- Background
- What we're looking for
- What we can offer you
- Q&A
Permanent shape changes in hair (relaxing, perming, smoothing) currently relies on chemistries that disrupt and reorganize disulfide bonds within the hair fiber. Thiol-based permanent wave systems, lye and no-lye relaxers, and formaldehyde-releasing keratin smoothing treatments can achieve durable shape change but often compromise hair integrity, resulting in fiber weakening and increased breakage risk.
Innovation in device-activated systems, reversible-bond chemistries, biomimetic structural proteins, and smart materials could create new pathways for modulating fiber architecture without breaking the disulfide network, enabling shape transformation that strengthens rather than damages hair.
We are looking for technologies that durably alter hair shape (straightening, smoothing, curl reformation, or curl enhancement) with improved preservation of hair integrity and minimal impact to scalp and follicle health.
- Reversible-bond shape-setting actives
- Device-activated shape memory technologies
- Novel structural materials with set/reset behavior
- Disulfide-sparing bond modulators (non-thiol, non-formaldehyde)
- Biologically mediated hair shape modulation
- Low-thermal (≤120°C) durable shape-setting devices
- Heat-free low-chemistry texture transformation systems
- Stimuli-responsive smart polymers for hair shape memory
- Free of thiol/thioglycolate, lye/sodium hydroxide, formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers, and oxidative bleach systems
- Preliminary data or mechanistic rationale supporting durable or semi-durable shape transformation, ideally with tensile and elasticity data versus untreated control
- Minimal cortex protein loss and no significant cuticle damage versus untreated control, assessed by appropriate analytical methods such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and protein analysis
- Cosmetic or device regulatory pathway viable in US/EU/Canada (FDA cosmetic, FDA Class I/II device, CE, Health Canada)
- Demonstrated shape change durability ≥6 weeks (semi-durable) or growth-out (durable) without re-application
- Reversibility — reset-on-demand or reset-on-rewet behavior
- Validated on Type 4 hair (relaxer-free smoothing/elongation)
- Synergy with actives/ingredients or styling platforms/formulations
- Sustainability profile (low energy, biodegradable polymers)
- Thiol/thioglycolate permanent wave systems
- Lye and no-lye relaxers
- Formaldehyde-releasing keratin smoothing systems
- High-temperature (>180°C) flat-iron-only methods
- Engineered nanomaterials (<100nm) subject to regulatory restrictions
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