Surfactants - Suspending Agents are used in cosmetics to help distribute an insoluble solid in a liquid phase. Suspensions or dispersions of liquids in a second liquid are generally called emulsions. The utility of a surfactant as a suspending agent depends on its ability to wet the solid or to modify the solid's surface characteristics by adsorption. Viscosity-Increasing Agents generally assist in stabilizing a suspension after it has been formed. The listing below is limited to surfactants which are commonly used in the formation of suspensions. (See also Suspending Agents - Nonsurfactant.) |