Evaluation of silicone polymers in shampoos

Being one of the industries which is least effected by various economic crisis in the world, personal care industry is known with its wide range of products and dynamic consumers. Among all personal care products, shampoos are known to be of interest by all consumers of all age groups since shampoos are perceived by the consumer as the "must-have" items. Silicones are used in a number of personal care products, providing their unique sensory benefits from shampoos and skin creams to cosmetics and antiperspirants. Silicones are fast becoming an essential ingredient in the cosmetics and personal care market as producers continue to provide more customized and specialized silicone ingredients to meet consumer demand for innovative, multifunctional and sensory-appealing products. Clear shampoos are perceived as being pure and less harmful to both hair and skin by consumers, as they do not weigh down hair, provide volumizing and contain less amount of ingredients. Thus, main aim of this study was to formulate a clear and conditioning shampoo while investigating the behaviors of silicones in shampoo base. Moreover, the shampoo industry is moving towards using less amount of ingredients and obtaining optimum results. Functional silicones play a critical role on the overall effect of such shampoos because functional silicones can provide ease of combing, shine, volume and enhanced foam. In this study, different types of silicones were investigated in shampoo systems. These silicones are graft silicone copolymers, trisiloxane polyethers and finally polyetheramine silicone copolymers. The aim of the study was to see which silicone system can be thickened by salt, what kind of effect the stable formulations provide on hair, the solubility profile of the silicones in shampoo system, to see clarity and uniformity of the finished products. The most successful formulations were obtained in Experiment 5 and 6. The results of experiment 6 were by far the optimum results in terms of conditioning both for hair and skin. Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Cocamidopropyl Betaine are selected as the surfactants. Methyl Gluceth-20 and C12-15 Alkyl Lactate are used as thickeners in selected formulations. Shampoos were evaluated for clarity, viscosity, salt (NaCl) content/efficacy and via combing force, conditioning effect, shine and conditioning properties of the applied hair. Emulsion silicones were found to provide conditioning, ease of combing and softness to both wet and dry hair and as well as skin. The final formulations with the emulsion silicones can also be used in facial washes, body washes, shower gels and hand washes by doing slight changes in formulations. These formulations can also be opacified by using glycol distearate and/or acrylates copolymer based opacifiers/thickeners.