Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Live hair or scalp treating compositions – Cationic surfactant containing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-05
2003-12-09
Page, Thurman K. (Department: 1615)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Live hair or scalp treating compositions
Cationic surfactant containing
C424S047000, C424S070270, C424S070600, C424S070190
Reexamination Certificate
active
06660254
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known within the art to lighten and highlight hair with a peroxygen compound such as hydrogen peroxide. An object of the present invention, is to provide foamed conditioners which contain stable peroxygen compounds and thus can be used as hair lighteners and highlighters as well as conditioners.
Current products on the market for lightening hair come in two forms. The first is a spray leave-on peroxide solution. This product is used occasionally when the hair will be exposed to sunlight after application. Examples of such products include Super Sun-In®, Super With Lemon Sun-In®, and Gradual Sun-In For Men®. Super Sun-In® has about 1.9% hydrogen peroxide at a pH of about 4.0. Super With Lemon Sun-In® has about 3.7% hydrogen peroxide at a pH of about 4.0. Gradual Sun-In For Men® has about 3.7% hydrogen peroxide at a pH of about 3.
The second product for lightening hair is a system which has two components: a bleaching component such as hydrogen peroxide and another component which is a bleach oil or powder. This system requires two containers and/or two bottles, one for each of the components. These products will lighten and highlight the hair, however, often the result is damage that leaves hair in a less than healthy state.
It is known to prepare an unstable composition by combining a bleach with a shampoo or conditioner and immediately thereafter applying the resulting composition to the hair. This is usually done in a hair salon and will result in the immediate lightening of the hair. By contrast, stable conditioner compositions which gradually lighten and highlight the hair and which can easily be used at home are provided by the present invention.
Publications and patent documents which relate to the area of technology of the invention are as follows:
WO 93/14024 A1 (1993) discloses a hair care composition comprising (a) about 3-8% of a water soluble or dispersible alkylated polyvinylpyrrolidone copolymer powder comprising: (i) about 90-95% polyvinylpyrollidone having a K-value of 30-90, and (ii) 5-10% of an alkylene having 4 carbon atoms; (b) about 50-95% water; and (c) about 0-60% alcohol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,043 (1987) discloses a stable aqueous hair conditioning shampoo comprising an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide, a specific anionic surfactant, at least one nonionic surfactant, an acidic pH-producing agent and one or more hair conditioning components.
EP 437,075 A (1990) relates to the use of acrylic functional siloxanes that are useful in the perming and conditioning of hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,486 (1999) discloses a shampoo composition for lightening and highlighting hair which comprises
i) a peroxygen compound, and
ii) an anionic sulfonate;
said composition having a pH of 5 or less.
U.S. Ser. No. 09/138,189 filed Aug. 21, 1998, commonly assigned, and pending, discloses a conditioning composition for lightening and highlighting hair which comprises
i) a peroxygen compound, and
ii) a conditioning agent;
said composition having a pH of about 5 or less.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a leave on aqueous, foamable composition delivered from a foaming device for conditioning, lightening and highlighting hair which comprises:
(i) a conditioning agent,
(ii) a peroxygen compound,
(iii) an acid, and
(iv) a foaming agent;
said composition having a pH of about 5 or less.
The invention is also directed to a method for lightening and highlighting hair which comprises administering to the hair an effective amount of a composition of the invention.
The peroxygen compound makes the conditioner composition a lightening and hair highlighting composition. Peroxygen compounds are not stable in conditioners at pH's of above 5. The composition is made acidic by addition of a acid, such as a mineral acid, like phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid, or an organic acid like citric acid.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As used herein % means weight % of the total composition unless otherwise designated. “A portion of a head of hair” means some but not all of the hair on a head. It is understood that compositions of the invention can be used to highlight and/or lighten a portion of a head of hair in a pattern so as to conform to certain styles of hair highlighting and/or lightening. The compositions of the invention can also be used to highlight and lighten a whole head of hair. The compositions of the invention are made using known ingredients or with ingredients analogous to those known in the art. The packages to be used with compositions of the invention are made using known processes and materials or by processes and materials which are analogous to those known in the art.
There are two methods to lighten and highlight hair. The first method is to deposit onto the hair, molecules which color the hair. The second method is to bleach the natural pigment found in the hair. The present invention relates to the latter method.
Hair contains a number of different pigments, principally brown and red. When hair is bleached by chemicals or the sun, the brown pigments react faster, and therefore disappear faster than the red pigments. The change in the red to brown ratio changes the appearance of the hair giving more red shading to the natural color of the hair. This results in the lightening of the hair. The red color that appears is perceived as highlighting of the hair.
Peroxygen compounds such as hydrogen peroxide, melamine peroxide, and urea peroxide, have been used to bleach human hair. Persulfates such as ammonium, sodium, and potassium persulfate may be used. Perborates such as sodium may also be used. The preferred peroxygen compound is hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is stable, but will decompose under the appropriate conditions to form water and an active species of oxygen. The active species of oxygen is very reactive. It attacks and decolorizes the hair pigment.
It has been found that a peroxygen compound, preferably hydrogen peroxide, is stable in a foaming conditioner composition when present in about a 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % (preferably 2%) in the presence of an acid so as to make the pH of the foam about 5 or less.
In the compositions of the present invention, any acid that can result in a pH of 5 or less may be employed. More specifically, any acid which has a pK such that it can be used to obtain a composition with a pH of 5 or less, may be employed. Exemplary of such acids are any mineral acid such as sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid. Appropriate organic acids such as citric acid may also be used.
The invention relates to a leave on aqueous, foamable composition delivered from a foaming device, for lightening and highlighting hair which comprises:
(i) a conditioning agent,
(ii) a peroxygen compound,
(iii) an acid, and
(iv) a foaming agent,
said composition having a pH of about 5 or less.
The invention is also directed to a method for lightening and highlighting hair which comprises administering to the hair a lightening and highlighting effective amount of the aqueous, foamable, conditioning composition described above.
Ingredients used in the compositions of the invention are described below.
Conditioning Agent
A conditioning agent which may be included in the compositions of the invention, can be a quaternary amine compound of the formula:
N(R
1
,R
2
,R
3
,R
4
)
+
X
−
wherein R
1
and R
2
are long chain aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals, that is alkyl radicals, having about 10 to about 26 carbon atoms, and preferably about 12 to about 18 carbons, and R
3
and R
4
are hydrogen, lower alkyl radicals having about 1 to about 5 carbon atoms with the proviso that no more than three of the substituents on the nitrogen can be hydrogen, and with the further proviso that the total number of carbon atoms in the substituents on the nitrogen equals at least 60.
More specifically, the substituents R
1
, R
2
, R
3
, and R
4
may be selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, ethyl methyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl, n-decyl, lauryl, myristyl, palmityl, stearyl, beheny
Abbott Richard
Montgomery, Jr. Charles
Newell Gerald
Joynes Robert M.
Unilever Home & Personal Care USA , division of Conopco, Inc.
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