Sodium Chloride
Sodium chloride is the INCI name for common table salt (NaCl). In cosmetic formulations, it primarily functions as a viscosity controller, thickening ionic surfactant-based cleansing products at concentrations of roughly 1–3% by screening electrostatic repulsion between surfactant head groups to promote gel-forming micelle structures. It also acts as an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, and when listed as the first ingredient in undissolved form, it serves as a physical exfoliating agent in body scrubs.
Sodium chloride thickens surfactant-based cleansing formulas to achieve a desirable gel texture. It can stabilize water-in-oil emulsions and, in its undissolved granular form, provides physical exfoliation in scrub products.
Adding too high a concentration in surfactant systems causes "salting out," which reverses the thickening effect and makes the formula runny again.
