Available conditioner ingredients

Italic: looking for

Available humectants (0-2%)

• Glycerin, veg (simple humectant)
• 1,3-propanediol (simple humectant) less sticky than glycerin
• Propylene glycol (simple humectant) petroleum
• Sodium PCA (humectant) expensive

Available humectants / thickening gels / film formers (?%)

• HEC (thickener, film forming humectant) dries stiff and crunchy – needs humectants, sticky?
• Carrageenan (thickener, film forming humectant, conditioner) difficult, might leave flakes?
• Xanthan (thickener, film forming humectant) link2 difficult, might leave flakes?
• Guar gum (thickener, film forming humectant) link2 difficult, might leave flakes?
• Panthenol?
• Sorbitol?
• PVP/VA copolymer (film forming, provides hold, resists absorption of water in high humidity) could work in leave-in conditioner at 1%? petroleum :( wet look :( buildup?
• PVA on its own? Less substantive, can’t find cosmetics quality
• Arginine (emollient, humectant, fixative at 5-8%) might help treat eczema, psoriasis, make sure it’s free base not HCl maybe HCl is better, no need for extra acid
• Sodium carbomer (film forming, thickener) buildup? needs to be neutralised
• Hydroxypropyl Chitosan (cationic, film forming, improves detangling) expensive
• Polyquaternium-11 (film forming, conditioning) might cause build up, tacky?
• Hydrolysed proteins, particularly low weight ones
  • Hydrolysed silk
  • Hydrolysed lupin seed – expensive
  • Hydrolysed rice

Available cationic emulsifiers / conditioning agents (0-4% active)

• BTMS-25 (surfactant, emulsifier, thickener, improves combing) link2 high HLB~15
• BTMS-50 (less thickening)
• Arachidyl/behenylbetainaatesylate and arachidyl/behenylalcohol
• Cetrimonium chloride (surfactant, conditioner, preservative) max 0.83% in leave-in
• Behentrimonium chloride (surfactant, conditioner) less greasy than BTMS, HLB~12 max 3% in leave-in
• Distearoylethyl Dimonium Chloride (and) Cetearyl Alcohol (surfactant, conditioner)
• Guar Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Chloride (conditioner, detangler) makes hair sticky
• Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine (SPDMA; cationic when neutralised, surfactant, conditioner, improves volume) specifically used in silicone free formulations. Removes build-up of ammonium, proteins, cations and other compounds on the hair

Available nonionic emulsifiers (0-4% active)

• Ceteareth 20 (surfactant, emulsifier, thickener)
• Decyl glucose (surfactant, emulsifier) link2
• Coco glucoside (surfactant, emulsifier, conditioner) link2 – more of a detergent
• Cetearyl glucoside (emulsifier) duur, high HLB, better emulsifier
• Sucrose cocoate (co-surfactant, conditioner) doesn’t work in acidic pH
• PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate (surfactant, emulsifier, thickener, conditioner) petroleum
• Glyceryl oleate (co-surfactant, emulsifier, emollient, improves combing) link2 <1.5% HLB~4
• PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate (surfactant, emulsifier, emollient) a bit sticky? petroleum
• Olivem 1000MB (surfactant, emulsifier, conditioner) – link2 can be hard to work with
• Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate (emulsifier, emollient, non-greasy) w/o, difficult
• Polysorbate 80 / Tween 80 (surfactant, emulsifier) – HLB~15

Available amphoteric emulsifiers

• Cocamidopropyl betaine – cationic below pH~5.5

Available fatty alcohols and other LGN promotors (1-7%)

These will weigh down hair and decrease slip

• Cetyl alcohol (emollient, non-gelling thickener) link2 RHLB~15.5
• Cetearyl alcohol (emollient, non-gelling thickener) more draggy than cetyl? RHLB~15.5
• Behenyl alcohol – thickest, but highest drag of these three?
• Glyceryl stearate SE (anionic co-emulsifier, emollient) – HLB~6

Available emollients (1-2%)

• Dicaprylyl carbonate (non-greasy, non-oily)
• Isododecane not CG
• Coco-Caprylate (does not build up in hair, non-greasy, non-oily) link2, RHLB~9.3
• Isoamyl Laurate, Isoamyl Cocoate (improves wet combing, degreasing effect for oils, long shelf life), RHLB~11
• C12-15 alkyl benzoate () link2 the oiliest option, and least sustainable, RHLB~12
• Hydrogenated Ethylhexyl Olivate (and) Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables
• Squalane (emollient, non-greasy light oil) expensive
• Stearic Acid (emollient, thickener) too waxy
• Isoamyl laurate
• Lauryl laurate

Preservatives (up to 1%)

• Cosguard/Geogard (<1%) link2
• Rokonsal (<1%)
• Versatil TBG (1%) needs solubiliser & something against mould
• Phenoxyethanol (1%) petroleum
• Vit E tocopherol

pH adjusters

• Lactic acid (humectant) should be used up to 5% or up to 2.5% pH>5 (EU)
• Citric acid link2 up to 5%?
• Malic acid up to 2.1%, exfoliates hair at low pH?
• Tartaric acid
• Glycolic acid exfoliates hair at low pH
• Ascorbic acid (antioxidant) link2 up to 1%?
• Phosphoric acid – can be skin irritating at high concentration
• Just use HCl