Youthfulness from within

Most women get their first grey hair in their thirties, and the average man even earlier. Between 45 and 65 years of age, more than 70 percent of men and women find they have at least 25 percent grey hair. As we age, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually lose their functional capabilities. Due to our follicles producing less and less melanin, our hair goes grey first before eventually turning white. But greying hair is not the only sign of hair ageing. As we grow older, we begin to lose our hair and it becomes thinner and more fragile.

The ageing process cannot be reversed, but it can be slowed down. Though people are genetically predisposed to have greying hair or suffer from thinning hair and hair loss earlier or later in life, various factors such as scalp health can also play an important role. At the cellular level, scalp health can be affected by inflammation as a local response to cellular injury, oxidative stress, and DNA damage. As we age, both the skin cells’ defence against oxidation and DNA repair mechanisms weaken, free radicals occur more frequently and DNA damage increases, leading to tissue damage and weakening of the hair’s structure. With special care for the scalp and, in particular, the hair follicles which produce hair fibre, hair quality can be improved.

Keeping hair from greying and maintaining its strength 

BASF has been inspired by plant defence strategies to protect human hair follicles against UV radiation and reduce stress-induced DNA damage. The new anti-ageing active ingredient DN-Age is an extract from the leaves of the Candle Tree, Cassia alata, selected for its high amount of Kaempferol-3-O-Sophoroside (K3OS). To protect the plant against oxidative damage caused by UV radiation, K30S is over-expressed in the upper layers of the leaves, the ones exposed to direct sunlight. The active ingredient has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation on human scalp and hair follicle cells, protecting the scalp so that it suffers less from cellular damage, to keep hair from greying and help it stay thick, full and strong. 

Developed at BASF’s Innovation Platform for extraction and processes, the extract is obtained under conditions especially designed to improve the yield of K3OS and avoid its degradation. It is water-soluble and suitable for daily anti-ageing scalp and hair care products such as anti-grey shampoo and conditioner, anti-hair-loss lotion and solar protection spray.