Written by Richard Giles (Ashland), Tuttu Nuutinen (Ashland), and Eric-Jan de Feij (Ashland) 

With the rise of the conscious consumer and global trends for clean INCI, naturally-derived and sustainable personal care formulations; the consumer need for ecologically-sound products is fast becoming a necessity for new product launches.

However certain synthetic ingredients such as the acrylate-based rheology and suspension polymers have proven very difficult to replace without sacrificing consumer experience.

This inspired our solvers at Ashland to develop texturpure™ sa-1 our new and novel sustainable ingredient to deliver a rich smooth and luxuriously viscous texture with a clean break on pouring and suspension of oils and actives in shampoos and cleansing systems.

Texturpure™ sa-1 was developed using Ashland’s expertise in sustainable polysaccharide technologies.

It is naturally-derived (according to ISO 16128), sustainably- and ethically-sourced, biodegradable. The product incorporates a specific ratio of high performance clean INCI ingredients (Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (and) Cellulose Gum (and) Xanthan Gum) in order to deliver a sensorial effect and yield value which match or surpass many leading synthetics.

Shampoo and cleansing systems such as shower crèmes and hand soaps typically rely on water insoluble ingredients such as: natural or silicone oils for conditioning; visual enhancers, e.g. opacifiers and mica for appearance; and particulates e.g. scalp care actives for health or natural scrubbing agents for exfoliation. These essential ingredients are typically formulated in the rinse-off system with a stabilizing rheology modifier which has a sufficiently high yield value to provide suspension. Texturpure™ sa-1 is a highly efficient suspension agent and texturizing technology which is compatible with anionic, amphoteric and non-ionic surfactants tested to date. It offers excellent long-term stability, matching the industry-leading synthetic benchmark, even in challenging sulfate-free formulations. It is complementary to salt curves and is compatible with cationic conditioning polymers at typical usage levels.

We tested multiple shampoos types where texturpure™ sa-1 was used side by side vs. the leading synthetic alternative rheology modifier-suspension agent (carbomer 980 at equivalent active levels). For example in our rich and caring sulfate-free shampoo – we tested in the salon and at home over the 4 key moments of truth for the consumer, and we discovered that texturpure™ sa-1 matches or is superior to its benchmark across the full sensory spectrum, graph 1:

• on hand: forms a rich, smooth, and viscous product with a clean break when pouring, forms a uniform disc on the hand with a good shine. This ingredient is most effective for opacified, pearlized or translucent systems.
• on hair: glides over hair smoothly with a cushioned feel, coating the hair from end to end, lathers easily and boosts foam providing a rich foam with small bubbles.
• rinsing: easy to rinse without foamy residues or build-up. Hair is tangle-free and manageable.
• after-feel: fresh, detangled and easy to comb.

Rich and caring sulfate-free shampoo, with texturpure™ sa-1 ingredient
formula #Z422-2.

Claim concepts - rich and luxurious in-shower experience, mild and caring cleansing with dense creamy foam, biodegradable and sustainable formulation, clean INCI, acrylates- and microplastic-free.

Additionally, texturpure™ sa-1 enables a highly conditioned sensorial experience in both silicone-based and silicone-free as it doesn’t interfere with these conditioning and oil deposition technologies, often resulting in superior conditioning vs. synthetic rheology modifier - stabilizing agents.

Ashland texturpure™ sa-1 is designed to be exceptionally easy to process at scale, it is delivered as a 100 % active powder which can be easily processed in cold water, solubilizing in just 20-30 minutes with regular mixing.

We recommend texturpure™ sa-1 for the creation of sustainable ‘acrylates-free and biodegradable’, hair and skin cleansing systems where either a luxurious sensorial is desired or the suspension of conditioning oils or actives is needed.

Find out more and order samples at www.ashland.com/texturpure

About the authors

Richard Giles is Global Marketing Manager for Ashland and he is responsible for strategy, innovation and business development across the hair care portfolio. With strong routes in product design and consumer science; he is currently focused on creating sustainable solutions for the hair care category. Richard holds masters and Doctorate degrees in medicinal science and chemistry and has 15 years’ experience of developing finished products and ingredient technologies in the personal care, home care and pharmaceuticals industries.

In 2012, Eric-Jan de Feij joined Ashland as a Senior Staff scientist working for Care Specialties.

He is lead formulator as part of the EMEA Technical service team. Eric-Jan has more than 30 years of formulatory and manufacturing experience in most of the Personal and Home care segments.

Tuttu Nuutinen joined Ashland in 2011 as Research Scientist in Hair Conditioning R&D, The Netherlands. Tuttu has started to work as a formulating scientist in 2000 in Personal Care Industry in Finland. Since 2009 she has lived in the Netherlands working first as a formulating scientist prior to joining Ashland. As a Research Scientist she has led Damaged Hair repair and rheology related R&D projects. She holds a M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Lappeenranta Technical University in Finland. She is author/co-author of several patent applications and multiple technical presentations and articles.

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