Potassium laurate is an excellent choice for a long-term firm and intensive effect on your skin. This is because surfactants lead to a reduction in interfacial tension and thus promote an even skin complexion. But for which skin is potassium laurate an important component and what should you always consciously avoid when using it? We use our ingredient lexicon to show you what's in cosmetics.
The emulsifying effect of potassium laurate
In many cosmetics, potassium laurate helps to ensure that substances that are actually immiscible can be combined with one another. This is achieved by changing the interfacial tension, which in simple terms can be attributed to the emulsifying effect. This makes the ingredient a very popular choice for various creams, but also for liquid serums in the skin care sector.
Since potassium laurate can be produced in a variety of ways, looking at the name in the ingredients list of your cosmetics usually doesn't help much. Nevertheless, the function as a surfactant remains identical in all compounds, which promotes the miscibility of various substances. Potassium laurate does not become an important base element, but as an additive it promotes the miscibility of other substances. This improves the effectiveness of numerous cosmetic products in the long term.
Harmless for individual cosmetic applications
Since potassium stands for potassium, you can also expect a chemical agent with potassium laurate as an ingredient. If you are specifically looking for helpful components for natural cosmetics, you should avoid this option. However, this does not change the properties of the products that use potassium laurate as a cosmetic ingredient in the long term.
The skin compatibility is also extremely harmless in direct comparison to other substances. So far, little has been heard about possible side effects that could have a long-term impact on the effectiveness of the substances. However, it cannot be ruled out that certain skin types may have problems with potassium laurate as a chemical ingredient. If side effects arise from the use of affected cosmetics, these must be analyzed precisely.
However, you generally don't have to worry about individual applications of synthetic and chemical cosmetics. Not every synthetic product harms the environment and contributes to our groundwater being continuously polluted. This makes it all the more important to handle ingredients such as potassium laurate carefully and to use the emulsifying effect.
Potassium laurate is found in these products
As already mentioned, potassium laurate is not one of the key active ingredients for the functions of your cosmetics. Nevertheless, the ingredient as a surfactant becomes an important component to ensure the miscibility of other substances. For this reason, it is found in numerous soaps and skin care products. Creams and gels also rely on emulsifiers in most cases, which makes potassium laurate a very good choice as an additive in these cases too.
Since surfactants also promote foam formation, the most common application is for cleaning foam. Potassium laurate can also be found in many cases in shampoos that are also designed to have a foaming effect. This makes it easy to positively influence the structure of the skin in the long term and ensure a cosmetic effect.
Why natural ingredients are usually recommended
Even if not all chemical ingredients or auxiliary substances are really harmless, there are a few basic aspects that matter. In particular, formaldehyde, aluminum salts, paraffins and parabens are becoming the preferred choice in many cases due to their cheap production. Many of the associated ingredients are mineral oil based, which has a negative impact on both the skin and the environment. The caring effect is often missing.
The constant supply of nutrients to your skin therefore plays an important role when it comes to choosing the right cosmetics. Purely natural cosmetics usually fulfill this task better thanks to their harmless additives and raw materials. Of course, this does not mean that additional surfactants such as potassium laurate cannot be present in the product as an emulsifier.
Further details about the ingredients in your cosmetics
Aspects such as skin compatibility and the safety of the cosmetic ingredients probably play the most important role in a comprehensive assessment. Therefore, check in advance what exactly is in your cosmetics and whether the substances associated with them are really harmless. For clarification, please take a look at the other articles in our ingredient lexicon. In addition to potassium laurate, you will find many other ingredients that are worth taking a closer look at.
