Lauryl Glucoside – is it natural?
Is Lauryl Glucoside natural?
Lauryl Glucoside has become more popular over the years in the natural community because it is derived from sugar and therefore considered a “natural” product. The other part of the molecule is derived from palm or coconut oil. It kind of makes a perfect blend of two natural parts, whereas most molecules have at least one part derived from petroleum.
Lauryl Glucoside Performance
However, products formulated only with this surfactant are lacking in performance greatly. First, they aren’t very thick. Lauryl Glucoside doesn’t thicken like SLS or SLES can when salt is added. The second problem is the foam it produces is very inferior to SLS or SLES. You get a large bubble size that doesn’t last long, making it hard to work through your hair effectively. At this point, you should be asking, “Why did you use this product???”
We used it for a few reasons. The first has to do with micelle formation which I spoke about a few posts back. I’ll go into the weeds on micelles in future posts. If you want to read up on micelles before I get a chance you can hone your knowledge here. Basically, it has to do with micelle packing. The more unique molecules you can get, the tighter the packing and therefore better foam. The second reason has to do with the mildness piece. It also mitigates some irritation potential from the SLS/SLES that we use. We are serious about safety of our products, so anything we can do to prevent anyone from having a negative experience we’ll do it. The last reason is the rinse ability. This product doesn’t completely rinse out, where SLS/SLES do, which might leaving your hair feeling tangled.
Lauryl Glucoside leaves some behind but doesn’t weigh the hair down. We’ve had lots of feedback about this from both women with thick and fine hair, and both are equally happy. The Lauryl Glucoside helps strike this happy balance, making the product acceptable over a wide range of hair types. Before adding that product, we had some complaints about the shampoo not effectively helping with tangles. That’s why it’s in there! To see all the ingredients in Phique shampoo, click here.
