What Should You Know about Cleaning Cosmetics?

You use them every day for cleaning the skin but you don’t know if you really need them. What do I mean? Soaps, syndets and combos. How are they different? What are their properties? Read my article to find out.

What are cleaning cosmetics?

Everybody knows it: washing products remove impurities that settle on skin and hair. Moreover, they should have the right consistency, lather well and shouldn’t cause irritations or dryness. Cleaning products include surface-active substances that eliminate grease and dirt. The most popular one is SLS that is neutralized by Cocamidopropyl Betaine. The extra substances include vitamins, pigments, preservatives, fragrances and ingredients that capture metal and give products the proper formula.

How do cleaning cosmetics work?

Thanks to the above-mentioned substances, all impurities are stripped off the skin or hair surface. Next, dirt, dust, sebum and dead cells are rinsed with water. The lather makes it easier for washing ingredients to spread and speeds up the removal of impurities. The effectiveness of cosmetics depends on the components and their concentration. The pH also matters; it should be similar to the human skin pH (4.5-5.5). If it’s too high, it may trigger irritations and disturb the epidermis barrier.

Cleaning cosmetics – division

According to the basic classification, cleaning cosmetics are divided into soap-based and soap-free products. Considering the ingredients, there are soaps, syndets and combo.

Soaps are salts of fatty acids. They have strong cleaning power but don’t lather well. They are environmentally-friendly and biodegradable. They come in different formulas but soap bars are most common. Sadly, they have high pH and may cause skin irritation and dryness. That’s why they won’t work for the dry and sensitive skin.

Combo is composed of soaps and other cleaning ingredients, usually synthetic ones. It has lower pH than soaps yet it’s alkaline. Combo has good cleaning and foaming qualities. It comes in form of gel or bars.

Syndets – synthetic detergents; their pH is neutral for the skin. They lather well and contain purifying, soothing, moisturising and anti-bacterial ingredients. They are gels and liquids but some of them are in form of bars.