Our hair is much more complex and interesting than a distant glance might initially reveal. When examined under the care of a microscope, we find information that helps us understand how its mechanisms work, and how certain natural ingredients can interact with them, benefiting the strands and making them healthier, shinier, and more vibrant.
It is no surprise, therefore, that Natura dedicates so much effort to understanding the science behind human hair, to unravel its mysteries and seek ways to treat it like no other company does. Natura not only delves into the study of hair strands but also combines this research with its knowledge of elements extracted from nature, in the form of vegetable oils.
The company has a true library of these ingredients, mapped from advanced gene analysis techniques. Thus, Natura's scientists can identify which of these raw materials have the best potential to give rise to products that enrich consumers' hair.
Ekos Patauá is a perfect example of this story. Natura's new hair product line demonstrates how knowledge about the properties of certain oils, combined with mastery of hair mechanics, can lead to great innovations, with a strong positive impact for consumers and the entire production chain involved.
First, it is important to remember the phases of hair growth, as it is on this mechanism that the innovation of Ekos Patauá acts. First, we have the anagen phase, which is the longest and can last up to nine years, in the case of healthy hair, which grows, on average, 1 centimeter per month. Then, in the catagen phase, which lasts between two and three weeks, the strand stops growing and detaches from the follicle. Finally, in the telogen phase, the loose hair falls out, and the papilla "rests" for three to four months before the process restarts, with the return of the anagen phase.
Natura's team of scientists discovered in Patauá oil, which had previously been mapped by the company, a property that acts specifically in the anagen phase of hair, in the sense of extending it. This happens because the oil interacts with a biological mechanism known as JAK-STAT, which works to prolong the growth of the strands.
"When you inhibit the synthesis of the STAT3 protein, present in the JAK-STAT pathway, the anagen phase is prolonged," explains Juliana Lago, a researcher of cosmetic technologies and biological mechanisms related to skin and hair at Natura. "In other words, if the hair grew for five years, for example, by inhibiting this protein (continuously), it can grow for a longer time." It is worth noting that this growth occurs not only in length but also contributes to the diameter of the strand.
Thus, the picture of the puzzle began to become clearer. Patauá oil became the ideal candidate for a treatment line aimed at strengthening hair strands, which would benefit from the prolongation of the anagen phase through this protein inhibition. The Natura Ekos Patauá line was born.
