Clariant launches flexible sugar surfactant GlucoTain GEM to cut water and salt use

01 May 2024 --- Clariant releases GlucoTain GEM, a concentrated, sugar-based glucamide designed to create sustainable, solid and waterless personal care formulations for the North American market.

The ingredient has a sulfate-free, low-water content, 100% biodegradable formula and a reduced carbon footprint. Glucotain GEM is designed for solid and concentrated formats for personal cleansing concepts that are “gentle for consumers and the environment.”

“Sustainability has become increasingly important at a time when, more than ever, conscious beauty consumers make many of their purchasing decisions based on performance as well as product safety and its environmental profile,” says Christina Richardson, marketing manager of Personal & Home Care in North America at Clariant.

“These consumers genuinely care about our planet and take the time to research how their products are made and with what ingredients.”

Gap in the market
Clariant says it witnessed a need for a higher-performing and more flexible alternative to existing products such as alkyl polyglucosides (APGs), widely used sugar-based surfactants. The company explains that APGs don’t typically enable a broad product range.

The team developed new, varied carbon-chained length glucamides as the basis for GlucoTain’s sugar-based surfactants.

“Developing effective cleansers from renewable sources with exceptional sensory properties can be complex, yet the low-carbon GlucoTain range offers unique sensory benefits through individual foam structures and high sustainability credentials for the ultimate mild surfactant solution,” states Clariant.

Christina Richardson, marketing manager Personal & Home Care in North America.Reducing water use
According to the World Economic Forum, four billion people live in water-scarce areas, and one in four cities currently faces water insecurity.

The specialty chemicals company says the personal care industry has been pushing to reduce water use and overall consumption in response to this consumer demand. In response, beauty companies are highlighting the development of solid and concentrated formats.

These formats typically use less water, require less packaging and can deliver “longer-lasting, easy-to-dose products” compared to their liquid counterparts.

In addition to its sustainability profile, GlucoTain GEM delivers a “sensory, creamy and easy to rinse” foam and a “conditioning” after-feel on skin and hair, “improving the smoothness of both.”

“It builds viscosity in sulfate-free and sulfate systems — with and without salt — and can improve combability in hair products like conditioners and shampoos, reducing the need to add cationic polymers or other refatting agents in solid or liquid systems. GlucoTain GEM is extremely mild to skin proteins and lipids,” says Luciana Rodrigues, head of application development Americas, Personal Care at Clariant.

Products developed with GlucoTain GEM
To demonstrate the effectiveness of GlucoTain GEM in both solid format and liquid chassis, Clariant has developed three formulations that use the surfactant as part of a self-care shower concept.

The first product sample, Rare GEM, is a cleansing body bar that delivers a lather and a soft after-feel on the skin due to the high-conditioning mild surfactant.

Next is Clean Slate, a pre-shampoo treatment designed to clean the scalp deeply and remove product buildup. It is applied to wet hair during a shower and rinsed before using other cleansers. GlucoTain GEM helps build viscosity in this formulation, delivering a “rich and creamy” product to prep your hair before cleansing.

The Soft Serve product is a scoopable shave balm to prep skin for shaving with an “easy-to-apply” texture and waterless ingredients. GlucoTain GEM delivers a spreadable texture and “appealing sensory.”

Edited by Sabine Waldeck

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