Published on September 02, 2005
An interest in herbs inspired a 10-year-old girl in Phayao province to become a pharmacist someday, developing herbs for hair-treatment products.
Now, 48-year-old pharmacist Chuleerath Chaiyodsilp, who founded herbal hair-care-product company Chor Nature six years ago, blends local knowledge with modern science to research herbs and turn them into hair-care products.
“Hair problems like hair loss, greying, baldness, hair damage and itchy scalp are common, and our mission is to help sufferers through herbs,” said Chuleerath. Instead of chemical substances, Chor Nature uses pure herb extracts in its hair tonics, shampoos, conditioners and treatments. The main herbs the company uses for product bases include sesame seeds, bael fruit, Asiatic pennywort, soapberry and shikaki. Chuleerath said these herbs include important substances like glycosides, tocopherols, lignan, and coumarins that are anti-oxidants and contain anti-ageing, anti-senescence and scalp revitalising properties. For example, sesame seeds contain unsaturated fatty acids, essential amino acids, zinc, iron, vitamin B and antioxidants, act to revitalise the scalp, possess anti-ageing properties, promotes hair growth and nourishes hair and scalp cells, so they help hair grow and delay greying. Bael fruit contains essential fatty acids and flavonoids, acts as an anti-oxidant, has anti-ageing properties and helps with grey hair. It has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral actions and anti-parasite pharmacological properties that reduce infections related to hair loss. She said that researching herbs has helped her company develop new products to solve people’s hair problems holistically, which was much better than using chemicals that cause side effects. She added that some hair products available on the market were compounds of chemical substances that cause side effects over the short or long term. “Most people have hair loss after stopping the use of hair products that contain certain chemicals. The chemicals are good for one problem, but side effects happen when people stop using them,” said Chuleerath. Chemicals commonly found in hair tonics include minoxidil and finasteride, while sodium lauryl sulphate, silicone, lanolin and diethanolamide are mostly used in shampoos and conditioners. Other substances are used to improve the colour, smell and texture of hair products, including lanolin, alcohol, simethicone, diethicone and silver nitrate. “Diethanolamide is prohibited in many developed countries, because it’s thought to cause cancer, but it’s still used in Thailand,” said Chuleerath. The company also has a hair-treatment centre that uses fresh herb extracts and has 6,000 regular customers who use Chor Nature products. People both inside and outside the country can buy products via the website herbforhair.com. asina@nationgroup.com Asina Pornwasin The Nation
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