Investigating hair properties relevant for hair 'handle'. Part I: hair diameter, bending and frictional properties.

The expert working group 'Hair Care Products' of the DGK currently conducts a wide study to contribute to the understanding of how single hair fibre and hair collective properties contribute towards hair 'handle' and 'feel'. During the first stage of this study four hair types were selected from a large group of individual European hair braids, according to either similar or widely different panel ratings for handle. Against the background of the panel test and the state of the literature the working group readily identified the bending properties of single fibres interacting in the tress as a fibre collective and fibre friction as being of central relevance for hair 'handle' and 'feel'.