Okara: helping damaged hair
Better than a fireman or a superhero, Okara is the mystery ingredient that repairs your hair after coloring, helps it recover and prolongs the vibrancy of your color. But what is it? Where does it come from? And why is it so essential? We tell you everything.
Yes, Okara is one of the countless by-products of soy, a millennia-old plant whose uses are still being discovered to this day. With more than 20% protein, but also rich in lipids and fiber, soy is an essential source of nutrition. Its consumption as an alternative to meat is now booming.
But what does this have to do with hair? Hair is made up of keratin, a natural protein that takes the shape of scales or tiles, and forms an almost impenetrable barrier around the hair fiber. The keratin proteins are linked together by amino acid bridges that work like rivets to ensure the strength of these tiles around the hair. Coloring chemically destroys these bridges, lifting the scales and pushing the color pigments into the fiber, making the hair fragile, dull and brittle. The only way to close this barrier is to weld the tiles together.This is exactly the role of the plant proteins contained in soy which, by biomimicry, replace the original amino acids to ensure the strength of the keratin barrier. In addition to post-coloring care, the action of soy proteins allows the hair structure to be lastingly repaired, regardless of how it has been damaged.
From soy to okara
Soybeans are one of the most widely grown crops in the world, but René Furterer was interested in one of its by-products. The crushed soybeans are first boiled in water. After cooking, the liquid – which becomes soy “milk” – is separated from the solid, a residue rich in protein and fiber. After a solvent-free water extraction, Okara – an extract concentrated in amino acids and small peptides – is recovered, ready to be incorporated into cosmetic formulations.
René Furterer works exclusively with Triballat Noyal, a family business from Brittany, France. The Okara we use comes from a 100% French, organic and GMO-free soy production chain and enables us to recycle Breton soy production waste, which is then processed at our Gaillac site.
Okara is then found in the range that bears its name, dedicated to caring for colored hair and toning white hair, as well as in the Absolue Kératine range where, coupled with the action of wheat peptides, it works wonders in repairing hair that has been harshly damaged by numerous aggressive techniques.