A mixture of fatty acid dimethylamides, listed as a surfactant, solvent and viscosity-controlling ingredient.
What it is
Dimethyl lauramide/myristamide is, as its INCI name indicates, a mixture of the N,N-dimethylamides of lauric and myristic acids; CosIng provides no further description. CosIng lists it as an emulsifying, foam-boosting and cleansing surfactant, a solvent and a viscosity-controlling ingredient.
Where it is used
Appears on the ingredient lists of a small number of products.
Limits of interpretation
The INCI list shows which ingredients are present, not how much of each. Above 1%, ingredients are listed in descending order of weight; below 1% the order is free.
The INCI name does not show the proportion of the lauric and myristic components.
Functions
- Surfactant – emulsifying
- Helping suspensions or dispersions of liquids in a second liquid by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified.
- Surfactant – foam boosting
- Increasing foaming capacity and/or stabilize foams in general.
- Solvent
- Dissolving other components of cosmetics. Solvents are usually liquids (aqueous and nonaqueous).
- Surfactant – cleansing
- Wetting body surfaces, emulsifying or solubilizing oils, and suspending soil (generally, such ingredients contribute to the foaming and lathering properties of cleansing products).
- Viscosity controlling
- Increasing or decreasing the viscosity (thickness) of cosmetics.
EU regulation
This ingredient is not listed in the annexes of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 in the CosIng data.

