Symrise makes hair care products more sustainable. At the Suppliers Day in New York, a leading event for the cosmetics industry, the company presented SymFeel Quat Green^® at the beginning of May. The natural, readily biodegradable ingredient from white sugar beet molasses replaces Polyquaternium 7 and Polyquaternium 10 in hair care formulations, like shampoos and conditioners. At the same time, they keep their desired performance.

With SymFeel Quat Green^®, Symrise has developed an ingredient for hair care products that comes from 100 percent natural sources. It can completely replace the PQ-7 and PQ-10 synthetic materials – and offer the same efficacy. Cosmetic companies often use the polyquaternium compounds PQ-7 and PQ-10 in the production of shampoos and conditioners. These polymers, also known as polyquats, make hair appear smoother, come with an anti-static effect, and make it easy to comb.

Plant-based raw material from the sugar industry

At the global hair care center in Saõ Paulo (Brazil), Symrise hair care experts tested natural ingredients, that can replace both synthetic polyquats. With success: SymFeel Quat Green^® is obtained from white beet molasses produced as by-products in the sugar industry. "Our ingredient provides the green, naturally derived and readily biodegradable variant that we were looking for," says Rebecca Gasparin, Global Hair Care Coordinator at Symrise. In addition, SymFeel Quat Green^® by Symrise – as the first ingredient – works well in all hair care formulations. Rita Cartaxo, Global Product Manager for hair care at Symrise says: "SymFeel Quat Green^® offers the same efficacy as PQ-7 and PQ-10. In addition, the substance meets the requirements of the green industry."

In hair care products, for example, the ingredient ensures:

• that the combability of wet and dry hair improves,
• that the hair becomes smoother and more manageable,
• control of knots/frizz and volume,
• resistance to hair breakage increases and
• shiny hair.

In addition, SymFeel Quat Green^® can also go into body and face wash. It improves the suppleness of the skin there. "We know that currently only this plant-based ingredient achieves this effect and can replace the two most commonly used polyquats. Symrise can therefore call itself a pioneer in this field," says Rita Cartaxo.