Patent ID: 7175832

Claim:
A method of treating human hair, the method comprising (A) applying to the human hair a coating composition which has a pH of 3 to 9, and which comprises water, a surfactant, and, dispersed in the water, solid particles having an average particle size of less 0.5 micron, and comprising a crystalline polymer which (1) has a melting point T m and an onset-of-melting temperature, T o , such that T m −T o is less than 20° C., and (2) is derived from a monomer component comprising (a) a hydrophobic monomer component comprising (i) a first hydrophobic monomer which is such that a homopolymer thereof is a side chain crystalline (SCO) polymer having a melting point T c , and (ii) a second hydrophobic monomer which is such that a homopolymer thereof is amorphous and has a glass transition point T g which is less than T c , and is from −50 to 120° C., and (b) a hydrophilic monomer component comprising a hydrophilic monomer, one or both of the hydrophobic monomer component and the hydrophilic monomer component containing at least one monomer selected from one or more of (i) crosslinking monomers having at least two polymerizable groups, (ii) amphoteric monomers in amount at least 0.5% by weight, based on weight of the monomer component, and (iii) monomers containing carboxyl groups, the carboxyl groups being at least 75% neutralized; and (B) evaporating water from the composition to form a solid polymeric coating on the human hair.