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Shampoo bars: 2 in 1 cleansing and conditioning or competing active ingredients?
There seem to be two schools of thought on shampoo bars.
The first is anionic surfactants and cationic conditioning agents can be combined in an anhydrous bar and clean the hair while minimizing damage from friction.
The second is that anionic surfactants and cationic conditioning agents deactivate eachother when they meet water rendering each ineffective and not efficiently cleaning.
Is one true over the other? A little bit of both? What do you guys think? -
2 Replies
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From my experience, if your shampoo bar is well made, the friction is minimal and should not cause hair damage. You only need to gently glide the soft surface bar on your head, no rubbing necessary whether it contains cationic surfactants or not. The second question; usually the cationics in a bar are at a single digit percentage in contrast with anionics who are at least at 50% concentration. It is possible that they deactivate each other, but I have not noticed this effect since the ratio is so loop-sided. A small amount of cationics in the bar seems to enhance the texture of the foam. You can test this hypothesis yourself by making a bar that contains equivalent concentration of anionic and cationic.
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Thank you Syl.
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