Hair coloring composition containing a water-soluble cationic polymer and a process for use thereof

Claim 1

A process for coloring hair comprising applying to the hair in effective amount an aqueous solution containing from 0.01 to 1.0 per cent, by weight, of an acid dye in the presence of an aqueous solution containing from 0.1 to 10.0 per cent, by weight, of a water-soluble acid salt of a cationic polymer selected from the group consisting of aminoalkyl esters of (a) a homopolymer of a homopolymerizable unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 5 carbon atoms, (b) a copolymer of a copolymerizable mixture of said unsaturated carboxylic acids, and (c) a copolymer of an unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 5 carbon atoms and at least one copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated comonomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether, the C 1 - C 8 alkyl esters and C 1 - C 8 alkyl half esters of maleic and fumaric acid, acrylamide, N-methyl acrylamide, methacrylamide and the C 1 - C 18 alkyl and C 2 - C 4 hydroxyalkyl esters of acrylic and methacrylic acids, wherein the copolymer of group (c) contains at least 25 mole per cent of the unsaturated carboxylic acid, and wherein the dye solution and polymer solution are applied together or separately with the application of the polymer solution preceding the application of the dye solution; and thereafter rinsing the hair.