PVP forms a hygroscopic film that absorbs moisture in the air causing it to lose its fixative properties in high humidity climates. IOTA’s hydrolysed corn starch forms a nonhygroscopic film that does not absorb moisture, which provides superior curl retention as well as better frizz control. Putting it to the test, after eight hours in a humidity chamber at 90% relative humidity, the new hydrolysed corn starch polymer demonstrated significant advantages in humidity resistance and curl retention compared with PVP and the commercial benchmark. All humidity testing was performed using triplicate hair tresses. 

The natural corn polymer provides superior curl retention at all concentrations tested. Increasing the concentration from 1% to 5% increases the curl retention performance. 

These comparison tests demonstrated the new hydrolysed corn starch is comparable to PVP in terms of stiffness and durability performance, but significantly superior in terms of humidity resistance, curl retention and frizz control, especially in high humidity environments. A more sustainable material that is a 100% natural origin hydrolysed corn starch can be used as an alternative to PVP , the industry recognised styling benchmark.