AmphiCare® – Sustainable Performance for Personal Care
The first fully upcycled biosurfactants for personal care formulations
High-performance cleansing with unmatched sustainability
AmphiCare® is a next-generation biosurfactant line designed specifically for personal care applications. Developed by AmphiStar, AmphiCare(R) biosurfactants are the first fully upcycled microbial biosurfactants, offering an environmentally responsible alternative to conventional surfactants derived from fossil and palm oil. Made entirely from bio-based waste and side streams, AmphiCare® delivers superior mildness, cleansing efficacy, emulsification benefits and skin compatibility while dramatically reducing environmental impact.
Key benefits & features
- 100% Upcycled & Sustainable. Derived from food waste and agricultural byproducts, ensuring minimal resource depletion.
- Mild & Skin-Safe. Free from sulfates, palm oil, and 1,4-dioxane.
- Certified Non-Irritant for Eyes. AmphiCare A: proven safe for eye-area formulations.
- High-Performance Cleansing. Effectively removes dirt and impurities without stripping the skin of its natural oils.
- Biodegradable & Non-Toxic. Safe for the environment and aquatic life.
- Reduced CO₂ Footprint. 50-70% lower emissions compared to fossil and palm-based surfactants and first generation microbial biosurfactants
SUSTAINABILITY AT ITS CORE
Why upcycled biosurfactants?
Traditional surfactants used in personal care products, including those marketed as “bio-based,” rely on fossil oil and first-generation bio-based feedstocks such as palm oil and sugar, contributing to deforestation, land degradation, and carbon emissions.
APPLICATIONS FOR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
AmphiCare® is optimised for a broad range of personal care applications, including hand soaps, shampoos, facial cleansers, makeup removers, moisturisers, body lotions, and wet wipes—delivering mildness and performance with strong sustainability credentials across both rinse-off and leave-on formulations.
Formulation support:
- pH Range: 3.0 – 11.0
- Foam Performance: Comparable to first-generation biosurfactants, effective as a secondary surfactant.
- Mildness Benchmark: Outperforms traditional SLES-based formulations in skin irritation tests.
- Efficient Formulations: AmphiCare® helped reduce the number of ingredients in a well known mild market reference makeup remover from 13 to just 6, while maintaining equal (or better) performance.
A mild and gentle hand soap formulation using AmphiCare® demonstrated superior skin compatibility compared to SLES-based products, avoiding irritation and redness. See our body lotion formulation here.
THE INNOVATION BEHIND AMPHICARE®
AmphiStar leverages over 20 years of strain- and process development to produce high-purity microbial biosurfactants via fermentation.
Unlike conventional chemical surfactant production—which depends on high temperatures, pressures, and toxic catalysts—AmphiCare® is produced under mild, water-based conditions, ensuring superior sustainability and safety.
A cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) confirms its environmental advantages, with 3× lower CO₂ emissions, 7× less land use impact, 4× reduced resource consumption, and 6× lower impact on human health compared to fossil-based surfactants.
SAFETY & SUSTAINABILITY
AmphiCare® meets the highest standards for safety and sustainability—it is 100% biodegradable and non-toxic, free from 1,4-dioxane, sulphates, palm oil, and fossil feedstocks.
