Benefits of Glycolic Acid in Hair Care

Glycolic Acid: Protecting Hair from the Inside Out

Traditional hair conditioning agents repair and protect the exterior of the hair shaft. Less commonly known is that the hair shaft's interior can also suffer damage and weaken the hair shaft. The cortex—made of keratin—gives hair its pigment and provides hair’s structural integrity, strength, and swelling/stretching ability. Chemours has demonstrated that glycolic acid penetrates the hair shaft, stabilizes the keratin within, and provides stronger, more manageable hair.

The cuticle layer provides visual attributes like shine and smoothness. It also controls the friction effect of hair, which determines manageability (i.e., how easy it is to comb or brush). Daily grooming and chemical treatments like bleaching or relaxing can damage this cuticle layer.

Glycolic acid penetrates the hair shaft’s cuticle layer, much like water, and enhances the softness, protection, and manageability of both healthy and chemically damaged hair. Unlike water, glycolic acid persists in the hair shaft for a longer-lasting effect.

Products that use Glypure™ as a hair care ingredient strengthen hair and improve manageability and appearance. This is because glycolic acid:

• Delivers a moisturizing effect that helps hair better withstand heat exposure from high-wattage blow dryers, hot curlers, curling irons, and straightening irons
• Helps hair feel softer and smoother by working with other ingredients to maintain an intact protein structure and proper hydration levels
• Provides superior lubricity by decreasing friction and entanglement during combing and brushing
• Moisturizes and exfoliates the scalp to reduce flaking and increase scalp health

Products That Benefit from Glypure™ Cosmetic Grade Glycolic Acid

Shampoo

Because of its small molecular size, Glypure™ rapidly penetrates the hair's surface to add moisture, which enables other styling products to work better, reduces breakage, and increases resistance to higher temperatures.

Conditioner

Glypure™ glycolic acid conditions and moisturizes the hair and scalp by penetrating the hair shaft and skin.

Scalp Care

Unique in the world of hair conditioners, the glycolic acid exfoliating benefit removes dead skin cells, product, sweat, sebum, and other debris. This deep clean increases cell turnover and improves absorption for other products. Chemical exfoliators that contain Glypure™ ingredients benefit from glycolic acid’s water-binding ability which improve skin hydration—especially for dry scalps.