Improving Your Silicone-Free Hair Serum

To address the heavy feel, lack of slip, tangling, and frizz in your oil-based, silicone-free serum, you can incorporate conditioning agents that provide slip and anti-static properties without relying on silicones.

Suitable Ingredients

• Poly-Conditioner Pro: This ingredient is specifically designed as a silicone replacement in silicone-free formulas, providing softness and smoothness. There are different viscosity grades.
  • Poly-Conditioner Pro (400 mPa.s) provides moderate softness and smoothness without causing thickening. This could be a good option if you want to avoid increasing the viscosity of your serum. Recommended usage rate is 0.2-0.5%.
  • Poly-Conditioner Pro (30000 mPa.s) provides good softness and smoothness but causes high thickness. While effective for conditioning, this version might make your oil-based serum too heavy, which is something you want to avoid.
• GuarCat™: This is a cationic guar gum that coats the hair, providing anti-static properties to reduce tangling and make hair soft and smooth.
  • GuarCat™ Standard adds weight and thickens the formula.
  • GuarCat™ Clear provides a good texture without adding weight and is suitable for clear formulas. Both types will increase viscosity.
  • The staff recommended a low usage rate of 0.1-0.2% for GuarCat to provide conditioning benefits without excessive thickening.
• Keratin: Ingredients like Pure Keratin™ and Hydrolyzed Keratin are excellent for restoring and nourishing damaged hair. They can help improve hair strength, moisture, and shine, which can indirectly reduce frizz and improve the overall appearance of the hair. While they don't primarily provide slip like conditioning polymers, healthy hair is less prone to tangling and frizz. Recommended usage rate is 0.5-2.0%, avoiding higher amounts to prevent stickiness.

Less Suitable Ingredients for Your Serum

• BTAC (Behentrimonium Chloride): As the staff mentioned, BTAC is generally not suitable for serum textures. It is a cationic surfactant that provides conditioning but also functions as a thickener and emulsifier, making it better suited for cream-based products like conditioners.
• Creatine: Creatine is a hair nourishing ingredient that helps strengthen the hair structure. However, it does not provide the coating or slip needed to reduce tangling and frizz in the same way that conditioning polymers or cationic gums do.

Recommendation

To improve the slip, reduce tangling, and control frizz in your oil-based, silicone-free serum without adding significant weight, consider incorporating Poly-Conditioner Pro (400 mPa.s) at a low usage rate (0.2-0.5%). This ingredient is designed to provide silicone-like conditioning benefits without thickening.

You could also experiment with a very low concentration (0.1-0.2%) of GuarCat™ Clear or GuarCat™ Standard for anti-static and detangling effects, keeping in mind that even at low percentages, it will add some viscosity.

Adding Pure Keratin™ or Hydrolyzed Keratin at 0.5-2.0% will help nourish and strengthen the hair, contributing to overall hair health and potentially reducing frizz over time, but it won't provide immediate slip like the conditioning polymers.

It's best to start with one or two ingredients at low concentrations and adjust based on the desired feel and performance, carefully monitoring the viscosity to ensure the serum doesn't become too heavy.