R COMPANY PERSPECTIVE 29
Meeting changing consumer needs
Alice Miles – Innospec
How have the needs of the rinse-off cleansing market changed over the last 25 years, and how has Innospec’s surfactant offering evolved to meet them? This year at in-cosmetics Global I presented
a technical seminar on ‘Iselux® - What’s New for Innospec’s Superior Isethionate Sulfate-Free Surfactant’. This unique, proprietary product was launched 16 years ago by Innospec and, through innovation, it has evolved and changed over that time with new variants and new data, influenced by the changes in the cosmetic market and demands of Innospec’s customers. While Personal Care magazine is looking back on the past 25 years in the cosmetic market, Innospec is looking back on the history of personal care surfactants at the company, especially the evolution of the Iselux range. This period has witnessed significant shifts globally and, as a consequence, within the cosmetics industry, driven by profound changes in regulations, technology, fashion trends, the global economy, and societal values that have fundamentally reshaped consumer expectations. One of the main shifts in the rinse-off
cleansing market is the rise of sulfate-free surfactants, such as Iselux – hereafter, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate - as an alternative to Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). In 2000, the majority of cleansing products were based on SLES and Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB). A Mintel GNPD search shows 61% of cleansing products launched in 2000 contained Sodium Laureth Sulfate on the INCI list.1 To put this in context, by 2010 this had
dropped to 56% and, in the last year, it was 39%. ‘Free-from’ claims became popular in the 2010s and changes were made to the European Cosmetics Product Regulation in 2019 to give guidelines about what claims can be made on pack to be fair and avoid misleading the consumer. Many brands continue to choose sulfate-free surfactants for their products today, whether or not they claim it on pack. The expansion of the range of surfactants
available to formulators can be charted by looking at the Society of Cosmetics Scientists
www.personalcaremagazine.com
Diploma in Cosmetic Science. In 2006, there were only sulfate-based anionic surfactants listed. It refers to ‘a small sub-section of “sulphate-free” shampoos. It is possible to formulate these but they are invariably more expensive and tend not to perform as well as the more conventional systems.’2 That may have been true then but now you
can certainly have performance as good as, or better than sulfate systems, without considerable impact on the price. A review in 2018 added a reference table of a number of different sulfate- free surfactants,3
including taurates, isethionates
and sulfonates which acknowledges there are other choices available to the formulator.
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate limitations Before 2004 Innospec had only a few products for personal care. The biodegradable chelant, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate (Natrlquest® E30) has remained a key product for Innospec over the last few decades and we continue to generate exciting new data on this product. Since 2004, Innospec has been a producer
of surfactants for personal care, such as Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate and Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI), marketed under the Pureact tradename. Along with the products and assets the company gained experienced formulators who knew how to get the best from these materials.
O O Figure 1: Iselux (Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate) August 2025 PERSONAL CARE CH3 SO3 Na
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