What are coconut surfactants?

Coconut surfactants are plant-derived cleansing agents that remove dirt and grease without damaging the skin. They are obtained from coconut oil, using its fatty acids and combining them with other compounds like sugars or amino acids to create effective and gentle cleansers. They are considered a milder and more respectful alternative to traditional sulfates like SLS.

Their structure is amphiphilic: one part of the molecule attracts grease, dirt, and sebum; the other attracts water and facilitates rinsing. They cleanse without stripping.

Properties and benefits

• Gentle and effective cleansing without drying or altering the skin barrier.
• They respect the essential lipids that maintain the skin's natural hydration.
• They create a creamy and pleasant lather without the need for harsh detergents.
• High tolerance: suitable for sensitive, reactive, or atopic skin.
• They maintain their cleansing ability even with hard water, containing lime.
• Biodegradable: they break down without leaving contaminating residues in aquatic ecosystems.
• Renewable origin: they come from coconut and plant sugars, not petroleum.

The most common types and how they appear in the INCI

In the labeling of natural cleaning products, you will find various coconut-derived surfactants. These are the most common:

• Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI): the mildest and one of the most used in solid shampoos and cleansers. Known as "baby foam" for its exceptional mildness. It creates a creamy lather and leaves the skin soft without residue.
• Coco Glucoside: derived from coconut and vegetable sugars, it is one of the mildest surfactants available. Common in products for babies and very sensitive skin. Completely biodegradable.
• Cocamidopropyl Betaine: an amphoteric surfactant that improves lather and softens the effect of other surfactants in the formula. It also has an antistatic action on hair. It has its own entry under Betaine.
• Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS): more powerful in cleansing than the previous ones and more biodegradable than synthetic sulfates like SLS. Less mild than SCI or Coco Glucoside, but much more respectful than conventional alternatives.
• Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate: derived from coconut and glutamic acid, an amino acid. Especially well-tolerated and compatible with atopic or very reactive skin.

Seeing these names in a product's INCI is a good sign: it indicates that the formulator has chosen gentle cleansing over aggressive efficacy.

Curiosities and facts

The standard for sensitive skin
Coco Glucoside is one of the most used surfactants in baby products precisely because its skin tolerance is exceptional. What is good for a newborn's skin is good for any type of adult skin.

The secret of solid shampoo
SCI is what makes the rich and creamy lather of sulfate-free solid shampoos possible. Without it, the solid format would be much more difficult to formulate with a good sensory result.

The difference between SCS and SLS
Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) sound similar but are not the same. SCS comes from coconut, SLS is petrochemical-derived. SCS is more respectful, though still more powerful than SCI or Coco Glucoside.

This is how it appears in the INCI: Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Coco Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Coco Sulfate, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate

Other active ingredients you might be interested in

Syndets: gentle cleansing products that use these surfactants as their base formulation.
Betaine: coconut betaine is one of the most versatile and common surfactants in natural cleansers.
Coconut oil: the source from which these surfactants are obtained, with their own cosmetic properties.
Clays: frequent in syndets and cleansers that combine coconut surfactants with mineral absorption.
Aleppo soap: to understand the difference between alkaline soap cleansing and gentle surfactant cleansing.