96 HAIR CARE
Fullerene protects against ROS in hair
n Masayuki Ito - Vitamin C60 BioResearch Corporation, Japan
Hair, as with skin, ages over time. As time progresses, one’s hair whitens, thins, waves, and reduces in lustre. In addition to the natural mechanisms of ageing, hair also ages as a result of damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to repeated exposure to ultraviolet light or metallic ions and chlorine present in tap water. Furthermore, artificial treatments such as hair perming, colouring, and drying can cause further accumulation of damage to human hair. While an essential component of perming and colouring, hydrogen peroxide still remains in the hair after extensive washing and can then react with metal ions to produce ROS – for this reason, chelating agents such as EDTA have been used. The effects of ROS on skin have been studied extensively, and as a result, raw ingredients meant to protect against ROS are readily available for retail sale. ROS can also damage hair, for example, through the well-understood mechanism of cystine disulfide bond breakage. Upon exposure to ROS, cystine disulfide bonds become irreversibly sulphonated, producing cysteic acids and precluding further cystine bonding. The abundance of cystine bonds has been suggested to be well correlated with the degree of hair strength, and as such, the destruction of these bonds have been thought to reduce hair strength. In addition, ROS are thought to denature proteins in hair and fade hair colouring (Fig 1). Unlike skin, hair is not composed of live cells and lacks endogenous self-repair mechanisms, and thus, the prevention of damage from ROS is of utmost importance.
What is the most suitable antioxidant for ROS-induced hair damage?
As hair is known to be exposed to many times higher levels of UV radiation than the face, the number of hair care products designed to protect against UV has been increasing. Antioxidants are effective for the protection of hair from ROS damage due to UV irradiation. Fullerene (C60
) is a carbon allotrope consisting of at least 60 carbon atoms and a PERSONAL CARE EUROPE
Figure 1: Effect of reactive oxygen species on hair.
spherical structure resembling a soccer ball, and has a diameter of 0.7 nm. The unique structure and free radical eliminating properties of fullerene have potentiated its use as an antioxidant in cosmetic products since 2005. The use of fullerene in skin care products ranging from acne treatments,1 pore tightening agents,2
to skin whitening
products have been reported, and given the demonstrated efficacy of fullerene in stimulating hair growth,3
the compound has also been added to scalp tonic solutions.
40 30 20 10 0
Fullerene (RadicalSponge®)
Vitamin C Derivative
Vitamin E
Figure 2: Comparison of the antioxidative power of antioxidants by the β - carotene bleaching
The antioxidative activity of fullerene has
been reported and validated using Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectrometry and ß- carotene bleaching assays. Based on the results of ß-carotene bleaching assays under UV-irradiated conditions, fullerene was found to especially suppress b- carotene bleaching better than ascorbic acid or tocopherol. While well-known antioxidants such as vitamins C and E degrade under UV irradiation, the commonly used skin care antioxidant fullerene is well suited to be used as an antioxidative hair appliance for its high stability under UV light particularly since hair is commonly exposed to high levels of UV (Fig 2).
Fullerene as an ingredient for hair care
In comparison to skin care ingredients, hair care ingredients are desired to be faster- acting for an immediate effect. While fullerene can be used as an antioxidant to prevent hair damage, the effects are not immediate. For this reason, the hair care fullerene raw material, Hair Shiny Fullerene® (or HF, hereafter) also includes the hair
November 2018
Antioxidnt activity (%lnh)
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