A breath of fresh hair . . . scientists make that just-washed fragrance linger longer
THERE’S nothing like that just-washed fragrance you get from your hair after a shower.
And now scientists have come up with a way to let you to enjoy that ‘clean’ scent for as long as 24 hours.
Shampoo strips hair of the natural oils and grease that help smells cling to strands.
That means the pleasant odours of shampoo and conditioner tends to disappear within a few hours.
But researchers have developed technology that binds fragrances from shampoo to the surface of hair so that the smell is gradually released.
Dr Andreas Herrmann, a chemist at fragrance firm Firmenich, worked with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology on the breakthrough. He said they hoped it might lead to new types of shampoo with longer-lasting fragrances.
It would mean those whose hair picks up unpleasant smells will instead be able to enjoy a fresher fragrance. Dr Herrmann said: ‘Fragrance is usually one of the most expensive ingredients in a shampoo, but typically they only last a few hours on hair.
‘Consumers often correlate tidiness and cleanliness with a pleasant smell, so prolonging the perception of the fragrance can give a positive impression.’
The researchers, whose work was published in the journal Applied Materials And Interfaces, packaged the fragrance inside capsules that were many times smaller than the width of a human hair. Then, to get them to stick to hair, they studded the capsules with short fragments of protein.
The fragrance is released over 24 hours as the capsules burst gradually. Dr Herrmann said the capsules did not change the way hair feels – but further testing would be needed to ensure they did not affect combing or drying. He added: ‘Bringing such technologies to the market usually takes several years.’