Custom Shampoo, Coming Right Up - Almost

A recent order for a custom shampoo has me fiddling around with surfactants and working on texture – again. The lady has been using the Plain & Simple Herbal Shampoo and requested a version with some 'conditioning action' added to it. She also wanted to try a new scent, so I suggested basing it on geranium. Voilá! Except not quite...

Let's Not Start From Scratch

I whipped out my Plain & Simple shampoo surfactant base, thinking this would be a quick and easy job. Because the Plain & Simple shampoos have no additional 'extras' at all in the formula, a fat-restoring ingredient was required, and adding actives such as panthenol and silk protein just made sense to include.

My Fave Fat Restorer

Jojoba is my number one fat-restoring agent of choice. It is great for hair and scalp, is tolerated by even the most sensitive skin (even babies), and is about as close to human sebum as you can get in a plant-based product. I have experimented with dosages numerous times, and found it is possible to add a pretty generous amount without messing up the cleansing function of a shampoo or body wash. I added a generous dose.

Oblivious To The Past

Humming away as I worked, I had completely blanked out what happened last time I tried doing what I was doing: adding extra ingredients to a delicately balanced mix of surfactants that had the perfect texture.  Within 24 hours, however, it all came back to me. The shampoo worked just great, but the viscosity had changed. It had gone as runny as water.

Sigh.

One Down, The Rest To Go

I must have a blind spot with surfactants. I keep thinking I can take all kinds of shortcuts and still have the perfect texture, function, look, and scent in one go. Version 1 of this shampoo does have great function (and scent), but I'll be at the drawing board working on look and texture for a bit. I could of course consider trying to 'run with' a runny shampoo, but it just doesn't seem right. And if I'm not sure I would be able to get past it myself, how could I expect others to?

What Do You Think?

Would you use a shampoo that worked and smelled great, but was as runny as water?