The 12th TRI International Conference on Applied Hair Science was between the 2nd and 4th June 2026 at Red Bank, NJ. As with other events in recent years, this was hybrid, with nearly 400 attendees, across online and in-person registrations, from 107 companies worldwide.

Supplier’s Day was more than an exhibition, it was an opportunity to share knowledge, build relationships, and showcase how science can inspire curiosity while driving meaningful innovation in personal care.

Dr Paul Cornwell (Director, Business Development) delivered a presentation titled ‘Bridging Global Standards in Claims Testing: From Advanced Hair Science to African Market Realities’ at the SCC South Africa meeting titled: Unified by Purpose: A Global Cosmetic Science Convergence, on Thursday 23rd April.

Dr. Jessica Turner was invited to the recent Princeton American Chemical Society (PACS) section meeting to present an overview of the how sunscreens interact with the skin, which was based on works completed within the Skin and Biosubstrates team at TRI.

This intensive two-day event provided attendees with the knowledge in hair science and claims substantiation needed to succeed in the field through delivering materials related to hair structure and biology, hair product science, and the key measurement techniques used to test the performance of hair products and support hair claims.

Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud was at In-Cos in Paris in April 2026, manning TRI’s booth that was shared with HORIBA.

High-performance thin layer chromatography, also abbreviated to HPTLC, is a specialized technique that is an extension of thin layer chromatography (TLC), an analytical technique used extensively within chemistry.

The development of an automated test for monitoring split-end closure enables TRI to continue to provide excellent, reliable support for customers – especially those working within hair repair. In addition, more granular data generation means that split-end closure across a range of categories, for example hair type, enabling probing of treatments designed for different international markets or differing consumer hair profiles.

Dr. Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud and the Skin and Biosubstrates team are proud to announce the arrival of the new HORIBA SkinProbe system at TRI. This state-of-the-art in-vivo confocal Raman microscope represents the culmination of a strategic collaboration started few years ago between HORIBA and Dr. Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud.

Dr. Ernesta Malinauskyte was invited to the recent Princeton American Chemical Society (PACS) section meeting to present an overview of the human hair from a chemistry perspective. During the talk, she outlined how the key constituents – proteins, lipids, pigments, and water – govern the fiber structure, properties, and performance.

TRI Princeton is an independent research institute focused on testing everyday consumer items for the Cosmetic and Personal Care sectors, such as hair, skin, scalp or nail products. We are proud to have companies all around the world who support our work, and our research has long been held in high regard in the Personal Care Sector. As our workload continues to grow, TRI is looking this year for a part-time laboratory assistant to support our team.

TRI is proud to partner with Brian Ecclefield, Jane Tervooren and the rest of the team at Validated Claim Support, LLC, a clinical research organization based close-by to us in New Jersey. TRI and Validated Claim Support work together to provide cutting-edge skin measurement solutions and clinical testing services for our clients. Validated Claim Support is one of several CRO’s that TRI partners with to offer our clients in vivo skin measurements for cosmetic and dermatologi

TRI is proud to partner with the Consumer Product Testing℠ Company (CPT), an independent contract testing laboratory headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey. TRI and CPT will work together to provide product testing services to our clients, as well as complement our existing capabilities within analytical chemistry, clinical safety, efficacy, claims validation, photobiology, microbiology and in-vitro toxicology testing.

TRI is proud to partner with the team at Eurofins CRL, an organisation that provides customized safety and efficacy testing programs for cosmetic, beauty, personal care, and pharmaceutical products. In particular, they will enable TRI Princeton to design clinical trials and support our clients with their claims substantiation needs.

During the final months of 2025, the Hair Research Team participated in three complementary scientific events that reflected the full spectrum of modern hair science, from analytical chemistry and laboratory research, to clinical insight and consumer education.

The TRI annual hair conference is held on alternate years and is known to showcase the scientific advances made in the fields of hair biology, hair structure and properties, hair damage and new methods and technologies. This year is no exception, with several keynote speakers already announced.

We are excited to announce our second keynote speaker for the 12th TRI International Conference on Applied Hair Science. Bernd Noecker, Director of Basic Research & Technology Development at KAO Germany will give a presentation titled ‘The molecular structure of Keratin Intermediate Filaments and its impact on Hookean and Yield regions of the stress-strain curve’. Our Conference will take place on Tuesday 2nd to Thursday 4th June 2026, at the Oyster Point Hotel, Red Bank, New

The TRI talks are 60-minute on-line seminars on a wide range of topics designed to both inform and inspire new ways of thinking. The fourth talk in the series is by Dr. Ernesta Malinauskyte, Director of Hair Research at TRI, and will give insights into the hidden world of hair and scalp lipids.

Analysis of wild polar bear sebum content was completed through the use of GC-MS, LC-MS/MS and NMR, all of which are also available as testing techniques at TRI Princeton. Overall, it was shown that waxes and glycerol species constituted the bulk of the lipids in the sebum.

TRI has shown that there is a lower friction force between silk and hair than cotton and hair. In medicine, silk is known to have smooth fibers that don’t irritate the skin and silk clothing can be an effective treatment for AD. Overall, evidence suggests that silk may help avoid friction-based damage of hair and skin.