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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 They were used a lot in commercial shampoos and body washes, but have now been replaced by...
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. The...