Unilever : We understand curls like never before - and it’s game-changing

Cleopatra was known for hers, Beyoncé wrote a hit single about it, and during lockdown 2020 Google's top five beauty searches were dominated by it. We're talking 'good hair' and the care for it that can turn a day from 'meh' to magnificent.

Creating products that not only maintain but make the most of all hair types is key to Unilever's Positive Beauty strategy and is just one of our haircare portfolio's USPs. 'At Unilever, research and development is core to what we do,' says Dr Fraser Bell, Unilever's Hair Appraisal Manager and Science Insights leader for Nexxus.

'Our team of scientists are constantly looking for ways to understand hair types and the conditions they experience, and the benefits of ingredients and technologies, in new ways.' It's seen R&D scientists for our Nexxus brand spend more than a decade going right down to the molecular level to understand the chemical and structural differences between all hair types and conditions to shape products that meet each hair type's specific needs.

In fact, they were one of the first teams to characterise the microstructural differences between the curly and straight hair types, which has boosted understanding of why curly hair may be more prone to breakage than straight hair.

But to really understand the maintenance needs and personality of curls and coils, the scientists embarked on a research study that took them right down to the molecular level.