An amphoteric surfactant used for mild cleansing and foaming.
What it is
Disodium lauroamphodiacetate is an amphoteric surfactant of the amphoacetate type, made from lauric acid via an imidazoline intermediate and carrying two carboxylate groups as sodium salts. CosIng lists it as an antistatic, cleansing, foaming, foam-boosting, hair-conditioning, hydrotrope, cleansing surfactant and viscosity-controlling ingredient.
Where it is used
Found in a small number of products, such as shampoos, shower gels and facial cleansers.
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 reveal the source of the lauric acid.
Functions
- Antistatic
- Preventing and/or reducing static electricity by neutralising electrical charge on surfaces.
- Cleansing
- Helping to keep the body surface clean.
- Foaming
- Traping numerous small bubbles of air or other gas within a small volume of liquid by modifying the surface tension of the liquid.
- Surfactant – foam boosting
- Increasing foaming capacity and/or stabilize foams in general.
- Hair conditioning
- Enhancing the appearance and feel of hair. Leaving the hair easy to comb, supple, soft and shiny and/or imparting volume, lightness, gloss, texture, etc.
- Surfactant – hydrotrope
- Enhancing the water solubility of another surfactant.
- 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.