Hair

Fiberhance and trehalose — strengthening hair without coating it

7 September 2026

On our labels you will find a pair of ingredients: Hydroxypropyl Gluconamide and Hydroxypropylammonium Gluconate. That is the technology known commercially as fiberHance BM. It is worth knowing exactly what it does — because the mechanism differs from everything previously used to “repair” hair.

Where it comes from

This is sugar chemistry — the molecules derive from gluconolactone, a glucose derivative. The commercial preparation is a 50% aqueous solution of hydroxypropyl-L-gluconamide and hydroxypropylammonium gluconate, at a pH of roughly 4.7–5.5. Both ingredients are small — and that is the key.

How it works

Most “nourishing” hair ingredients work on the surface: silicones form a film, protein hydrolysates sit on the cuticle, oils fill irregularities. They improve look and slip, but they do not change what happens inside the fibre.

Fiberhance molecules are small enough to pass the cuticle into the cortex. They have many hydroxyl groups and an amide group, so they form hydrogen and ionic bonds with damaged keratin structure — physical cross-links that help stabilise the fibre from within. Crystallographic studies suggest strong salt bridges may form, taking on some of the mechanical role of damaged disulphide bonds.

An important caveat you will not find in ads: this is not rebuilding disulphide bonds. Sulphur bridges broken by bleach do not come back. What forms is an alternative network of hydrogen and ionic bonds that takes on part of the mechanical job. The effect is measured as greater fibre strength in fatigue tests, not as restoration of the original structure.

What the hair gets

• —greater resistance to breakage, including with repeated chemical services
• —a protective role during bleaching when it is added to the bleaching mix
• —better spring and manageability
• —the effect is not a coating — hair is not weighed down and there is no build-up

And trehalose?

Trehalose is a disaccharide — two glucose molecules joined by an unusual α,α-1,1 bond. That bond makes the sugar non-reducing and chemically very stable.

In nature trehalose is a survival molecule. Organisms that can survive complete drying — tardigrades, some mosses, yeasts — accumulate it in large amounts. As water evaporates, trehalose takes the place of water molecules around proteins and membranes, holding their structure, and moves into a glassy state that immobilises the whole until rehydration.

In a cosmetic that becomes two properties:

1. 1.A particularly stable humectant — it binds water, but unlike glycerin it does not aggressively pull water from deeper layers at low humidity. It is useful in winter and in air-conditioned rooms.
2. 2.Structural support during dehydration — it stabilises proteins as water is lost. For hair, that means support during blow-drying and straightening, when the fibre suddenly loses water.

Why together

Fiberhance works inside the fibre, building a bond network. Trehalose works on water balance and protein stability as hair dries. The first is about mechanical strength; the second is about not losing that strength with every dryer. Both are small sugar molecules; both work through hydrogen bonds. That is coherent chemistry, not a random pair.