Just wondering to see is there any correlation with CMC of surfactant and its mildness
Shajahan Abdulkareem
CMC is the critical concentration of surfactant micellization and it cannot be soft. Apparently you meant something else.
It is often claimed that surfactants tend to be milder if the cmc is lower. The explanation proposed is that irritation is largely due to the concentration of monomers. The maximum concentration of monomers (i.e. surfactant molecules not present as micelles) corresponds to the cmc. However, this is a simplistic view as many other factors can affect mildness.
It is certainly the case that adding amphoteric surfactants to anionics improves mildness and lowers the cmc. However, this is probably more complicated than a simple cause and effect bewteen cmc and mildness. One should also remember that the relation between monomer concentration and cmc is more complicated in mixed systems.
Further info in these links:
https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/cosmetic-ingredients/cleansing/article/21837293/the-mild-cleanser-room-to-improve-part-i
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9609395/
mildness mostly means minor interaction, which first of all is affected by general structural quality. If this is identical than adsorption (interaction) at fixed concentration increases with hydrophobicity (low cmc values).
Apparently, Shajahan Abdulkareem means the absence of an irritating effect of surfactants on human skin. These surfactants include "green" surfactants: Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocoamid DEA, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate... Mildness to the skin correlates with the compatibility of the hydrophilic group and the skin.
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