Reduction of skin's surfactant adsorption : An effective way to improve mildness and performance of bath care products

It was shown that the anionic surfactant sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) possesses a high substantivity to human skin. Even short-term contact with human skin leads to a quantifiable and long lasting adsorption of the surfactant. This means that the short-term stress of taking a shower turns into long-term stress afterwards. This knowledge led to completely new starting points for the improvement of shower products. It was demonstrated that the addition of the mild co-surfactant sodium cocoyl glutamate (SCG) to standard shower formulations leads to a reduction of SLES adsorption. SCG itself does not adsorb onto the skin in relevant amounts. Reduction of adsorption correlates with an increased moisture content of the skin. Also, an improved sensory perception of the formulations was achieved by the addition of the SCG.