Hair coloring positively impacts Quality of Life, says a new scientific study. The role that the hair plays on both men and women’s identity has been evident throughout history, the hair – its style, color, abundance or luck thereof – representing often femininity, virility, freedom, beauty, as well as belonging to a specific religion and culture. While we all intuitively know about the link between our physical appearance and our well-being, very little research has been carried out in order to ascertain that relationship.

Some cosmetics companies work together with hospitals in order to speed up recovery of patients suffering of cancer in organizing cosmetic workshops inside the hospital. The successful results of these initiatives that often involve hairstyle variations point out not only to the impact on general well-being but indirectly also on general health.

The new measuring instrument, BeautyQoL has been specifically developed to scientifically assess the effect of cosmetic products on Quality of Life, leveraging the common fact that the way we look can indeed influence the way we feel, think and interact with others. The scientific article recently published in the Journal of Cosmetology and Trichology presents the results of this study assessing two popular haircoloring products from L’Oréal (Excellence® by L’Oréal Paris and Olia® by Garnier).

Tested on a total of 240 adult women whose age ranged from 45 to 70, BeautyQoL confirmed the improvement of quality of life both on the general index as well as dimension-specific scores, demonstrating the added value of the tested hair coloring products.

The importance of this new generation of studies using BeautyQoL is that it scientifically demonstrates how the cosmetic products – in this case hair color – don’t just enhance one’s physical appearance in a superficial way but actually impact one’s self-esteem, social relations and general well-being.

According to Dr Ariel Beresniak, project leader of the BeautyQoL initiative and Chief Executive Officer of Data Mining International, an independent research agency based in Geneva, Switzerland:

“For the very first time, these findings confirm the interest, sensitivity and robustness of the BeautyQoL instrument in assessing branded cosmetic products that relate to physical appearance”.

Indeed, considering the financial importance of the hair and beauty industry as well as the deep psychological and emotional relationship that women (and men) of all ages and all cultures have with their hair style, this innovative scientific approach shows the marketed hair coloring products and their impact in a completely new light, demonstrating how a seemingly simple action can have significant and far reaching positive consequences on people’s lives.

*Assessing the Hair Colourings’ Impact on Quality of Life. Beresniak et al., J Cosmo Trichol 2015, 1:1. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/jctt.100010

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