Cationic or Non Ionic wax for emulsified body scrub?

[hellomimi]

Hello, Im thinking about making an emulsified body scrub and I’m deciding weather I should use a cationic or non ionic emulsifying wax. I like the conditioning properties of a cationic scrub, but I’m afraid that since they stick to the skin, the dead skin cells that I’m exfoliating while using the scrub won’t properly wash off (if that makes sense?) and that my pores may get clogged. Am I overthinking this?

 

[Anstarx]

I think most common emulsifying wax are non-ionic. I use polawax, used olivem, in my sugar scrub and they are both non-ionic.
The one cationic emulsifying wax I can think of is BTMS. I use it in my shampoo bars for its conditioning property, since it's kinda pricey to use in sugar scrubs.
I unfortunately haven't heard of dead skin from scrubbing clogging pores, but if you are worried, maybe use something else such as butters as a conditioner? I use shea butter and rice bran oils which makes my skin feel soft and nice.

 

[justjacqui]

The main difference between using a non-ionic emulsifier like Emulsifying Wax NF or Polawax and a cationic emulsifier like BTMS will be the skin feel.
The BTMS based product will have a drier/powdery feel compared to a waxier feel with the Emulsifying wax.

Even if the cationic BTMS does attach to the skin, the physical scrubbing would definitely still remove the dead skin cells.