—Thinking Clearly

Dear Thinking:
It is definitely possible to make clear cleansing formulations with glyceryl oleate. I have found success in using it up to 1.5%. There is literature that suggests you can use it up to 3% in a formulation and still have a clear product, although I have not found that to be the case. I suppose it depends on what else is in the formula! Admittedly, although my work included alkyl polyglucosides in the formulation, they were not 100% APG-based formulas. They also contained anionic and amphoteric surfactants, alongside the nonionic APG. I still think you may be able to achieve a clear formulation, even with strictly nonionics in the formula; it depends on the use level of both items, what the specific APGs are, and what else is present in the formula to help ease any haziness.

Whether or not it will thicken effectively is a completely different story. I remain skeptical because, as a hydrophobic W/O emulsifier, glyceryl oleate has limited function as a thickener in aqueous systems. It has some thickening properties with surfactants, but it needs anionic surfactants for any reasonable thickening activity. It won’t thicken appreciably with just other nonionics, so you’ll need to add some anionic secondary surfactants in your product. Even then, I think the thickening is limited and wouldn’t be my go-to-choice for thickening. At best, you’ll only get 1,000-2,000cps increase. Of course, this is all formulation dependent and the type of APG you choose plays a huge role.


Dear Valerie: Sometimes, when I make an emulsion in the lab, it is bright white; other times, it is light yellow. The batches that are yellow get darker yellow in stability. I have a lot of oils in the batch. Does the oil’—Oils Well

Dear Oils:
Unless you’re using very dark or colored oil to begin with, it is unlikely the oil quality causes your emulsions to sometimes be yellow and sometimes white. This sometimes-white, sometimes-not is usually a result of varying processing techniques. Light passes through an emulsion that’s properly formed differently than one that is poorly formed. If your emulsion is properly formed with small, uniform droplet sizes, it will be white (which you sometimes see). If it is not formed well, it will be off-white to yellow, and you may see the oils oxidizing in stability. Review your process to make sure you’re mixing adequately, using the appropriate temperatures for emulsification, and check your droplet size under a microscope. Most importantly, make sure you’re being consistent in following the procedure that leads you to a white emulsion.


Dear Valerie: What ingredients would you recommend to make shampoos less drying for African American hair? The complaint I hear a lot is that products don’—Slip Improvement

Dear Slip:
Hair feeling dry is a consumer perception issue, which can be corrected by providing lubrication, slip and a soft hair feel. If hair is feeling dry, using products with these features will mitigate any negative feelings we get when touching the hair. Of course, African American hair has the added challenges of conformation of the hair fiber, so paying attention to lubrication and slip is essential.

Shampoos are the perfect product in which to use cationic guar gums. These will not only provide slight viscosity build to your shampoo, but they will aid in the hair feeling a little slip during rinsing. Because they are cationic and stick to negatively-charged sites on hair, cationic gums will also afford some wet combing properties. You can choose from a wide variety of cationic guar gums, depending on whether you need a clear system, and how much conditioning you need. They have low cationicity to high cationicity. I wrote about selecting guar gums extensively in my February 2022 column.

Most importantly though, cationic guar gums, as well as other cationic gums, can provide coacervation on hair. Simply put, during the shampoo process, the cationic gum will grab any oil or silicone and then bind both to the hair. This not only provides an excellent conditioning benefit and is the basis of 2-in-1 shampoo-conditioners, but it should also help mitigate some of the combing issues you’re facing. Polyquaternium-10 is great for this, too.

Lubrication must also be addressed. This should be felt in the wet phase when the product is being rinsed from the hair. Silicone microemulsions, like amodimethicone (and) trideceth-12 (and) cetrimonium chloride, are excellent for this application. They simultaneously lubricate the hair, as well as help with combing. I also recommend a little slug of panthenol, which will create a very slippery feel on the hair in the wet stage.

Of course, heavy duty quats are fantastic to solve all your issues, but very few can be put into shampoo-based systems because of the chemical incompatibility with surfactants. Polyquaternium-7 is a worker bee, but it is not going to give hair a modern, soft and touchable feel once it is dry. It works behind the scenes. You need tactile quats that go in conditioners, like olealkonium chloride or quaternium-87, which are felt on hair when it is dry. These quats help provide a cushion to the hair, leaving it feeling restored and conditioned.

Lastly, I would try to have a realistic expectation on what experiences shampoos can provide. They have limitations. Hair, especially textured hair, has extra-special needs for it to comb through easily and have reduced breakage. No one product can do it all, although you can formulate products in way so that each one is enjoyable during the hair routine.