Plant-based conditioner: the ingredient that transforms hair

The vegetable-based conditioner from Les Mauvaises Herbes, by its short name behentrimonium methosulfate-25, is the magic ingredient in our solid conditioner recipes. At first glance, its scientific name can be a bit intimidating, but once you get to know it, you discover its gentleness and unparalleled effectiveness for hair.

This ingredient has transformed my curly hair and greatly simplified my hair care routine!

Behentrimonium methosulfate

There are several things to demystify about this ingredient.

First of all, what is this thing with such a strange name? It is a quaternary cationic surfactant.

"What the...?"

A quaternary cationic surfactant is an ingredient that releases positive charges when placed in water. Positive charges are attracted to negative charges (I'm calling on your high school chemistry knowledge here, haha).

Do you have any idea what is naturally negatively charged? Our hair and our skin!

Isn't that convenient!

A + and a –, on a molecular level, attract and bond with each other.

Our hair and quaternary cationic surfactants therefore possess a natural affinity.

The BTMS will combine with each hair strand to form a smooth film. Its role is therefore to "replace" natural sebum in a way, thus reducing water loss, frizz, dry hair, etc. It will also reduce static, provide softness, and facilitate detangling. It is highly interesting for dry hair and/or hair that tangles easily. A major advantage of BTMS is that it will not weigh the hair down too much, as a butter or oil used as a conditioner might.

"But it's a sulfate!"

The term "sulfate" at the end… it can be scary, right? I understand. Over the years, products containing sulfates have been dragged through the mud, without making any distinctions.

We can think of Sodium lauryl sulfate, which is irritating and drying for the skin and hair, or Sodium laureth sulfate, which is much milder but sometimes contaminated with carcinogenic ingredients like 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide. As with the different types of alcohol, there are also different types of sulfates. We are used to putting them all in the same basket, but that is a mistake. In this case, BTMS, although it contains a sulfate ion, is not at all drying or irritating—on the contrary!

"Is BTMS-50 the same thing?"

Substantially. The only difference is that it is more concentrated in behentrimonium methosulfate (50% instead of 25%). It is possible to use the 50 to replace the 25, but the result will be different. We chose BTMS-25 because it is firmer, therefore more suitable for solid cosmetics. It is also gentler, less irritating to the eyes, and a 50% concentration is not needed for the conditioner to be effective. In addition, most BTMS-50 on the market contains butylene glycol, an ingredient we prefer to avoid.

The vegetable-based conditioner from Les Mauvaises Herbes, a perfect ingredient, then?

Is BTMS a perfect ingredient? No.

Obviously, as with everything, nothing is perfect.

If you decide to do a little research on BTMS, you will see that opinions are mixed. There are articles that praise it, others that demonize it. For our part, we decided to add it to our offering because the criticisms against it were not sufficiently supported by reliable sources and the advantages it offers us outweighed the alleged disadvantages. Just as with SCS and SCI.