Choose your active The lash lift industry has boomed over the last decade with many advancements in ingredients, product efficacy and performance.
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herapists are wanting the most efficient systems to get the best results in the fastest time, maximising productivity but also exceeding their customer expectations. Many therapists are searching for the holy grail of ingredients, when developing lash lift lotions there is a variety of options that can help achieve the desired results, but they can come at a cost or have challenges. The questions you have to ask are, do we want speed in the application or do we want something that is slower activation, different reduction process and less risk of damaging hair in the process? Rapid processing systems can cause damage to hairs if they are not applied precisely according to the hair texture we work with, so in many cases this means therapists may prefer a slower and gentle system that has less risk of over processing hairs. Most fast systems for lash lifting are using thioglycolate actives and ethanolamine or ammonia for alkalizing properties to help raise the cuticle scales of the hairs to allow the perming agent to activate, but it is also important to use a select combination of emulsifiers such as cetearyl alcohol or glyceryl stearate to give the lotion the viscosity, texture and emollients and oils which add extra moisturising properties to give optimal health and shine to hairs.
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There is a misconception in the lash lift industry that thioglycolic acid is more damaging than ammonium thioglycolate, but this is a myth that is not completely accurate. Ammonium thioglycolate is a mixture of thioglycolic acid and ammonium hydroxide and depending on the raw material supplier will give different levels of volume in each blend. For example, 60% strength thioglycolic acid from the supplier may also have 40% water in the volume of mixture, but another supplier can have higher levels or different volumes such as 70% TGA 30% Aqua. These variables of the volume can have an effect on the performance of the product and adjustments of percentages need to be made in the formula to optimise the effectiveness, but there is also quality of raw material that must be considered. To produce ammonium thioglycolate we start with thioglycolic acid and then add MEA /monoethanolamine or ammonium hydroxide to neutralize it, this process changes into the chemical structure ammonium thioglycolate. Besides breaking cross-links, TGA is also corrosive to keratin. The longer the hair stays in solution, the more it will corrode the surfaces. The rate and degree of corrosion is dependent on the concentration and temperature of the TGA (thioglycolic acid) solution. There are many substances that can break the cross links of hair and another alternative to TGA is utilizing CHC
