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Oils in Cleansing Products?
  • neroli77
    I just noticed that both my body wash and shampoo have oils included, right after I thought I'd figured out that cleansing products don't need emulsification. 

    It doesn't look like an advertising gimmick with these products, just like they wanted to include them.  I guess that might be nice, for a body wash, as a conditioning/refatting idea, and if a shampoo stays on your hair long enough, with an oil that can be absorbed or at least form a film.  But does adding oils in cleansing products really provide benefits, and if so, what do they do?   
  • BrainHeartBeauty
    Oils in cleansers dissolve oily residue. In chemistry, one of the first things we learnt was "like dissolves like". They give a better cleansing effect (especially for things like long-wear foundation and waterproof mascara) without the harsh stripping action of stronger surfactants,
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    With all due respect, BHB, like only dissolves like when it's really oil being applied to oily dirt. Oils in body wash and shampoo are usually there just as featured ingredients that don't do anything. 
  • BrainHeartBeauty
    Well, yeah, obviously if they're only there in tiny amounts it won't have that effect, but the original post was unclear whether it was a major component or not.
  • rozy
    The BB usually call those "goodies" lol you could also call it angel dust.
  • pedrom.
    My personal approach to avoid to dry out the skin is choosing a cleanser with mild surfactants instead of Sodium Laureth Sulfate - like Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate. This kind of cleansers leaves my skin very soft and nice!

    Once a time a cleanser was drying out my skin so I put a bit of olive oil in the product (about 2%) but it didn't make any visibly difference. 
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Ditto to what Pedrom said. A mild cleanser trumps added oils!
  • neroli77
    Thanks guys!  It's not featured or anything, or I would have just figured about fairy dust, I think they're really trying, I mean to offset the surfactants or something - and it does have a lot of the SLS (if I'm acronyzing that right - also I just made up acronyzing).  So for surfactants I can access, a lot of betaine and maybe one of the mild surfactant blends you can get (that include the harder to get stuff).

    Extra thanks, BHB - with aging (50 in about a week), dry, sensitive skin, I've really loved some of the wipe-off instead of rinsing cleansers, and wondered how they work.  Nothing I've found or used recently, and it wouldn't tell me how much oil anyway, but I'll look for recipes and know basically to emphasize oils - they're great for dry skin anyway!   
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Lol, love acronyzing as a new verb!
  • rozy
    Me too someone add it to urbandictionary lol
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