Surfactants (surface active agents) are amphiphilic molecules which contain a polar head and a nonpolar tail, so they are very good cleansing agents. They are used on a daily basis, being a major component of skin cleansers. Shower gels and liquid soaps are aqueous solutions of surfactants, in which surfactants are present in the form of micells and monomers. When interacting with skin, surfactants remove sebum, sweat and dirt. However, they can interact with lipids and proteins of Stratum corneum, leading to skin irritation. Furthermore, they can penetrate into deeper skin layers all the way to living skin cells and cause skin diseases – irritant contact dermatitis. There are several models of surfactant penetration into skin. I presented methods for both evaluating and reducing the surfactants irritating potential that has been reported in literature. The latter can be achieved by appropriate selection of the primary surfactant and by using surfactant mixtures. In this research, a number of retail store products were divided into the following categories: shower gels (normal, gentler, baby), liquid soaps (for hands and intimate areas) and micellar waters. The purpose of the research was to determine which surfactant or combination of surfactants is the most common in each category and whether there are differences between categories based upon that.
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