Abstract

Opacifiers and pearlising agents are widely used to improve the appearance of shower gels and shampoos. Most current opacifying and pearlising solutions are based on synthetic ingredients, such as: styrene/acrylate copolymers for opacifiers, glycol stearate derivatives with fatty amides or mica-coated with a high refractive index metal oxide coating for pearlising agents.
These synthetic ingredients are in the line of fire due to current trends towards zero-plastic and zero-nano particle products. Besides, they can also be difficult to use due to pH restrictions, need for high-temperature processes, and compatibility issues with other ingredients, particularly with cationics.
This study demonstrates that a specific natural kaolin-based solution can be used to replace synthetic opacifiers and a specific natural talc-based solution can replace conventional pearlising agents.