Surfactants

Q&A: What’s the emulsifier in a shampoo bar?

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“What’s the emulsifier in this shampoo bar formula?” someone asked about a solid shampoo bar that contained butters and other oil soluble ingredients. The short answer is that there isn’t a need for an emulsifier in a shampoo bar that doesn’t contain water because we only need to worry about emulsifiers when we have oil...

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Q&A: What’s the safe as used percentage for sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI)? (Updated for 2023)

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Rochelle asked in the Q&A for October, I have read a few conflicting stories/posts from different formulation type blogs about the safe usage levels of sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI) in solid products like shampoo bars. One school of thought seems to be that the maximum usage rate of SCI is 49.5% (or thereabouts) and the...

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Q&A: What’s the process to thicken surfactants with salt?

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In the monthly Q&A, Chavi asked, Hi Susan, I often see you mention if a surfactant blend can be thickened with salt. Could you describe the actual process of thickening with salt? Thanks! Adding salt – sodium chloride, table salt – is a good way to thicken certain surfactants and blends! It does this in two...

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Creating a body wash/shower gel with Iselux Ultra Mild (formulas)

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Yesterday, we met an awesome anionic (negatively charged) surfactant blend called Iselux Ultra Mild (INCI: Water (and) Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate (and) Cocamidopropyl Betaine (and) Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate (and) Lauryl Glucoside (and) Coco-Glucoside) and learned everything we might want to know about it so we can make some seriously awesome products! Today, let’s make...

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#alltheingredients: Iselux Ultra Mild surfactant blend

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This surfactant profile appeared in its original form in the e-book, Shiny things, volume 3: Things that distracted me, issued in November 2019. This is is the kind of material I share in these e-books – ingredient profiles, emollient profiles, other profiles along with formulas to show you how to use them.  Many are exclusive to...

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