French Boffin Creates 'Magic Lotion' to Restore Greying Hair's Black Sheen

A French scientist is developing a 'magic lotion' that could restore the lost natural sheen to grey hair.

At a recently held international conference in Cairns, Dr Bruno Bernard revealed he was working on a lotion that could brick back the natural colour to greying hair, without the need for dyes, tints or harsh chemical treatments.

Dr Bernard's team discovered the gradual process that turns hair grey could be checked and even reversed by topping up a natural enzyme that protects and promotes the production of melanocytes.

Melanocyte cells are found in hair follicles close to the scalp and create a melanin reservoir, which is transferred to the hair as it grows, providing the pigmentation that imparts hair its colour.

With age, this reservoir is damaged and declines until it fails to pump the pigmentation into hair strands, resulting in grey and white hair.

But Dr Bernard says his lotion will be able to top up this melanin reservoir for life.

The product, funded by L'Oreal, is expected to hit the stores in five years time.

"We have worked for 10 years to try to understand the origin of why hair goes grey and we have discovered that it is a progressive decline in the melanin stem cells," The Courier Mail quoted Dr Bernard, as saying.

He added: "If it was an abrupt process it would be difficult to stop and reverse but because it is progressive we believe we can reverse the greying at the beginning of the decline.

"We are working on a product that mimics the activity of the enzyme that protects and recruits the melanocyte cells responsible for producing the pigmentation."

Source: ANI