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Hair Products
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About
this chapter ...
In this chapter we look at the major groups of hair care products
that are sold for use at home and in the salon. We describe
how these products are developed by the industry and how, before
marketing, they are tested with the help of leading stylists
and many of their clients.
We shall look at shampoos and conditioners,
including '2-in-1' shampoo/conditioning preparations, and at
the various styling products - setting lotions, mousses, gels
and hair sprays.
Finally we explain the various steps in everyday
hair care routines, and how to choose the right products to
use on your own hair.
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Shampoos
As a well-known hair scientist has said, shampoos are simplicity
out of complexity. You could hardly guess what a complicated mixture
is contained in that thick, fragrant liquid that you pour into your
hand.
Shampoos have to be developed for different types
of hair - normal, dry, greasy, permed, bleached and so on. Every shampoo
has to be tested, not only as a formulation that is to be stored for
months in a bottle or tube and then sold, but also as a product that
is to be used on human hair and scalp.
In the laboratory, the experimental formulation
is thoroughly tested on cut lengths of human hair before production
is considered. The shampoo under test is applied to the hair and rinsed
off, and an experienced technician judges the amount of tangling that
results. This is only the start. Complex computer-assisted technology
assesses many aspects of the product's performance.
If all goes well, the shampoo is evaluated in 'real
life' conditions, on the hair of clients in salons. This is an essential
part of testing, because it is the only way to judge whether the new
product is acceptable to consumers. Only when these tests are completed
safely and |
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Test swatches of hair ready for evaluation
satisfactorily does the shampoo go on the open market for
us all to try. This process may involve many thousands
of tests and may take many months or years. |
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