Trefor A. Evans, Ph.D. TRI Princeton Princeton, NJ USA
When asked to describe their hair care wants and needs, consumers will rattle off all manner of terms and expressions that have become eminently recognizable to the hair product development chemist. We call these hair attributes and they represent the lexicon of our industry. On occasion, new attributes and desires may arise—perhaps based on current fashion trends, social issues or any number of other influencing factors. At the same time, a number of stalwarts have been constant in our industry for many years. One such example is hair softness.
Arguably, softness might indeed be the most frequently mentioned attribute in hair care advertising and claims. Sometimes it is called out by itself, but often it is seen in tandem with other properties; for example, soft and beautiful; soft and smooth; soft and healthy; soft and shiny, etc. Accordingly, it seems prudent to consider this topic in our continuing exploration of the science and measurement of various hair-related attributes.
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