Choose your active

The lash lift industry has boomed over the last decade with many advancements in ingredients, product efficacy and performance.

Therapists 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.

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

- cysteamine HCL as the perming agent which has some proven advantages when it comes to processing hairs. Each cysteamine molecule reacts with the hair and chemically bonds to it. Each of the NH2 amino groups on the ends are reactive to functionally active sites found inside the hair. When all of the molecules have reacted and become chemically attached, there are none left to continue the reaction, so the process will stop. This will help reduce the chance of over processing lashes. That is also why the concentration in a formula or composition of material matters. The more cysteamine in the solution, the more that is available to react and the opposite is also true.

There have also been some excellent developments over the years with bond repair technology, as many lash lifters understand, disulphide bonds are broken down when a chemical or structural change occurs by adding a hydrogen atom to each of the sulphur atoms in the disulphide bonds. With the disulphide bonds broken, the polypeptide chains are able to slip into their new shape. The broken disulphide bonds are reformed through the neutralization of the perming compound used to break them.

The neutralization process utilizes hydrogen peroxide and this chemical process removes the hydrogen atoms and reforms the disulphide bonds which is called the process of oxidation. The movement with brands like Olaplex which uses bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate or other brands such as Elleeplex Re-Gen contains BIS-4-PCA Dimethicone and amino acids which works to repair the hydrogen bonding of hair on a molecular level during the perming or colouring process. These actives have helped to revolutionise the lash lift process and give our clients every chance of achieving no damage lifts during the bond reduction process. The benefits of this are better outcomes for our clients, lashes that grow out nicely after a few weeks and that look healthy and it avoids the damaged “dry” looking effect that some people will experience after the lifting process.

Choosing your active of choice can be a hard one in today’s market as there’s so many options available, going with reputable and long-standing brands with experience is important to ensure you have the support along the way because lash lifting will always have variables due to hair texture, formula, application methods and working environments. Mastering the art of the lift comes down to mastering all these factors, then you can be on your way to lifting lashes to new heights.

Otto Mitter is a mutli award winning educator, judge, lash & brow artist and cosmetic chemist and is the creator of global brand Elleebana.

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