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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
FOILS FOR HAIRDRESSING
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/1991/018531
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A hairdressing foil for use in the hairdressing technique of foil highlighting or lowlighting comprises a laminated foil sheet (3) having an aluminium layer (1) and a paper layer (2), weighted so that the foil may be folded with a dead fold. In use, colorant is applied to the paper layer (2) which is placed under a selected section of hair close to the roots and folded with the aluminium layer (1) outermost to encapsulate the hair with the colorant. The paper layer (2) stiffens the foil sheet (3) to facilitate handling, and aids retention of the colorant and adhesion of the foil sheet (3) to the hair, thus reducing the risk of slippage and leakage of colorant.

Inventors:
CUMMINGS JOHN ERIC (GB)
MAGUIRE RAYMOND KEITH (GB)
Application Number:
PCT/GB1991/000883
Publication Date:
December 12, 1991
Filing Date:
June 03, 1991
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
CUMMINGS JOHN ERIC (GB)
MAGUIRE RAYMOND KEITH (GB)
International Classes:
A45D6/18; A45D19/00; (IPC1-7): A45D6/18; A45D19/00
Foreign References:
DE3311292A11984-10-04
FR1513566A1968-02-16
FR1128874A1957-01-11
FR1349132A1964-01-17
GB2028652A1980-03-12
US3465759A1969-09-09
US4632132A1986-12-30
EP0126618A21984-11-28
EP0136896A21985-04-10
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Claims:
CLAIMS
1. A hairdressing foil characterised by a laminated foil sheet (3) of soft tempered aluminium (1) and paper (2) layers in which the thickness of the aluminium layer (1) relative to the weight of the paper layer (2) is such that the foil sheet (3) may be folded with a dead fold, and the weight of the foil sheet (3) is such as to enable the foil to remain in position when folded to encapsulate hair.
2. A hairdressing foil as claimed in claim 1, cha¬ racterised in that the thickness of the aluminium layer (1) ranges from 1520 microns and is, preferably, about 18 microns.
3. A hairdressing foil as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the weight per unit area of the paper layer (2) is not more than 35 grams per square metre and is, preferably, 20 to 35 grams per square metre.
4. A hairdressing foil as claimed in claim 3, cha¬ racterised in that the weight of the paper layer (2) is about 25 grams per square metre.
5. A hairdressing foil as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the aluminium layer (1) is soft tempered annealed aluminium foil consisting of approximately 92.5% aluminium.
6. A hairdressing foil as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is generally rectangular in shape, having a width of approximately 100 mm, and a length ranging from about 140 to 340 mm.
7. A hairdressing foil as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the foil is co¬ loured.
8. A hairdressing product characterised by a pack (4) of hairdressing foils as claimed in any one of the preced¬ ing claims, said foils being stacked in superimposed rela¬ tion so that the paper (2) and aluminium (1) layers are arranged alternately.
9. A method of hairdressing characterised by the steps of providing a hairdressing foil as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, applying hair colorant or tint to the paper layer (2) of the foil (3), laying strands of hair along the paper layer (2) with the colorant in contact with the hair, and folding the foil (3) about the hair with the aluminium layer (1) outermost so as to encapsulate the hair.
10. A method of hairdressing as claimed in claim 9, characterised by the step of adding further colorant to the hair before folding the foil (3).
Description:
FOI S FOR HAIRDRESSING

This invention relates to foil sheets used in hairdressing for colouring or tinting selected sections of hair and, more particularly, to a foil laminate for such purposes made of aluminium and paper sheet.

In the art of hairdressing, foil highlighting or lowlighting is a technique by which selected sections or areas of hair are permanently or semi -permanen ly changed in colour by encapsulating them, together with a colorant or tint, in folded sheets of aluminium foil which are folded in such a manner as to resist slipping of the foil from the hair or leakage of colorant. The foils serve to isolate the hair being coloured from surrounding hair and the size and frequency of the sections or areas being coloured defines the intensity of the effect.

Hitherto, aluminium foil for this purpose has been supplied in rolls and is prepared by the end user to make it suitable for hairdressing. It must be cut into suitably sized sheets by the user and this preparation is time consuming and often results in wastage of foil through inaccuracies in cutting. It has been proposed to use precut foil but, due to the mechanical characteristics of aluminium foil, the precut sheets have to be separated by interleaved packing to prevent their edges being bonded together during cutting. This again means that the end user is involved in preparation and also has to dispose of the packing material .

An object of the present invention is to provide a hairdressing foil which facilitates utilisation by the end user and alleviates the need for preparation before use. An ancillary object is to improve the hairdressing tech¬ nique of high and/or lowlighting.

From one aspect, the invention consists in foil, more particularly, a hairdressing foil characterised by a

laminated foil sheet of soft tempered aluminium and paper layers in which the thickness of the aluminium layer rela¬ tive to the weight of the paper layer is such that the foil sheet may be folded with a dead fold, and in which the weight of the foil sheet is such as to enable the foil to remain in position when folded to encapsulate hair.

In this specification and the appended claims, a "dead fold" means a fold which, when produced, has little or no tendency to unfold spontaneously due to the inherent properties of the laminated foil sheet.

The thickness of the aluminium layer used in the laminated foil sheet may range from 15-20 microns and is preferably about 18 microns. An aluminium layer of less than 15 microns thickness will not normally be usable because at such thicknesses, the foil sheet tends to lose the required dead fold characteristic.

The weight of the paper should not be more than 35 grams per square metre, and may range from 20-35 grams per square metre. The preferred weight of the paper is 25 grams per square metre.

In order to achieve satisfactory laminating or bonding of the paper and aluminium layers or laminae, the latter should be soft tempered annealed aluminium foil consisting of approximately 92.5% aluminium.

The laminated foil sheet may be rectangular and be approximately 100 mm wide. It may be made of different lengths depending on the length of hair with which it is intended to be used. For example, the foil sheet may have a length of 140, 240 or 340 mm.

In use, having selected a laminated foil sheet of suitable length for the hair to be treated, the hairdresser coats the paper side of the foil laminate with the selected colorant and places it under a section of hair. More colorant may then be applied to the hair, after which the foil sheet is folded with the aluminium layer outermost to

encapsulate the hair and the colorant. The dead fold characteristic of the foil sheet enables the folded foil sheet to remain flat in its folded state without slipping or leakage of colorant. In this regard, the overall weight of the laminated foil sheet is important because it must hang on the hair and must not slip from the roots. To this end, it is desirable in order to obtain optimum results that the parameters of the aluminium and paper layers should be selected so as to provide a laminated foil sheet of minimum weight consistent with having the required dead fold characteristics.

The laminated foil sheet according to the invention has improved stiffness compared with the hitherto used aluminium foils and this enhances the speed of application of the laminated foil. Moreover, the increased coefficient of friction achieved by using the foil laminate with the paper layer in contact with the hair aids adhesion to the hair and reduces the risk of slippage and subsequent leak¬ age of colorant. With regard to the latter, the paper acts as a better retention surface than aluminium foil alone.

Laminated foil sheets according to the invention may be produced in a variety of different colours to facilitate a reference, by the hairdresser, to the colorant or tint contained in a particular folded foil sheet when applied to the hair, although the colour of the foil sheet may not necessarily match the colour of the tint.

Foil sheets according to the invention are conveniently supplied in packs or stacks and, according to another aspect, the invention consists in a pack of foil laminates, as described above, stacked in superimposed relation so that the paper and aluminium layers are arranged alternately. The positioning of the paper layers in between aluminium layers prevents the aluminium layers from being bonded together during the sheeting and cutting operations utilised in the production of the stacks and

acilitates separating of the foil sheets when used.

Conveniently, the laminated foil sheets are supplied in packs of several different sized foil sheets. For example, the foil sheets in the different packs may have a common width and be of different lengths for use with different length hair.

From a further aspect, the invention consists in a method of hairdressing comprising the steps of providing a laminated foil sheet of the type described above, applying hair colorant or tint to the paper layer of the foil sheet, laying strands of hair along the paper layer with the colorant in contact with the hair, and folding the foil sheet about the hair with the aluminium layer outermost so as to encapsulate the hair.

Preferably, after the hair has been laid on the paper layer of the laminated foil sheet, further colorant is applied to the hair prior to folding of the foil. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a laminated foil sheet in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a stack of such foil sheets.

Referring to the drawings, soft tempered aluminium foil 1 is milled, annealed and bonded to paper sheet 2 to produce a composite laminated material which is then sheeted, cut to size and stacked in quantity.

The cut laminated foil sheets 3 may be rectangular, and of a common width, for example 100 mm, but of several different lengths, depending on the length of the hair for which they are to be used. The foil sheets 3 may be sup¬ plied in stacks 4 according to size. For example, some stacks may comprise foil sheets 140 mm long and others may be 240 mm or 340 mm long. The foil sheets 3 may also be

supplied in stacks of different colours .

In use a foil sheet is chosen which is of a length suitable to the length of the hair to be coloured and has a colour indicating to the hairdresser the colorant which is to be used. Colorant is brushed onto the paper side of the laminate to help the hair adhere to it, and it is then placed under a section of hair as close as possible to the root. Colorant is then applied to the mid lengths and ends of the hair and starting about 1 cm from the root. The foil sheet is then folded in half, often using a tail comb, placing the upper and lower edges of the foil sheet togeth¬ er at the root of the section of hair. The two outside edges are then folded in to form a packet. This is repeat¬ ed for all the sections of hair to be treated.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, it will be appreciated that modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as de¬ fined by the appended claims.