Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2013, 3, 40-44 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jcdsa.2013.33A1006 Published Online September 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jcdsa) Hair Protective Effect of Argan Oil (Argania spinosa Kernel Oil) and Cupuassu Butter (Theobroma grandiflorum Seed Butter) Post Treatment with Hair Dye Pamella Mello Faria 1 , Luciana Neves Camargo 1 , Regina Siqueira Haddad Carvalho 1 , Luis Antonio Paludetti 1 , Maria Valéria Robles Velasco 2 , Robson Miranda da Gama 1,3* 1 Pharmacy School, University of Santo Amaro, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 2 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; 3 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Faculty of Medicine ABC, Santo André, Brazil. Email: * rmdagama@gmail.com Received May 30 th , 2013; revised June 28 th , 2013; accepted July 5 th , 2013 Copyright © 2013 Pamella Mello Faria et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Li- cense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Hair coloring is widely used by women and men either to change their natural hair color or to delay the onset of gray hair. Oxidative dyes may damage the hair, since chemical and physical procedures are involved to alter the structure hair and consequently, alterations in its mechanical and of surface properties. One benefit of hair conditioners is to pre- vent flyaway hair, make the hair “shine”, and protect the hair from further damage. In this research we analyzed the hair protective effect conditioner agents Argania spinosa kernel oil and/or Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter in hair care on Caucasian hair post treatment with hair dye. The hairs were submitted by quantifying protein loss. The samples were classified as: hair untreated (I); hair treated with a commercial oxidative ultra-blond hair dye (II); hair post treatment II and F1: Base hair care formulation (III), hair post treatment II and F2: Base hair care formulation containing 1.0% (w/w) Argania spinosa kernel oil (IV), hair post treatment II and F3: Base hair care formulation containing 1.0% (w/w) Theo- broma grandiflorum seed butter (V) and hair post treatment II and F4: Base hair care formulation containing 0.5% (w/w) Argania spinosa kernel oil and 0.5% (w/w) Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter (VI). For the protein loss, the results were: II A = III A > I B = IV B = V B = VI B . Results classified with different letters present statistically significant differents, for α = 5, p ≤ 0.05, n = 6. Based on the results, the incorporation of conditioners agents Argania spinosa kernel oil and/or Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter in base hair care formulation applied in Caucasian hair post treatment with hair dye decreased the damage caused to hair by the coloring process. Keywords: Protein Loss; Damage Hair; Argania spinosa Kernel; Theobroma grandiflorum 1. Introduction The human hair is composed of protein, lipid, water, melanin and trace elements. The main constituents of hair are of α-keratin, a group of proteins which account for 65% - 95% of hair weight. It is responsible for con- ferring mechanical properties such as elasticity, shape, strength and functionality [1]. The human hair presents three principal components: cuticle, cortex and medull which are spectively from out- side to inside. The cuticle is composed of protein mate- rial and amorphous, and it is located in the outer portion of the hair fiber and consists of enucleate cells, translu- cent and flattened. Morphologically, the cuticle is com- posed of 6 to 8 cell layers overlapped in the longitudinal direction of the fiber. The overlapping cell adherence provides the physical properties of hair with reflection light and reduces the friction between the fibers being responsible for the properties of gloss and combing, re- spectively. Cosmetic treatments, such as conditioners, hair sprays, mousses and gels, alter the properties men- tioned above because they are deposited on the cuticle layer. However dyes and straightening products due to the alkaline pH of the cuticle open up the layers for the active principles or dyes penetrate and act in the cortex, reducing the size or altering the color of hair. The cortex is a major constituent of the hair fiber (75%). Cortical cells are subdivided into macrofibrils formed per material interfilamentar amorphous rich sulfur and microfibrils * Corresponding author. Copyright © 2013 SciRes. JCDSA