Here at Noughty, we love plant oils. You might even say they’re a bit of an obsession. So we felt it was only right that we celebrate our Noughty passion by creating a unique description for the plant oils we carefully choose and lavishly use in products. Noughty‘s “House of Oils”. While there are lots of differences between plant oils, there are some definite commonalities, all of which enhance the performance of our products.
Commonalities
All plant oils:
- assist in boosting the strength of the hair;
- improve suppleness, smoothness and shine;
- help reduce splits, damage and breakage.
Here’s how these commonalities work.
Trap moisture
Plant oils work with oils which the scalp produces, to enhance the hair’s natural barrier system. This traps moisture in the hair shaft where it positively impacts strength and suppleness and can help to reduce breakage.
Smooth scales
Each strand of your hair is covered by the cuticle, made up of small flattened scales. How healthy your hair looks depends on the state of your cuticle. Many different factors such as strong chemicals, heat, and extremes in PH can cause scales to raise, making the cuticle layer and the hair shaft beneath vulnerable. Plant oils work to seal proteins and hydration into the core of the hair, smoothing scales and enhancing the cuticle’s barrier function, to leave hydrated hair moisturised for longer.
Go shine
The smoother the hair shaft, the more light it reflects and the shinier hair looks. Plant oils don’t stop there: they form a light-reflective layer on the hair’s surface and detangle hair so each strand sits closer to its neighbours, for a sleeker mane.
Build barriers
Plant oils can fill spaces between the cuticle’s cells, helping to prevent aggressive substances from penetrating into the cortex where they do permanent damage.
Differences
Whilst we know plant oils work in many of the same ways, not all oils are the same. Through our House of Oils, we celebrate these differences by understanding the benefits they can bring, allowing us to utilise each oil for its own individual strengths.
Here’s how these differences work.
Minor differences major results
Plant oils are rich in minor constituents. These vary dramatically from one oil to another and can have an impact on the oil’s performance on hair. It’s this diversity that sets plant oils apart from mineral oils and is one reason we always use plant and never mineral oils.
Weighty matters
Plant oils have different weights – which we talk about as their viscosity. This variance results from the unique balance of essential fatty acids of each oil. It impacts how the oil works on and in the hair, as well as the texture of Noughty’s finished products.
Right oil for the job
Understanding an oil’s strengths and activity helps us to decide how best to use it within our formulations. For example, research has shown that coconut oil reduces protein lost from hair (damaged or not) when you use it before or after shampooing. A powerful trait, which sadly sunflower oil doesn’t share. That’s why you’ll find coconut oil throughout our ranges and sunflower? Not so much. It’s about picking the right ingredient for the benefit we need it to bring.
Our passion? Plant oils. Just another Noughty choice.