Emollients & Esters

The process of esterification occurs when a fatty alcohol is reacted with a fatty acid. What that means in personal care development is the difference between a smooth spreading, less oily feeling, product because the resulting ester is a lighter emollient* which improves the slip**, oily feel, soaping***, and overall feel, of personal care products.

Here you will find our selection of natural emollients, and naturally derived esters, that will dramatically improve the aesthetics and performance of your hair and skin care formulae as well as bath and body care products. The esters deliver improved slip (glide), feel, soaping (rub-out), and comb-ability in hair care, as they increase spreadability, silkiness, and absorption to reduce tack (drag) These are must-have materials in top shelf natural products.

Esters act as skin emollients and conditioning agents where they help to smooth appearance and soften the skin while also improving the feel and flow properties of the emulsion.

*emollient - an emollient is an ingredient that provides a barrier to the skins natural moisture loss, preventing the natural evaporation of water and improving the smooth feel of the skin... dehydration is the leading cause of dry skin and for any moisturizer to really improve the condition of the skin it must first prevent, or slow, that natural moisture loss. Oils, and their, derivatives, are all emollients.

**slip - when you apply a cream, or lotion, to your skin the first thing that you notice is how it feels on your skin and how well it spreads across the skin ... when it is kind of sticky and drags the skin as you try to spread it, that is referred to as 'tack' or 'drag' ... the absence of that 'tack' or the ability of the cream, or lotion, to spread smoothly without dragging the skin or causing any uncomfortable stretching, is called 'slip'. If you think of how a straight oil feels on the skin that is 'slip', or 'glide'.

*** soaping - when you apply a cream, or lotion, to your skin the last thing that you notice is how well it absorbs into your skin and how much does not absorb and just slides around on the top of the skin ... when it won't rub in it will start to turn white on the skin as you spread it around and it just stays on the top rather than absorbing, that is referred to as 'soaping' (because of the white effect). This is also referred to as 'rub-out'.