Hair tonic
A 19th-century advertisement for hair care products from a company named Dupuy
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| Type | Hair care product |
|---|---|
| Invented by | Édouard Pinaud |
| Launch year | 1900 |
Hair conditioner is a hair care product that changes the and appearance of hair. Hair conditioner is often a viscous liquid that is applied and massaged into the hair. Hair conditioner is usually used after washing the hair with shampoo. Hair conditioners may contain moisturizers, oils and sunscreen, among other ingredients.
For centuries, natural oils have been used to condition human hair. A conditioner popular with men in the late Victorian era was Macassar Oil, but this product was quite greasy and required pinning a small cloth, known as an antimacassar, to chairs and sofas to keep the upholstery from being damaged by the Macassar Oil.
Modern hair conditioner was created at the turn of the 20th century when perfumer Édouard Pinaud presented a product he called Brilliantine at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. His product was intended to soften men's hair, including beards and mustaches. Since the invention of Pinaud's early products, modern science has advanced the hair conditioner industry to include those made with silicone, fatty alcohols, and quaternary ammonium compounds. These chemical products have the benefits of hair conditioner without feeling greasy or heavy.
Hair conditioner is different from creme rinse (sometimes spelled "cream rinse"). A creme rinse is simply a "detangler" that has a thinner consistency than conditioner, as its name implies. Hair conditioner is a thicker liquid that coats the cuticle of the hair itself.
There are several types of hair conditioner ingredients, differing in composition and functionality:
Conditioners are frequently acidic, as low pH protonates the keratin's amino acids. The hydrogen ions gives the hair a positive charge and creates more hydrogen bonds among the keratin scales, giving the hair a more compact structure. Organic acids such as citric acid are usually used to maintain acidity.
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