Each person has a hair type in line with their personality and the care they expend on their hair. There are several factors which can harm hair, causing changes, and varying from mechanical causes such as inadequate brushing; chemical causes such as coloring and the use of too many chemically aggressive products, or environmental causes such as sun radiation.
Solar radiation can trigger a series of undesired results such as the gradual loss of color, whether this is natural color or artificial color, if hair is dyed. In addition, radiation can cause changes which impact on malleability and how the hair looks. Sun exposure is the main culprit responsible for the breakdown of amino acids in hair cuticles. These play an important role in the stability of hair proteins. The harm caused by radiation gives rise to photo-oxidation of the disulfide bonds that maintain the overall integrity of hair keratin.
Oryza Sativa (Rice) Seed Protein (and) Phytic Acid (and) Oryza Sativa Extract is an active ingredient derived from rice and specially developed to protect hair fiber from oxidative damage caused by sun exposure. It is rich in amino acids with a high substantivity for keratin, such as glutamic, serine, threonine, tyrosine, cysteine and methionine acid, distributed as shown in Graph I.
Graph I – Average Amino-Acid Distribution.
In addition to amino acids, this active ingredient is also rich in biofunctional peptides, polysaccharides (such as amylopectin) and phytic acid.
The peptides are distributed in line with their molecular weights, as shown in Graph II, which is ideal for hair treatments, as they act both from the inside out and the outside in.
Graph II – Distribution of peptides in line with their molecular weight
Low molecular weight peptides (< 1000) penetrate and repair hair fiber from the inside. High molecular peptides (3000 – >10000) recover the fiber and repair the cuticle.
Tests with strands of natural dark brown hair, irradiated with UV and treated with neutral shampoo and serum with 5% of the active ingredients derived from rice protein showed that the active ingredient conferred resistance, flexibility and strength; recovered the fibers’ natural cohesion; protected capillary keratin in significantly increasing the percentage (48%) of tryptophan in the fiber; decreased the hairs’ lipidic peroxidation, helping it regain its vitality and treating the hair in depth, conferring shine.
Tests which washed the strands repeatedly with shampoo only showed that the color of hair which was treated with the rice-derived active ingredient was better maintained than the color in non-treated hair, as the images below show.
After 10 washes.
C1-Washing with solution
C2-Washing with shampoo formulated with 0.5% of active
C3-Washing with standard shampoo for colored hair
After 10 washes.
C1-Washing with solution
C2-Washing with shampoo formulated with 0.5% of active
C3-Washing with standard shampoo for colored hair
Composed of nanoparticles obtained from rice grains, it is composed of phytic acid, which acts as an antioxidant against sun damage; biofunctional amino acids, which strengthen the hair; peptides which repair the fiber, and polysaccharides, which guard against the cumulative effect of product used on hair.