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74 H&PC Today - Household and Personal Care Today - vol. 13(4) July/August 2018
Comparison of Silicone Quaternium 20 and
Polyquaternium 10 in hair care formulations
Mort Westman (1), an industry leader, states “In the past 30
years, only two innovations in shampoo technology have
been of suffi cient importance to have a major impact on
formulation practices, ingredient supply, and consumer
usage. These innovations are the incorporation of a cationic
polymer into an anionic surfactant system in the early 1970s
and the functional incorporation of silicone in the late 1980s.
In each case, the improvement served as a technological
shock wave, causing a fl urry of competitive patent activity
and product emulation”.
This article will evaluate products that resulted from these
major raw material developments.
FORMULATION TIP
The formulation of hair care products is a diffi cult undertaking
when new ingredients are added. They must not affect the
desirable properties that are required in the formulation.
Shampoos not only need to foam
they must give a particular type of
foam depending upon the type
of formulation. They must cleanse,
but not strip. They must spread but
still have body. Getting all these
requirements in one formulation
is diffi cult enough, but is you
add some new market driven
ingredient, you must make sure
that ingredient does not destroy
those required properties.
Humanity has been cleansing and conditioning of hair, using
many different methods since the earliest times. Hair care is
an overall term for hygiene and cosmetology involving
SCIENCE FOR FORMULATORS COLUMN
TONY O’LENICK, DAVID ZHANG
Siltech LLC, Lawrenceville, USA
Tony O’Lenick is President of Siltech LLC. Tony has published six books, numerous articles and has over
300 patents. He received the 1996 Samuel Rosen Award, the 1997 Innovative Use of Fatty Acids Award
and the 1996 Partnership to The Personal Care. Tony was President of the U.S. SCC in 2015 and is
currently Education Chair of IFSCC.
Hair care is one of the most important market segments for the personal care business. Despite the fact that there have been many marketing
twists on the benefits offered by hair care products, the basic needs for products is that they clean and condition. Additional market demands
are ever changing, and new benefits are always being proposed to the consumer, including inclusion of proteins and amino acids, pro-vitamins
and a plethora of other additives. The formulator is challenged to provide products that are efficient in cleansing and in conditioning often with
additives that may adversely affect the formulation.
ABSTRACT
the hair which grows from the human scalp, and to a
lesser extent facial, pubic and other body hair. Hair care
routines differ according to an individual’s culture and the
physical characteristics of one’s hair. Hair may be colored,
trimmed, shaved, plucked, or otherwise removed with treatments
such as waxing, sugaring, and threading. Hair care services are
offered in salons, barbershops, and day
spas, and products are available
commercially for home use (2).
This article will compare a cationic
polymer (Polyquaternium 10) and silicone
polymer (Silicone Quaternium 20) in both
a 2 in 1 shampoo and a conditioner.
Polyquaternium-10 (4) is a cationic,
water-soluble substantive conditioner
for hair care. It provides fi lm formation
on hair and moisturization. It is non-
irritating and compatible with a wide
range of surfactants. It enables the
formulation of clear products.
Silicone Quaternium 206 is a water-
soluble, alcohol
soluble and
hydro alcoholic
soluble silicone that
imparts outstanding
hair conditioning
especially in 2-in-1
shampoos. It also
provides a smooth
silky feel to skin and
can be used for
shaving products
KEYWORDS: Hair care, conditioning, cleansing, silicone polymers, cellulosic polymers,
silicone quaternary 20, cationic 10, wet comb, dry comb.
Don’t let your formulation
Cause a bad hair day
Mankind has been
caring for hair since
the earliest times.
Structure of
Polyquaternium 10 (3).
Structure of Silicone Quaternium 20 (5).
75
H&PC Today - Household and Personal Care Today - vol. 13(4) July/August 2018
FORMULATION OF SHAMPOO
PROCEDURE
FH193A: Prepare a premix solution by dispersing
Polyquaternium 10 in water with agitation. Begin heating
to 50~60C under mixing until the solution becoming a
smooth uniform gel. Combine and mix the surfactants until
uniform. Add the premix solution to the surfactant mixture.
Add the remaining ingredients one at a time under mixing,
waiting for each ingredient to dissolve before adding the
next one. Adjust the pH to 6.0~6.5 with the citric acid.
Adjust the viscosity to 6,000 ~ 9,000 cps by adding q.s.
sodium chloride.
FH193B: Disperse guar in water until a smooth uniform
gel generated; add the remaining ingredients one at a
time under mixing, waiting for each ingredient to dissolve
before adding the next one. Adjust the pH to 6.0~6.5 with
the citric acid. Adjust the viscosity to 6,000 ~ 9,000 cps by
adding q.s. sodium chloride.
FORMULATION OF HAIR CONDITIONER
PROCEDURE
2.2.1. In a clean and sanitized container equipped with
propeller mixer, add water and disperse Polyquaternium 10 or
cellulose, then heat up to 75~80 ºC with good agitation until
clear gel was formed, add the rest of ingredients of Part A
under mixing.
2.2.2. Combine Part B in a separated clean and sanitized
container, heat up to 75~ 80 ºC and mix well.
2.2.3. Add Part B into Part A slowly under mixing and keep
temperature at 75~80 ºC for 5 minutes, then cooling down to
room temperature, add part C one at a time under mixing.
Using Citric acid adjust pH in the range of 4.5 to 5.5.
FOAM PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF 2-IN-1 SHAMPOOS
Method: All products were evaluated with the same
procedure. A 1000 mL cylinder with 10 mL increments was
used. All samples and distilled water was prepared at 25
°C. 1.00 gram of test material was used, and 100 mL distilled
water was added to dissolve the test material in a 250 mL
beaker. After the test material was totally dissolved, the
solution transferred into the cylinder. An outlet of air pump
was on the bottom of the cylinder to generate the bubbles.
Record the foam height within 20 seconds for each test
materials, each material was evaluated 3 times and their
averages were documented.
The scale for Foam Height is 1000 mL is outstanding and
100 mL is very poor. The type of foam was also noted
whether it is tight or loose. Bubbles were generated by
electronic air pump.
SCIENCE FOR FORMULATORS COLUMN
Table 1. Formula of 2-in-1 Shampoos.
Table 2. Analysis.
Table 3. Formula.
Table 4. Analysis.
Table 5. Foam Performance Evaluation of shampoo
with Polyquat 10 and Silicone Quaternium 20 (J2S).
76
BEHIND THE LABEL
COLUMN
H&PC Today - Household and Personal Care Today - vol. 13(4) July/August 2018
1 shampoo with SILICONE QUATERNIUM 20, (e) virgin hair
treated with no conditioning shampoo followed by hair
conditioner with Polyquaternium 10, and (f) virgin hair treated
with no conditioning shampoo followed by hair conditioner
with SILICONE QUATERNIUM 20. The images of hair swatches
were taken at 100X magnifi cation on microscopy glass slide.
Pictures were processed by using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Full
scale of the image is 100 um for 100X magnifi cation.
V irgin European Brown Hair
The typical image of untreated European virgin brown hair
swatch is shown in the Figure 2a. This image shown that the
hair tress is smooth and shining (shining line on the sides).
Figure 2b shows that the tress of virgin hair treated with non-
conditioning shampoo which has some spots damaged by
the detergents in shampoo and no shining lines on the side.
Typical images of the virgin hairs treated with 2-in-1 shampoo with
Polyquaternium 10 and silicone quaternium 20 are shown in Figure
2c and 2d, the tresses are smooth in both cases but in 2c, there
are some spots damaged by the detergents and Polyquaternium
10 could not fi x them completely. Figure 2d shows that silicone
quaternium 20 did better job than Polyquaternium 10; this can be
seen from the Figure 2a and 2d which are very close in terms of
smooth and shining lines on the side.
Silicone quaternium 20 performs better than polyquaternium
10 in hair conditioning, producing smooth and shiny surfaces
on the hair tresses which were shown in Figure 2e and 2f.
Polyquaternium 10 provides slightly increased foam than
Silicone quaternium 20.
EVALUATION OF SHAMPOOS IN PERFORMANCE ON HAIR
SWATCHES
Method Used: ASTM (American Society for Testing and
Materials International) E 2082- 06: Standard Guide for
Descriptive Analysis of Shampoo Performance. All products
were evaluated on 10-inch Virgin Brown Hair. Two × 2-gram
swatches were used for each material tested, all from the
same lot. All swatches were wet with water (25 °C) and one
gram of test material was used for each swatch. Swatches
were washed and then rinsed for at least one minute per
swatch. Wet Comb Evaluation was then performed. All
swatches were air-dried then the Dry Comb Evaluation was
performed once hair was completely dry. Scale used is 1 to
10, 10 being the best. Used for wet and dry combing. Hair
swatches need using non-conditioning shampoo before
treated with hair conditioner.
The results show that both shampoo and conditioner with
silicone quaternium 20 are little bit better than those with
Polyquaternium 10 in terms of wet comb and dry comb.
MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF HAIR SWATCHES
Method: Barska AY11374-Digital Microscope was used to
take pictures of hair swatches of (a) untreated European
virgin brown, (b) virgin hair treated with shampoo which has
no conditioner, (c) virgin hair treated with 2-in-1 shampoo
with Polyquaternium 10, (d) virgin hair treated with 2-in-
Table 6. Wet Comb Evaluations.
Table 7. Dry Comb Evaluations.
Figure 1. Hair Evaluation for Shampoo and Conditioners.
Figure 2a. Figure 2b.
Figure 2c. Figure 2d.
BEHIND THE LABEL
COLUMN
Formulator Tip
No one ingredient provides all the “best properties” to a
formulation. The choice of the optimum raw material is
often determined by the market into which the product is
directed. This is in fact why there is so much specialization in
products. The type of hair, the consumer expectation and
the cost are all critical to success.
Formulator Tip
When considering the cost of an ingredient, always
consider cost effectiveness (also called price per unit).
The cost effectiveness is the cost per pound times the
percentage added. All too often we only consider cost per
pound. If a raw material is twice the price per pound of an
alternate, but is used at one fi fth, the cost per pound of
shampoo will be lower.
REFERENCES
1. http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/category/
haircare/2658506.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_care
3. http://www.lookchem.com/Polyquaternium-10/
4. http://chemistscorner.com/what-is-polyquaternium/
5. http://www.surfatech.com/pdfs/Siltech%20Silplex%20Brochure.
pdf
6. http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1791091.
html
CONCLUSIONS
1. Polyquaternium 10 provides slightly better foam levels
when compared to silicone quaternium 20
2. Silicone quaternium 20 performs better than
polyquaternium 10 in hair conditioning, producing
smooth and shiny surfaces on the hair tresses.
3. Silicone quaternium 20 performs better than
polyquaternium 10 in hair conditioning, producing
smooth and shiny surfaces on the hair tresses
Figure 2e. Hair Treated with
Conditioner w/ Polyquaternium 10.
Figure 2f. Hair Treated with
Conditioner with Silicone
quaternium 20.
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