Glycolic Acid, the Hottest New Addition to Haircare

Glycolic acid has long been a favorite ingredient of cosmetic formulators and consumers alike for skincare products, due to its incredible ability to combat acne, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and exfoliate effectively. But today, glycolic acid is being touted as the hottest, hippest ingredient to add to haircare products, thanks to its hair strengthening and smoothing properties.

Glycolic acid helps to create smooth, flat hair follicles in several ways. Glycolic acid is the smallest of the AHAs, which means it can most easily penetrate the shaft of hair. In addition, glycolic acid also most easily affects keratin, the fibrous protein in hair that helps protect strands from damage and contributes to hair growth and length.

Even better, glycolic acid’s easy ability to interact with keratin makes hair stronger and less likely to break. Broken strands are the main culprit of frizzy, flyaway hair, and are a typical consumer issue that haircare product formulators set out to solve. Glycolic acid helps resolve this issue when added to haircare products.

Impervious to frizz, revitalized and glossy

The acclaimed Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa chain created a glycolic acid treatment which stylists paint on customer’s hair and then rinse off. Afterwards, hair is revitalized, and customers rave about shiny, glossy strands impervious to frizz, even in rainy or humid weather.

Beauty journalists have also championed this GA paint job, saying post-glycolic acid treatment,  “it was the smoothest I had ever known my hair to feel.”

Hearing about these higher-prestige glycolic acid branded products and treatments, or experiencing them during a spa visit, drives consumers to snap up lower-cost items like shampoos, conditioners, detanglers, and hair masks containing glycolic acid for their at-home use.

For example, the mega-popular The Ovation Clarifying Therapy Shampoo uses big, bold doses of glycolic acid to gently exfoliate the scalp, leaving users with smooth, shiny, frizz-free locks.

So glycolic acid’s unique ability to effectively smooth and strengthen hair and create shin, sleek locks is making it the most on-trend ingredient to add to haircare products.

And glycolic-acid-infused haircare products, both prestige and value-priced, are creating yet another robust market opportunity, offering very substantial room for growth for formulators in 2018 and beyond.