“Certified natural formulations are not permitted to use synthetic cationics,” Daniel Winn, director of personal care at Inolex told CosmeticsDesign.com USA. “Companies offering natural hair conditioners have really struggled to provide benefits comparable to mainstream formulas.”
Cationics are carbon chains with a synthentic positive charge at one end. In a hair conditioning formula this helps to relieve static, in turn leaving hair smoother and less fly-away.
Filling a gap in the market
Launched earlier this year after three years of development, Emulsense is being marketed by the company as a breakthrough in green technology that is expected to fill a glaring gap in the market, which is currently mainly served by petrochemical-based alternatives.
The ingredient is composed of 65 percent active and 35 percent fatty acid. This includes natural amino acids, sustainable Brassica fatty alcohol and a sugar fermentation organic acid.
The result is a cationic with a high safety profile, together with effective hair conditioning properties and a good skin-feel, the company claims.
Tapping into the green chemistry trend
The company also claims that the processing of the ingredient is particularly green, given that it is produced in one step, with a high atom economy and no waste, other than water as the by-product.
“Certified natural formulations are not permitted to use synthetic cationics,” explained Winn. “Companies offering natural hair conditioners have really struggled to provide benefits comparable to mainstream formulas.”
The company says that its research shows that Emulsense has applications beyond conventional hair conditioning formulas, to also include leave-in hair conditioners, hair styling products and even skin care products.
Emulsense variant to target skin care
“The most surprising application we found was in skin care. We quickly discovered that Emulsense had very nice esthetic properties when used as the primary emulsifier in creams and lotions,” said Winn.
The research into the skin care applications revealed that when it is used in a very high oil content formulation, the skin-feel remained powdery and not too greasy. This led to the development of a variant called Emulese SC, which is specifically for use in skin care.
The company says it is planning to further develop the Emulsense line and is currently looking into whether new variants can be discovered with other benefits by formulating with different types of vegetable and botanical oils