Hair Science: Afro Hair Care Innovation from the InCosmetics Conference

At Afrocenchix we believe hair science is important when making natural hair care products. We strive to stay at the leading edge of afro hair care innovation. That's why we work closely with our formulations scientist and cosmetic chemist. Collaboration with scientists and ongoing learning is part of making sure our products are effective and top quality. We also learn about new developments through conferences such as InCosmetics.

This year the InCosmetics conference was in London for the first time in 15 years. Hundreds of exhibitors came together to showcase the latest developments in personal care and cosmetics. We went along to find new active ingredients for our soon to be released deep conditioner and intensive repairing hair mask. We wanted to find plant extracts that give a similar silky texture to silicones.

Why hair science matters

It was definitely worth attending. And not just for the saxophonist. When we started Afrocenchix, products for afro hair just weren't good enough. Partly because the unique properties of our kinky, curly, coily hair were ignored by most hair care brands. And those that did focus on our hair type often neglected hair science, leading to shelves full of products that didn't work. Product junkies, like us, tried all sorts of products that claimed they would care for our unique texture, and were left disappointed.

Hair Science breakthroughs for afro hair

So back to the InCosmetics conference. Something we found very exciting was the use of hair science to make new natural materials. Because of the hair structure, ingredients such as silicones are effective in conditioning the hair. The problem is that some silicones are bad for our health and many are damaging to the environment, so most naturals - including ourselves - want to avoid them. There's good news. Cosmetic scientists have found a way to make silicon-like materials from shea butter. These esters work in a similar way to silicones and offer great conditioning properties. The shea butter derived ingredients work particularly well on afro hair. 

We made a prototype with some of these exciting new materials and will be opening our product trial as soon as we get safety approval. If you would like to join our product trial make sure you receive our newsletters!