In the July Q&A on my Patreon feed, Doris asked: I fell down this particular rabbit hole because I wanted to duplicate a simple shampoo that I love. (It's this shampoo - Dirty Girl Farm, Bamboo Shampoo.)  I think the order of the ingredients is off, but according to the label they are: water, glycerin, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium chloride, bamboo extract. fragrance, citric acid, neem infusion.  The cocamidopropyl betaine seems to be the only surfactant, which strikes me as odd, but I went with it.  I put together a basic recipe, but can?t get it to thicken with either salt or Crothix.  My bamboo extract is 40% water, 40% glycerin, and 20% bamboo.  I used it at 10% and didn?t add any additional glycerin, since my hair is very prone to frizz.  I couldn?t find ?neem infusion? anywhere, but I did include liquid Germall Plus (using a preservative is just one of the many important things I?ve learned from you).  Finally, my questions.  Can cocamidopropyl betaine be used as the only surfactant in a shampoo"  Can it be thickened with salt"  I?m beginning to believe something is missing from the ingredient list, like a primary surfactant, but I haven?t given up yet!
Don't you love rabbit holes" They're the very reason this blog exists! (I was down one earlier today all about dimethicone copolyols, which I can't wait to share shortly! And I'm currently down one about surfactants, thanks to this question, Doris! ...