Mo wants to know…I’m confused. Since I read that surfactant-based liquid cleansers are better than soap, I have been on the look out for a good body wash preferably fragrance free. But now I discover that Dove Bar / Vanicream Bar etc. are not soap but Syndets. What does that mean? There are also Syndet base Liquid face & body washes. What do I pick up?
Right Brain comes clean: It’s easy to understand why people get confused by terms like soap, surfactant and syndet. Personal care marketing companies often hijack words from science and repackage them as friendly marketing messages. Unfortunately, everyone’s marketing message is different so words lose their focused definitions. That’s what has happened with these words. We’ll try to clear it up – busting beauty myths like this is what we do best!
Surfactant Cleaners
Almost all cleansing products are based on surfactants. These molecules have a special construction which makes them compatible with both oils and water. Since oil and water do not usually mix, you need surfactants to remove oils from skin and hair. Soaps and syndets are all surfactants. Detergent is just a synonym for surfactant.
Syndet Made Simple
Syndet is a portmanteau word created by combining the words “synthetic” and “detergent”. It was made up by the beauty industry to make products based on synthetic detergents sound sciencey and special. Synthetic detergent sounds nasty, dangerous and icky. Syndet sounds high tech, fun and friendly.
A common type of Syndet like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is made by reacting a fatty alcohols with acid.
Fatty Alcohol + Acid = Syndet
Straight Dope on Soap
Soaps were the first surfactants people used for cleaning. They are made by reacting fatty acids with a base (e.g. sodium hydroxide), a process called saponification.
Fatty Acid + Base = Soap
Three things make Soap different from Syndets.
1. Starting material. The starting material for soap is either animal fat (tallow) or natural oils. Syndets start with fatty alcohols which can be distilled from petroleum or derived from natural oils. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate can be made from both Coconut Oil or petroleum distillates. A by-product of soap making is glycerin, a natural moisturizer. Syndets must be formulated with glycerin or other moisturizing ingredients.
2. Reactions with metal ions. The primary problem with soap is that it reacts with metal ions to form a material that is insoluble (can’t be dissolved) in water. This is what causes the “soap scum” you see lining people’s bathtubs and sinks. Syndets do not react like this so it is not a problem.
3. Formulating flexibility. From a formulation standpoint, syndets are much more flexible than soaps. Soaps are generally solids at room temperature and are limited in the number of ingredients you can incorporate in them. Syndets are liquids that can be thickened and made solid.
Syndet Bar
An example of a Syndet bar would be this La Roche-Posay Syndet bar.
It uses standard surfactants like Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Coco-Betaine, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, etc.
Beauty Brains Bottom Line
As far as what you should get, that is up to you. If fragrance free is an issue, you could try the La Roche product. You could also try the Dove Bar or other syndet bar. The key to these things is to try different products until you find something you like. Everyone’s skin and preferences are different. Personal experimentation is your best option.
See this page for an experiment demonstrating the difference between soap and detergent.
Do you want to learn more about which beauty myths are true and which ones are bogus?
Download our FREE guide “How To Save Money On Beauty Products.”
Comments on this entry are closed.
I saw your book, “It’s OK to Have Lead in Your Lipstick” on Amazon and bought the Kindle version. It’s highly informative and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know the truth about cosmetics. Thanks for doing such a great job
Mary Ellen – thanks so much for the kind words!! If it’s not too much trouble could you please post your review on Amazon for us? Perry and I would really your support. Thanks!
I’m still a bit confused. I use an organic liquid castille soap that is surfacant free, contains no Sodium Laureth Sulfate. It contains:
Water
Potassium Oleate (Derived from Organic Sunflower Oil)
Potassium Cocoate (Derived from Organic Coconut OIl)
Glycerin (Organic)
Potassium Citrate
Potassium Palm Kernelate (Derived from Palm Kernal Oil)
Palm Kernal Acid (Derived from Palm Oil)
Would this be considered a soap?
Yep, this is a soap. It consists of saponified fatty acids (which come from the oils mentioned in the product.) (Also remember that soap IS a surfactant.)
Any suggestions on an ingredient that would make a soap gel into a fluid
(breaking the polymerization bonds)? Perhaps an emulsifier.
Hi Ed. I don’t really understand your question. But if you’re trying to formulate a product you might find help at our sister website http://www.chemistscorner.com. Good luck!
Can I use potassium cocoate in place of coco betaine in my bubble bath frosting formulation? Will they have more or less the same properties of providing extra bubbles?
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: If the water you use it in is completely “soft” (i.e. devoid of the “hardness” cations — mostly calcium & magnesium), then it will make bubbles in the bath water. Not knowing the rest of your bubble bath frosting formula, no way to know whether it would complement it in much the same way as coco betaine if used under that condition. If, however, there’s any “hardness” to your bath water, then potassium cocoate could only cause the bubbles to break faster, which is probably the opposite of the effect you seek.
If you’re not using it as bubble bath but instead using it in a relatively small amount of water (for instance on a washcloth), then potassium cocoate may be a useful ingredient.
So are barsoaps Dove , clean facial skin?
2 years ago i used a bar soap to wash my mor
Face and next morning had a bad reaction got pimples do i use a dove bar soap or barsoaps bad?i dont want a reaction , im using a mild surfacant with no high sls …..And how about our water does that pla
My skin turns red and my face been red and Hispanic while below my nack and body is olive color