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 Significance of Surfactants in Skincare Products

Although, often not as well-known in comparison to the marketable, on-trend ingredient du jour, the surfactants group may be the hardest-working element. Surfactants are present in most skincare products.

The broad term, surfactants, cover a huge range of different chemicals, which have very different roles:

• Cleansing agents
• Foam formers
• Help the spreading of products
• Creating emulsions (most creams and lotions are emulsions) of oil and water to allow them to mix

Why not use water alone as a cleanser?

Every cleanser will have some type of surfactant/s present are which are essentially the cleansing agent in the product. Their unique structures (known as micelles) stimulate or emulsify fats and oils on the surface of the skin. These micelles trap the dirt and makeup allowing them to be washed away. Something that water alone cannot achieve.

Because of their nature, however, surfactants can affect the pH of your skin to different degrees, leaving it dry and irritated. If the surfactant is particularly harsh, then regular usage can further aggravate the skin's protective barrier. 

Tip: if you find after cleansing your face that it feels dry and tight, this may indicate that the surfactant maybe too severe for you. I would definitely look for an alternative product at this stage which maybe more suitable. For some suggestions of cleansing products, click here.

Example names of surfactants

• Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)
• Glyceryl stearate
• Cocamidopropyl betaine
• PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate
• Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

The good news is there are so many surfactants available, there will be several that will suit your skin. The bad news is there is no way of knowing which ones could potentially be irritant to you, so unfortunately, trial and error is needed.

There are always newer, more improved surfactants being developed and in consistent with other formulation ingredients a push towards biodegradability and environmentally friendly alternatives to the current offerings (see Biosurfactants)

Another positive trend is the inclusion in modern cleansers of moisturising agents such as emollients and humectants, which help to limit water loss from the skin and protect that all important functioning of the skin barrier (for more on the importance of skin barrier and other emerging trends read here)

Water and oil don't mix?

This is absolutely true if it was just water and oil... but enter surfactants (or emulsifiers)! Because emulsifiers are both water-loving and oil-loving chemicals (to varying degrees), their inclusion can allow these two entities to blend very effectively. So many of the cosmetic products we use are emulsions (oil and water combinations). With emulsions we are getting the best of both worlds. They usually help make formulations easy to apply and pleasant to use, whilst also delivering moisturising and other beneficial ingredients to the skin, which may be otherwise difficult to incorporate.

Whilst studying for my Cosmetic Science Diploma, I found the area of surfactants so interesting. There are even maths formulas for theoretically working out how to choose the correct emulsifiers suitable for different formulations! However, experimenting in the laboratory is the only true test of how a formulations will work, where the stability and suitability of a surfactant can be assessed. 

To conclude, these chemicals often go unnoticed when talking about a formulation but often surfactants/emulsifiers are crucial to creating a stable product, that does what it is intended to do.

For more skin care product advice, message me here

Michelle

Skin Health Pharmacist