The Science Behind It.

The human hair is amongst the most sensitive environmental sensors known to most of us. Small changes in humidity produce major effects on how our hair feels and looks. Scientists have known for years that humidity affects the hair in two primary ways: changing the surface texture of the hair fiber – making it rough and full of friction – and increasing absorption of water by the interior of the hair shaft. All "frizzy hair days" relate to this delicate give and take of water between our hair and the environment around us.

In fact, with an increase of relative humidity from 30% to 70%, the water content of hair can increase by 100%, thereby increasing the volume of hair by more than 20%. This influx of water vapor eventually causes the hair fibers to swell, creating extended cuticles, which results in friction between fibers. This inter-fiber friction causes static and an additional increase in volume.

Sadly, in 30 years of effort, science has made little impact on changing this balance in your (and your hair's) favor.

Hence, Living Proof scientists decided this was a good problem to solve. We asked a simple question first: how can we reduce the surface friction of the hair? Answer: create an exquisitely thin, smooth layer that perfectly coats the hair and stays put. We asked a second question next: how can we prevent the hair (and its surface) from absorbing water? Answer: produce a surface on the hair with as low of a surface energy as possible, which is the key measure of all hydrophobic materials.

Using our proprietary collection of biomaterials technologies, we searched for classes of materials that could produce control over surface energy and roughness. We wanted to solve these two problems from a physics standpoint, not create a beauty product. We steered clear of traditional anti-frizz technology, and our search eventually led us to a family of materials from which PolyfluoroEster was born.

PolyfluoroEster is a smaller molecule than the traditional materials used for frizz control. Our own in-house formulators optimized a unique way to deliver the material to the surface of the hair in the most efficient way possible: as a smooth, perfect layer, devoid of extraneous additives. Due to its chemical nature, the formulation adheres tightly to the hair, which allows for long-lasting moisture resistance and rebalancing of the hair fiber's interaction with the atmosphere, even after extreme humidity. In fact, repeat use after shampoo seems to improve the hair's own ability to resist humidity change, and our product seems to keep working better.

No Frizz also had some benefits we didn't anticipate (but our scientists seem happy to take credit for). Due to its low surface energy, the technology repels most other materials like water and oils, translating into a non-greasy coating that doesn't attract dirt and other particulates. In fact, Living Proof scientists have found that it is actually more repellent to dirt and particles than natural hair. As a final benefit (which we really didn't expect), the surprisingly low refractive index of the coating produces a unique, long-lasting shine and "pop" in the color of the hair.