Optical Properties of Hair: Effect of Treatments on Luster as Quantified by Image Analysis

October 2003 in “ PubMed ”

Roger L. McMullen, J. Jachowicz

phenyl trimethicone amodimethicone castor oil styling resins micronized ZnO synthetic sebum silicone oil zinc oxide sebum

TLDR Treatments with certain oils and resins make hair shinier, while zinc oxide and synthetic sebum make it duller.

In 2003, a study used image analysis to measure the luster of hair, which is the light reflected from a curved hair tress. The study found that the luster of hair increased in proportion to an increase in fiber pigmentation, meaning that darker hair had more luster. Cosmetic oils such as phenyl trimethicone, amodimethicone, and castor oil were found to increase the luster of hair due to a change in contrast between specular and diffuse reflection. Styling resins also increased hair gloss by a similar mechanism. However, the study also found that hair dulling occurred with the deposition of micronized ZnO at various concentrations and by synthetic sebum.

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research The Optical Properties of Human Hair II: The Luster of Hair Fibers

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