Are surfactants bad?

Are all surfactants bad?

"This uses surfactants, so it's no good, right?"

One day, someone asked me.

When I asked, "What? Why?"

"But surfactants aren't good for the skin, right?" was the answer...

Please wait a moment!

Surfactants are essential in cosmetics, and I'm sure most people use cosmetics that contain surfactants.

Cosmetics are made up of water, oil, and surfactants.

Cosmetics contain more than 10,000 different ingredients in total.
So, any ingredient is

• Aqueous Component
• Oily ingredients
• Surfactants

are classified as follows.

Water-based ingredients include BG, glycerin, plant extracts, ethanol, etc.
Oily ingredients include vegetable oils and fats, petrolatum, fatty acids such as lauric acid, synthetic oils derived from fatty acids, and silicones.

In reality, water and oil do not mix together. However, in cosmetics, they are mixed together evenly into a cream. What's more, they stay mixed together.

This is made possible by surfactants.

There are many different types of surfactants

Surfactants serve various purposes, such as mixing water-based and oil-based ingredients evenly, acting as cleaning ingredients in shampoos, and improving foaming.

And there are a huge number of types, both synthetic and natural. Some of these can be very irritating to the skin. For example,

・Sodium lauryl sulfate It has a strong cleansing power and may damage the skin's barrier function. It may also cause skin irritation. ・Sodium laureth sulfate A milder version of sodium lauryl sulfate. However, some people may experience irritation. ・Cetrimonium chloride (be careful with other chlorides too) It has a high risk of allergies and is not permitted in the EWG certification . It is also used as a preservative.

I think that the impression that "surfactants are bad" has been created based solely on information about a few surfactants like these .

However, in reality, not all surfactants are bad or irritating. It is important to know that there are many different types and to choose the right one for your skin.

Skin-friendly surfactants

Of course, there are also surfactants that are less irritating for people with sensitive skin or small children.
For example, amino acid and betaine-based surfactants are said to be low-irritation and gentle on the skin, and are often used in soaps for sensitive skin and for babies.

For example, these ingredients:

・Sodium cocoyl glutamate A combination of coconut-derived fatty acids and amino acids provides mild moisturizing effects. ・Sodium lauroyl methylalanine It is derived from lauric acid, which is found in palm oil, etc. It has cleansing power, but is also gentle on the skin and has a moisturizing effect. ・Sodium methyl cocoyl taurate It is derived from the fatty acids in coconut oil and is said to remove sebum moderately while being gentle on the skin.

In fact, soap is also a surfactant.

There are cases where people who say, "Surfactants are evil!" are actually regular users of soap.

But this is a big contradiction.

This is because soap is also a surfactant.

Soap is alkaline and has a relatively strong cleansing power. For people with extremely dry skin, it can upset the pH balance of the skin, making the dryness worse or causing irritation.

For this reason, it is often the case that using a body soap containing surfactants that are said to be hypoallergenic, as mentioned above, is more suitable for your skin.

However, depending on the manufacturing method and the combination of other ingredients, soap can also be made to be gentle on the skin.

summary

"All surfactants are useless!"

Do you understand now that this is an unfounded assumption?

I hope you will continue to learn with me so that you can acquire the correct knowledge and choose cosmetics that suit your skin and values.

CONCIO
Keiko Kimoto