A hair wrapper for use in the colouring of hair

Abstract

 This invention relates to a hair wrapper for use in the colouring of hair comprising a substantially transparent synthetic plastics sheet 2 and at least one securing filament or strip 1. The plastics sheet 2 may be folded to enclose a strand of hair which is to be coloured together with a bleaching or colouring composition in a substantially transparent enclosure. One or more securing filaments or strips 1 hold the hair wrapper on the hair. The transparent enclosure provides a window for viewing the colouring process and facilitates the monitoring of the colouring of the hair.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a hair dressing aid and more particularly to a hair wrapper for use in the colouring of hair.

[0002] It is well established in the hairdressing field that selected strands of hair may be enclosed, together with a bleach, dye-stuff or tint, within a pocket of metallic foil formed by folding and creasing a sheet of foil around the selected strands of hair. In this manner, hair "colourant" such as dye, bleach or tint is maintained in contact with the selected strands of hair whilst those strands of hair excluded from the pocket of metallic foil do not come into contact with the hair colourant. Many sheets of foil are required for an entire head of hair.

[0003] Included in the above processes are processes referred to in the art as "high-lighting" or "low-lighting" and these may be used to achieve a variety of effects. For instance, more than one dye may be contained within the same pocket of metallic foil, so producing a number of different shades along the length of a given strand of hair. Alternatively different dyes may be contained within different pockets of metallic foil, so yielding a uniform colour along the length of a strand but different colours on different strands of hair. In addition, if the hair colourant is present only at the base of the foil pocket, only the tip of the strands of hair will absorb colour and an "edging" effect will result. A problem encountered in the art is that the process of colouring or bleaching hair is a variable one. Different hair types absorb dye at different rates and it is therefore difficult to gauge the length of time that the colourant/dye should remain in contact with the hair. In practice, to obtain the desired shade one or more of the foil sheets is removed from the hair at various times throughout the colouring treatment and the hairdresser can then see how far the colouring process has progressed. Often the colouring is incomplete and the foil sheets must be replaced or new ones attached to the hair. This inevitably results in time-wasting and messy operations and, if the process is not carefully monitored, in over-coloured hair.

[0004] It has now been found that it is possible to facilitate the monitoring of the colouring/bleaching process and to enable the resulting hair colour to be predicted with a greater degree of accuracy, by using a transparent enclosure in which both the hair to be coloured and the colourant are contained and which may be removabled attached to the hair.

[0005] Accordingly, the present invention in one aspect provides a hair wrapper comprising a substantially transparent, synthetic, plastics sheet and at least one securing filament or strip, said substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet may be folded so as to enclose a strand of hair together with a bleaching or dyeing composition in a substantially transparent enclosure, said at least one securing filament or strip maintains said sheet in a folded shape.

[0006] Two securing filaments or strips may be used to border two opposite edges of said substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet. A third securing filament or.strip may be provided, substantially parallel to and, substantially midway between, said two opposite edges.

[0007] The securing filaments or strips may comprise any resilient, pliable material and suitable materials include metals, metal alloys paper-mesh/glue composites and adhesives.

[0008] The synthetic plastics material may be any transparent, foldable plastics material and suitable materials include polyethylene and polypropylene.

[0009] The invention further provides a method of colouring or bleaching hair in which a substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet is placed against a strand of hair to be bleached or dyed and is thereafter folded to secure said strand of hair together with a bleaching or colouring composition so that a substantially transparent enclosure'is formed around the strand of hair which is being coloured allowing the progress of the colouring or bleaching treatment to be visually monitored.

[0010] The transparent section(s) of the hair wrapper provide a window for viewing the stages of the colouring process and the filaments or strips firmly secure the wrapper in the desired folded position.

[0011] The advantage of the hair wrapper of the present invention is that the colouring process can be readily monitored and the wrapper does not need to be removed from the hair until the colouring or bleaching process is complete.

[0012] An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hair wrapper showing pliable strips 1 and transparent sections 2. The dotted line represents a fold line in the use of the wrapper.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same hair wrapper in a part-folded configuration. The two dotted lines represent further fold lines in the use of the wrapper.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same hair wrapper in a fully-folded configuration.

[0013] Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a hair wrapper showing pliable strips 1 and a transparent section 2. The dotted line represents a fold line in the use of the wrapper.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the same hair wrapper in a part-folded configuration. The two dotted lines represent a further fold line in the use of.the wrapper.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the same hair.wrapper in a fully-folded configuration.

[0014] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the hair wrapper is made of a plastics material 2 such as polyethylene and is a rectangular sheet having three parallel strips of adhesive aluminium alloy tape 1, two of which border the two shorter sides of the wrapper and a remaining strip which is located substantially midway between the said shorter sides. The exact dimensions of the hair wrapper are not critical; they may be, for example, 10cm by 24cm and the adhesive aluminium tape may have a width of l-2cm. If desired, the hair wrapper may be of smaller or larger dimensions. Furthermore, the relative dimensions of the hair wrapper may be altered. It may take the form of a square or a more elongate or less elongate rectangle. The hair wrapper may be further strengthened by employing a wider adhesive aluminium alloy tape.

[0015] In one application of the invention, each hair wrapper is folded in half by the hairdresser so that the edges of the sheet lie one above the other with selected strands of hair and hair colourant sandwiched between the two layers.

[0016] An enclosure is thus formed and this may be further secured by folding in the sides of the wrapper towards the centre and creasing the one or more strip(s) or filament(s) at the top and the one, or more strips or filaments at the bottom to maintain the desired folded shapes.

[0017] The desired number of hair wrappers are applied to the hair together with a dye, tint or bleach. Strands of hair are visible through the transparent portion of the wrapper so that the colouring or bleaching process is visible as it proceeds and is closely controlled. Any excess dye obscuring the hair from view does not affect this control as.the bleaching or colouring treatment takes effect. Thus, the colour of the strands of hair may be checked at intervals by squeezing each hair wrapper between finger and thumb to expel excess dye from the region of interest.

[0018] When the desired shade or colour is reached, the hair wrapper is removed.

[0019] Examples of the plastics materials which may be employed in the present invention include polyethylene and polypropylene.

[0020] The best results are achieved using polyethylene since this material will readily assume a folded shape with the aid of the filaments or strips of the hair wrapper.

[0021] There are, of course, different grades of polyethylene, some of which are more useful for the purposes of the present invention than others. The desired properties being transparency and flexability.

[0022] Polypropylene may be used but the results are less satisfactory because this material has a tedency to unfold and is less pliable than polyethylene.

[0023] Examples of material which may be employed as pliable filaments or strips include metals, metal alloys, paper-mesh/glue composites and adhesives as strips and metals, metal alloys and pliable plastics as filaments. For the purposes of this invention any material which is capable of securing a plastics material in a folded shape around a strand of hair may be used.

Claims

1. A hair wrapper characterised in that it comprises a substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet and at least one securing filament or strip, said substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet may be folded so as to enclose a strand of hair together with a bleaching or colouring composition, said at least one securing filament or strip maintains said sheet in a folded shape.

2. A hair wrapper according to claim 1, characterised in that two securing filaments or strips border two opposite edges of said substantially transparent, synthetic, plastics sheet.

3. A hair wrapper according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that at least two securing filaments or strips are provided, at least one of which is substantially parallel with, and substantially midway between, said two opposite edges.

4. A hair wrapper according to any of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that said securing filaments or strips maybe formed of metals, metal alloys, paper-mesh/glue composites or adhesives.

5. A hair wrapper according to any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that said synthetic plastics material is polyethylene or polypropylene.

6. A hair wrapper according to claim 2 characterised in that said synthetic plastics sheet is composed of polyethylene or polypropylene,is substantially rectangular and said securing strips or filaments are composed of aluminium alloy.

7. A hair wrapper according to claim 3 characterised in that said synthetic plastics sheet is substantially rectangular and said securing strips or filaments are aluminium alloy.

8. A method of colouring or bleaching hair characterised in that a strand of hair is placed within an enclosure of transparent synthetic plastic material together with a colouring or bleaching composition, whereby the progress of the colouring or bleaching treatment can be visually monitored.

9. A method of colouring or bleaching hair characterised in that a substantially transparent, synthetic plastics sheet is placed against a strand of hair to be bleached or coloured and is thereafter folded to secure said strand of hair together with a bleaching or colouring composition so that a substantially transparent enclosure is formed around the strand of hair which is being coloured allowing the progress of the colouring or bleaching treatment to be visually monitored through said substantially transparent sheet.

Drawing