Methods for treating relaxed hair
Methods and kits for treating hair or preventing damage in the relaxing of hair are disclosed herein. Hair that is damaged during a relaxing treatment with hydroxide-containing relaxing agents, can be treated with formulations containing one or more active agents. The active agent formulations can be applied simultaneously with the hair relaxing formulation, or optionally applied immediately following application of the relaxing formulation, to reduce damage and breakage. Use of the active agent formulation along with a relaxing treatment can be used to control the level of curl achieved or retained in the relaxed hair, as compared to the natural amount of curl in the untreated hair.
1. A method for achieving a desired level of curl in hair comprising:
(a) applying to the hair one or more relaxing agents at an alkaline pH, wherein at least one of the relaxing agents is an alkali metal containing hydroxide; and
(b) applying to the hair an active agent of Formula I:
wherein
A, B, C, and D are reactive moieties containing one or more charges, and wherein each of A, B, C, and D independently contains a moiety selected from the group consisting of a vinyl sulfone, an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, a styrene group, an acryl amide group, a methacryl amide group, a maleate group, a fumarate group, and an itaconate group;
R is a linker that contains two or more charges, wherein the charges are opposite to the charges on the reactive moieties, wherein n=1-10, and wherein R is not a polymer, and
wherein the sum of the charges is zero; and
wherein the reactive moieties are ionically bound to the linker;
wherein each occurrence of p, q, r, and s is independently an integer from 0 to 25, wherein the sum of p+q+r+s is equal to or greater than 2;
wherein the one or more relaxing agents cause the hair to relax; and
wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed simultaneously.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein during steps (a) and (b) the one or more relaxing agents and the active agent are applied as a mixture, wherein the mixture comprises the one or more relaxing agents and the active agent.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.01 wt % to about 50 wt % of the mixture.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the mixture.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % of the mixture.
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 1 wt % to about 5 wt % of the mixture.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more relaxing agents are provided in a first formulation and wherein the active agent is provided in a second formulation, wherein the weight ratio of the first formulation to the second formulation is about 10:1 to about 1:1.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkali metal containing hydroxide is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
(c) rinsing, shampooing, and/or conditioning the hair, wherein step (c) occurs subsequent to steps (a) and (b).
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the active agent is:
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the active agent is present in an effective amount to retain a level of curl (percent curl retention) in the treated hair in the range of about 0-99%, compared to the amount of curl in the hair prior to steps (a) and (b); and
wherein the percent curl retention is determined according to:
Percent Curl Retention=( L ext −L f )/( L ext −L i )×100
where L ext is the length of hair prior to steps (a) and (b) when fully extended, L f is the final, non-extended length of the hair following steps (a) and (b), and L i is the initial length of hair prior to steps (a) and (b) in its non-extended state, and wherein L ext does not equal L i .
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the percent curl retention is 5% or greater.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the percent curl retention is between 0% and 10%.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the percent curl retention is 50% or greater.
15. A method for achieving a desired level of curl in hair comprising:
(a) applying to the hair one or more relaxing agents at an alkaline pH, wherein at least one of the relaxing agents is an alkali metal containing hydroxide; and
(b) applying to the hair an active agent wherein the active agent has the formula:
wherein the one or more relaxing agents cause the hair to relax; and
wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed simultaneously.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein during steps (a) and (b) the one or more relaxing agents and the active agent are applied as a mixture, wherein the mixture comprises the one or more relaxing agents and the active agent.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.01 wt % to about 50 wt % of the mixture.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the mixture.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % of the mixture.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the active agent is present in an amount ranging from about 1 wt % to about 5 wt % of the mixture.
21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the alkali metal containing hydroxide is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.
22. The method of claim 16 , further comprising,
(c) rinsing, shampooing, and/or conditioning the hair,
wherein step (c) occurs subsequent to steps (a) and (b) and within 45 minutes following steps (a) and (b).
23. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more relaxing agents are provided in a first formulation and wherein the active agent is provided in a second formulation, wherein the weight ratio of the first formulation to the second formulation is about 10:1 to about 1:1.
24. The method of claim 15 , wherein the alkali metal containing hydroxide is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.
25. The method of claim 15 , further comprising,
(c) rinsing, shampooing, and/or conditioning the hair, wherein step (c) occurs subsequent to steps (a) and (b).
26. The method of claim 15 , wherein the percent curl retention is greater than 50%.
27. The method of claim 15 , wherein the active agent is present in an effective amount to retain a level of curl (percent curl retention) in the treated hair in the range of about 0-99%, compared to the amount of curl in the hair prior to steps (a) and (b); and
wherein the percent curl retention is determined according to
Percent Curl Retention=( L ext −L f )/( L ext −L i )×100
where L ext is the length of hair prior to steps (a) and (b) when fully extended, L f is the final, non-extended length of the hair following steps (a) and (b), and L i is the initial length of hair prior to steps (a) and (b) in its non-extended state, and wherein L ext does not equal L i .
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the percent curl retention is 5% or greater.
29. The method of claim 27 , wherein the percent curl retention is between 0% and 10%.
30. The method of claim 27 , wherein the percent curl retention is 50% or greater.