Chapter 12 - The Role of Fatty Acids in Cosmetic Technology

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview to the use of fatty acids, fatty acid salts, and selected derivatives in cosmetic and personal care products. The important, but somewhat limited, uses of fatty acids and their salts are in soaps and as structurants in alcohol-based sticks. However, an incredibly wide array of materials have been developed over the past approximately 70 years for use in cosmetic and personal care products that are more or less derived from fatty acids—some directly and many indirectly. The selected derivatives discussed in this chapter include fatty alcohols, anionic, and nonionic surfactants based upon fatty acids, fatty amines and quaternary ammonium compounds, and fatty acid esters. An introduction to the several formulation types used in these products such as bars, pressed powders, solutions/gels, suspensions, sticks, emulsions, and aerosols is included as well as descriptions of the primary categories included in this product area. The use of fatty acids, fatty acid salts, and selected derivatives is described in terms of their function in cosmetic and personal care products and includes cleansing, use as vehicles and solvents, rheological modification of suspensions and sticks, emulsion stabilization, and surface modification of skin and hair. This chapter can only provide a brief overview of the variety of materials that have been and are being developed using fatty acids as a raw material and how these are critical to the function and esthetics of the sophisticated cosmetic and personal care products currently available. The emphasis upon sustainability will only increase the importance of plant-based fatty acids as raw materials and precursors for existing and new functional ingredients for cosmetics and personal care products.