The world’s first “green” hair bleach may sound like a product for the Wicked Witch, but in reality it’s an environmentally friendly way to lighten hair, not just on the head but other parts of the body as well.
In search of a better and milder bleaching agent, Kenzo Koike, Ph.D., and other scientists, have come up with a “green” hair bleach based on an enzyme from a fungus called Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis that has been used to clean up pollutants in soil. It naturally degrades melanin and has the added benefit of fighting the effects of free radicals (responsible for making hair brittle and dull).
Koike made the announcement about the discovery Tuesday at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City. The Japanese scientist, who is with the Kao Corporation’s Beauty Research center in Tokyo, says his studies have focused on bleaching, not dyeing, hair.
