| What is it? | Lamesoft® PO 65 is a blend of Coco Glucoside and Glyceryl Oleate manufactured by BASF. It’s primarily a natural lipid layer enhancer/re-fatting ingredient for surfactant products, though Skin Chakra says that it’s also useful in lotions. |
| INCI | Coco Glucoside (and) Glyceryl Oleate |
| Appearance | Cloudy viscous liquid |
| Usage rate | 1–5% |
| Scent | Characteristic; detergent-y |
| Active surfactant matter | Solids content is 64–68%, water content is 32–35%. |
| pH | 3–4 (5% solution) |
| Charge | Non-ionic |
| Solubility | Water |
| Why do we use it in formulations? | Lamesoft® PO 65 is a simple and effective way to make our surfactant formulations gentler as glyceryl oleate is a great re-fatting ingredient. If a formulation is leaving to skin or hair feeling too clean, try adding Lamesoft® PO 65!
Lamesoft® PO 65 also boosts viscosity in surfactant formulations, though given a maximum recommended usage rate of 5% it’s not an amazing thickener. You will almost certainly need some other sort of thickener if you’re looking for a typical liquid shampoo/shower gel consistency. |
| Do you need it? | I highly recommend it if you like making liquid surfactant products, and especially if you want to make natural liquid shampoos. |
| Refined or unrefined? | Lamesoft® PO 65 only exists as a refined product. |
| Strengths | Lamesoft® PO 65 |
| Weaknesses | I can’t think of any. It’s useful! |
| Alternatives & Substitutions | I primarily include Lamesoft® PO 65 in my formulations for the re-fatting benefits of the glyceryl oleate rather than the foaming brought by the Coco Glucoside.
If you can purchase the component ingredients separately, that can work. Making Cosmetics sells glyceryl oleate on its own, and coco glucoside is pretty easy to get. I’d start with a 60/40 blend of coco glucoside and glyceryl oleate. Depending on the formulation, you may be able to use Plantapon® TF instead as it is basically Lamesoft® PO 65 + Decyl Glucoside (and) Polyglyceryl-10 Caprylate/Caprate. You can also try other liquid re-fatting ingredients like Olivem 300 and Cromollient SCE (Di-PPG-2 Myreth-10 Adipate), adjusting the overall surfactant blend to account for the loss of the coco glucoside. |
| How to Work with It | Incorporate Lamesoft® PO 65 as part of your surfactant phase; it can be hot or cold processed. |
| Storage & Shelf Life | Stored somewhere cool, dark, and dry, Lamesoft® PO 65 should last at least one year. |
| Tips, Tricks, and Quirks | BASF says a formulation containing 5% Lamesoft® PO 65 will add 1.7% active surfactant matter to the overall formulation from the coco glucoside content. Assuming an active surfactant matter of 55% for coco glucoside, that means Lamesoft® PO 65 is approximately 61.7% coco glucoside and 38.3% glyceryl oleate. |
| Recommended starter amount | 250mL (8 fl oz) |
| Where to Buy it | Canada / USA / NZ / EU / UK |
Want to compare different surfactants?
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