German-headquartered BASF said that Luviset Clear dissolves easily in water and allows the manufacture of clear hair gels.
The company also said it provides a strong hold while remaining humidity resistant. This latter quality is important because while humidity rapidly makes other styling resins tacky, BASF claimed that hairstyles created with Luviset Clear always feel pleasant to the touch.
BASF's product manager in strategic marketing for cosmetic ingredients Simone Lehnert explained: "Hair gels and styling mousses based on Luviset Clear satisfy all demands on styling products: It provides an extremely strong, humidity resistant and long-lasting hold, but without being tacky on the hands or on the hair."
"The great thing is that the polymer makes it possible to produce clear hair gels. This means we can give manufacturers of hair styling products maximum flexibility to formulate the best hair gel in terms of both, effectiveness and appearance," she added.
In providing a strong hold, hair gels formulated using Luviset Clear, even those with a polymer content of only three per cent, clearly beat most rival products, claimed the company.
BASF also claimed that although Luviset Clear itself is highly soluble in water, it allows hardly any water molecules to enter its chemical network structure, and the hold it provides is humidity resistant. According to the company this explained why the gel leaves no annoying residues that make hair dull and lacklustre.
On the contrary, said BASF, with the new products conditioning and styling go hand in hand. Formulations enriched with conditioning agents provide moisture to the hair and lend it a fresh sheen.
Although the range of available hair care products is already quite extensive, the demand for new hairstyling products continues to grow, with consumers prepared to try out new, interesting products. Young Germans, for example, are keen on power styling and are looking for an ever stronger hold for their hair. Market researchers GfK found a 2.4 per cent growth rate in the "ultra strong to megastrong" market segment in the previous year.
In other countries, however, greater emphasis is placed on clear textures and conditioning. "Especially in Asia, there is a strong trend towards crystal clear products", commented BASF product manager Simone Lehnert.
BASF claims that Luviset Clear is a versatile styling polymer capable of satisfying all these requirements simultaneously.
The company said that hair care products containing Luviset Clear are already available in stores in the United States, while European manufacturers are also working on styling products containing the new styling polymer.
Datasheets and formulations are available from the BASF website.