The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
There are three categories of acyl amino acids and salts, which are anionic surfactants. Acyl glutamates Acyl peptides Acyl sarcosides Acyl glutamates are created by the acylation of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring amino acid. They are poor foamers but very gentle cleansers that are mild to the skin and eyes, and are generally used…...
Phosphate esters are a category of anionic surfactants that include alkyl phosphates and alkyl ether phosphates. We don’t use phosphate esters in our bath & body products much as they are generally used in household cleaning products due to their low pH. They are very mild to the skin and might show up in facial…...
Taurates (or taurides) are anionic acylamino alkane surfactants with a chemical structure very close to that of the isethionates. They are gentle cleansers used to increase the viscosity in a surfactant mix, and are generally used as co-surfactants. They were used a lot in commercial shampoos and body washes, but have now been replaced by…...
My best friend is a lucky girl – no, not because I’m her best friend, but because she has normal skin. Not too dry, not too oily, no major break-outs, and nothing to worry about but the aging process we all go through. I love formulating for her skin – I can use all kinds…...
Acai biofunctional botanical liquid is a product from Beraca, a company that specializes in products from the rainforest. It’s INCI is Glycerin (and) Euterpe oleracea fruit powder (and) Water, and I’ve seen it advertised that it doesn’t include preservative, which makes me very nervous, to be honest. I have no idea about the shelf life…...
Fruit acid complex or Multifruit BSC is a great way to get alpha hydroxy acids into your products in a way that is easy to use and hard to over-do. With an INCI Water & Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract & Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract & Acer Saccharinum (Sugar Maple) Extract & Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange)…...
I do love the isethionates, found in the form of sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI) or ammonium cocoyl isethionate (ACI). The sodium version comes in prills, flakes, or noodles, while the ammonium version comes in liquid form at 30% active. If you look at this picture, the M+ signifies either sodium or ammonium, both of which…...
If you’ve read any of the shampoo posts on this blog, you’ll know I love sulfosuccinates! This happy molecule is disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (known as DLS mild) and it is a mono-ester of a sodium salt. Sulfosuccinates are generally sodium salts of alkyl esters of sulfosuccinic acid that are a result of condensation of maleic…...
The linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is one of the most widely used detergents, but its use in personal care is very limited. It has a very low compatibility with skin, and is usually only used in anti-seborrheic or very oily skin cleansers.This picture is of sodium linear alkyl benzene sulfonate. It has good detergency and…...
There are three main types of alkyl sulfonates – primary paraffin sulfates (PPS), secondary paraffin sulfates (SPS) or secondary alkyl sulfates (SAS), and alpha-olefin sulfates (AOS). The paraffin sulfonates are good foamers and good oil in water emulsifiers. They do not thicken with the addition of salt. I can’t find any examples of these surfactants…....