Give the lowest storage temperature and the clarity specification. An amide that is clear at 40 °C can fail at 10 °C.
A solubility limit, not instability
A hazy shampoo that clears when warmed and clouds again when cooled is a solubility problem. CMEA is the first suspect in a SLES formula that was thickened with flake. The product is not “separating” in the emulsion sense.
Esteem’s flake and EO-liquid amides let you trade handling and solubility. The EO grades are listed as alternatives to regular CMEA. Use them when the clarity window is cold and the flake level is already high.
Pearl is a different specification
Glycol distearate pearlizers are esters, not amides, and they are meant to scatter light. An amide problem in a pearl shampoo shows up as grain, viscosity crash, or dropout, not as “it is not clear.”
Say pearl or clear on the form. The sample and the test both change.
What to change first
Salt increases viscosity and can push a borderline amide out of solution. Record salt and amide together.
Fill warm and then cool in the test, because a sample that is always held at 25 °C misses the warehouse.
| Observation | First change | Not first |
|---|---|---|
| Clouds only when cold | Lower amide or use EO-amide | New preservative |
| Grainy pearl | Pearl ester, not CMEA haze | More salt |
| Clear when hot, hazy in 2 days | Solubility limit | A defoamer |
| Haze after fragrance | Solubilizer | Blaming the amide first |
Haze is the amide leaving solution
CMEA is only modestly soluble in water. In a SLES shampoo it is carried by the micelles up to a limit set by temperature, amide level, salt, and fragrance. Below that temperature the excess comes out. The liquid looks milky or opalescent, and it goes clear again if the same bottle is warmed. That reversibility is the diagnostic. A split emulsion, a preservative dropout, or a pearlizer grain does not clear and return on a simple warm-up.
Flake lauric grades hit this limit sooner than coco, because the narrower chain crystallises more readily. The 3EO and 5EO liquids are listed as alternatives to regular CMEA precisely because the EO tail raises solubility. They are the clarity trial when the flake level is already as high as the foam needs and the warehouse is cold.
Pearl, fragrance, and false blame
A pearlized shampoo is supposed to scatter light. Glycol distearate and similar esters do that on purpose. Judging it with a clear-shampoo haze test sends the formulator hunting for an amide problem that is actually the pearl. In a pearl base, an amide failure shows up as grain, viscosity crash, or a sediment, not as “it is not water-clear.”
Fragrance oils cloud sulfate systems on their own when the solubilizer is short. Remove the amide in a lab split before the preservative or the perfume is blamed, and remove the perfume before the amide is blamed. The note that clears when the amide is left out is an amide solubility problem. The note that clears when the perfume is left out is a solubilizer problem.
How to set the window
Fill warm, then cool the bottle to the coldest temperature on the storage claim and read clarity there. A sample held all week at 25 °C never sees the warehouse. Record amide activity and salt together, because raising either one can push a borderline formula over the limit.
Alcohol or a hydrotrope can force clarity and will also move foam, cost, and the VOC story. Check the amide dose and the EO grade first. If the product is meant to be pearl, take haze off the defect list and write the pearl specification instead.
How to Specify with Esteem
- State clear or pearlized.
- Give the coldest storage and fill temperatures.
- If the product is pearl, haze is not the defect.
- Trial a lower flake level or a liquid EO-amide.
- Do not add alcohol until the amide dose is checked.
Pair this with the liquid 3EO/5EO note and viscosity builders.