Formulating with Natural Surfactants

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With growth in demand for environmentally-friendly products steadily on the rise, it’s only natural that naturally-derived surfactants is a category sparking interest amongst formulators. But what does “natural” mean? Explore definitions of this term and ingredient options, including blends and bio-surfactants generating growing interest.

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Natural-Surfactants

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Highlights from the infographic:

  • With no standard definition of “natural” available, various agencies have developed their own.
  • The Natural Products Association says natural “ingredients must come from or be made from a renewable resource found in nature with absolutely no petroleum compounds.”
  • Natrue (natrue.org) says “natural substances are substances of botanic, inorganic-minoral (not organic-mineral, e.g. mineral oil) or animal origin (except for dead vertebrates) and their mixtures and ‘reaction products’ with each other.
  • Most standards also outline processing criteria for preserving an ingredient’s natural heritage.
  • Demand for environmentally friendly products is driving growth of the market for naturally derived surfactants.
  • Familiar representatives of naturally-derived surfactants include alkyl polyglucosides, lactylates and glutamates.
  • Biosurfactants to keep an eye on include algae-derived, rhamnolipids, sophorolipids and marine-derived.
Sponsored Products
GlucoTain® Flex by Clariant – GlucoTain® Flex is a versatile solution offering freedom when formulating. With its medium creamy foam, it leaves a smooth, nourished after feel and provides excellent color protection. Especially suitable for fine, damaged and colored hair…
GlucoTain® Plus by Clariant – GlucoTain® Plus is a mild surfactant with a excellent cleansing and wetting ability. When used as a surfactant it is especially suitable for formulations featuring light and abundant foam such as refreshing, vitalizing showers, hand washes, men..
TEGO® Cosmo C 100 by Evonik – The hair architect TEGO® Cosmo C 100 keeps hair with various ethnical requirements healthy and beautiful looking. The amino acid derivative is identical to the natural creatine occurring in the skin and improves mechanical properties of stressed hair.
TEGO® Care PBS 6 by Evonik – The versatile PEG-free O/W emulsifier for challenging fluid emulsions. TEGO® Care PBS 6 is based on fully renewable sources and is natural certified. This high performance emulsifier shows outstanding stabilization properties in demanding systems.

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6 Responses to “Formulating with Natural Surfactants”

  1. I want to make gripe water.i soulublize dill oil in propylen glycol and add tween 80 into soultion.the gripe water clear at first but the got some micelles type formation.please kindly tell me what can i do?
    I appreciate your support

  2. Lovely day Priscilla! Thanks for sharing the information on natural surfactants. I greatly appreciate it, and the work you do. I really look forward to incorporating them in my formulations. I believe when commenting you should stay on topic, so do you have an email address in which I can ask your opinion regarding another ingredient? Thanks for your time!

  3. buenos días:
    requiero insumos de origen natural para hacer un mousse para cabello.
    tengo el frasco y la bomba para hacer la espuma.
    No utilizamos gas propelente.

  4. Please seriously reconsider your formula. Gripe water is for babies with colic. Propylene glycol and Tween 80 are petrol derived and synthetic compounds that iare thought to be responsable for intestinal disorders. Research suggests that both may change the population of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, thus promoting the growth of pro-inflammatory bacteria. Try formulating by replacing for example with organic glycerine.

  5. There is such a lot of information going around the internet about ‘Natural surfactants and prservatives’ with almost every site negating what the other has said that it is quite a head spinner for laymen and newbies who are eager to try their hands on formulating skin and hair care products….how does one discern and soft facts from fiction? Please guide.

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