Patent ID: 8343520

Claim:
A process for the treatment of skin or hair, comprising the step of treating said skin or hair with an efficient cleaning or rinsing amount of a composition comprising a cosmetically acceptable vector, optionally a surfactant, and an ampholytic copolymer comprising cationic units (c) and anionic or potentially anionic units (a), wherein: the copolymer comprises: 0.1% to 50% by number of units (c) derivable from the polymerization of at least one monomeric compound (c) of formula: wherein: R 1 comprises a hydrogen atom or a methyl or ethyl group; R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 , which are identical or different, comprise linear or branched C 1 -C 6 alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, or aminoalkyl groups, m is an integer ranging from 0 to 10; n is an integer ranging from 1 to 6; Z represents a —C(O)O— group, a —C(O)NH— group, or an oxygen atom; A represents a group (CH 2 ) p , p being an integer ranging from 1 to 6; B represents a linear or branched C 2 -C 12 polymethylene chain, optionally interrupted with one or more hetero atoms or hetero groups, and optionally substituted with one or more hydroxyl or amino groups; and X − , which are identical or different, represent counterions; units (a) derivable from the polymerization of at least one hydrophilic monomer (a) bearing a function of acidic nature that is copolymerizable with (c); optionally units (n) derivable from at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer (n) of neutral charge, which is copolymerizable with (c) and (a), wherein (n) optionally comprises an ethylenically unsaturated hydrophilic monomer compound of neutral charge bearing one or more hydrophilic groups, which is copolymerizable with (c) and (a); the amount of units (a) and optionally (n) range from 50% to 99.9% by number; the pH of the composition ranges from 5.5 to 7.5; the weight proportion of surfactant in the composition ranges from 0 to 30% by weight, the surfactant comprising an anionic surfactant and optionally an amphoteric surfactant; and the weight proportion of the copolymer in the composition ranges from 0.01% to 5%.