invention relates to the use of flower wax in liquid hair treatment agents, as well as liquid hair treatment agents containing flower wax.

It is commonly known that natural plant waxes such as carnauba wax or candelilla wax have already found multiple uses in cosmetic preparations. From the published international patent application WO 93/17083 the use of apple wax for the production of cosmetic conditioning and cleansing agents for skin and hair is already known. The valuable properties of these already carefully researched natural plant waxes have in the meantime led to the development of modern extraction methods allowing for a good yield of isolated plant waxes free of interfering impurities.

While essential oils that can be isolated from natural flowers have received a particularly strong interest for the production of fragrances and perfumes, the waxes that can be isolated from natural flowers have found only little attention until now. More in-depth research has shown, however, that waxes isolated from natural flowers combine a plurality of valuable properties that could lead to expectations of increased future commercial significance for these type of waxes.

Similar to all natural plant waxes, flower waxes also distinguish themselves by having hydrophobic properties, such as melting and emulsifying properties and biodegradability. Particularly with flower wax these properties are now additionally combined with technically applied parameters which provide good prerequisites for use in hair treatment agents.

In the Japanese published patent application 21 608 of 1984 main treatment products (cream, lipstick) and a solid hair stick are described as containing jasmine flower wax. Liquid hair treatment agents have not been mentioned.

The subject of the invention is therefore a liquid hair treatment agent containing a wax isolated from natural flowers. Particularly the wax of such flowers as jasmine (Jasminum officinale), mimosa (Mimosa pudica), narcissus (Narcissus sp.), bitter orange (Ponciurus trifoliata) and wild camomile (Matricaria chamomilla) have already been closely researched and have demonstrated remarkable and valuable properties.

Noticeable in such preparations is the high absorption rate into the hair. Even minimal concentrations already have a marked conditioning effect on the hair. In addition, a significant luster and a marked neutralization of worked-in fragrances can be noticed in the cosmetic hair preparations. In addition, a liquid hair treatment agent containing flower wax is distinguished by its dermatological compatibility, its good moisturizing capacity and its oil-restoring effect, e.g. in hair cleansing lotions. These effects are achieved when the liquid hair treatment agent has a flower wax content in a quantity of 0.001 to 20 weight-percent, preferably in a quantity of 0.01 to 12 weight-percent, and particularly preferably in a quantity of 0.03 to 2 weight-percent. Flower waxes are therefore particularly applicable for the use of hair conditioners, shampoos, styling preparations, hair treatment agents made of foam, hair coloring agents, hair sprays and hair lotions. In this case the flower waxes are used in combination with all conventional cosmetic raw ingredients for liquid hair treatment agents, with the exception, however, of strongly oxidizing substances such as hydrogen peroxide. The liquid hair treatment agents can particularly be in the form of a solution, a water-in-oil or oil-in-water (w/o or o/w) emulsion, or a liquid gel or foam.

Proof of the characteristic absorption rate of the flower wax leading to the protective and conditioning effect of the hair can clearly be demonstrated by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This is a surface sensitive measuring technology which makes it possible to determine the composition of elements and the compound condition of the elements in the outer-most molecular layer (information depth a few nanometers). For surface analytical investigations in the area of corrosion, metallurgy, catalysis, adhesion, microelectronics, and polymer technology, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been useful for a relatively long period of time. However, it also has proven itself in research into complex fiber structures, for example wool, so that XPS measurement of such materials is now standard. This method is also suitable, however, for the surface evaluation of hair surfaces that have been treated with conditioning preparations, since their elementary composition can be determined to a depth of approximately 10 nm. The result of a hair surface measurement conducted by the XPS method is the elementary composition in atom % carbon (C), atom % oxygen (0), atom % nitrogen (N) and atom % sulphur (S) of the hair surface in a layer thickness of approximately 10 nm. Particularly the measuring results concerning surface content in atom % of nitrogen and sulphur are characteristic for the hair keratin, which is a protein.

If the hair surface is covered with a conditioning preparation showing in its composition essentially the elements of carbon and oxygen, however, only small parts or none at all of nitrogen or sulphur, then the parts (in atom %) of sulphur and nitrogen on the measured surface, depending on the grade of absorption capacity of the conditioning preparation, have to decline, since only the outer 10 nm layer thickness of the hair can be captured by XPS. The content (in atom %) of sulphur and nitrogen of the treated hair surface with a conditioning preparation is thus a measurement for the absorption capacity of the hair conditioning preparation. The lower the sulphur and nitrogen content (in atom %) as part of the elementary composition of the treated hair surface, the more even and denser is the film left on the surface by the conditioning preparation and the higher is also the absorption capacity of the hair conditioning preparation.

The use of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for the examination of the absorption capacity of the hair conditioning preparation was conducted in such a way, that the commercially used basic conditioning formula was changed by exchanging the fatty alcohol contained therein with 1% of apple, jasmine or mimosa wax respectively with the absorption capacity on the hair of the changed formula then being measured. In this case, the basic conditioning formula and the changed formula with the added flower wax each was left to react on the hair for 5 minutes, then the hair was thoroughly rinsed. As measurement of the formation of the protective film the reduced protein-typical elements "nitrogen" and "sulphur" detected by way of the conditioning formula were evaluated. The comparative formula with apple wax which had already been developed earlier, in this case was a test formula categorized as having a particular high valency for comparison, having reached a protective effect that previously had not by far come close to other tested cosmetic lipids. Surprisingly it showed however, that the absorption capacity of jasmine wax exceeds the absorption capacity of apple wax by more than 10%. The XPS measurements showed that the hair treated with the apple wax product in comparison to hair treated with jasmine wax had 19% more nitrogen and 11% more sulphur on its surface.