Personal care compositions and methods for using such compositions

1. A sulfate-free aqueous personal care composition comprising:

i) from about 2 pbw to about 20 pbw of a surfactant system comprising at least:

a) one methyl oleoyl taurate of formula R a CON(CH 3 )CH 2 CH 2 SO 3 X a , in which R a is the hydrocarbon radical of oleic acid and X a is a counterion,

b) one isethionate of formula R b COOCH 2 CH 2 SO 3 X b , in which R b is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or alkylaryl group having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, and X b is a counterion, and

c) one amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant selected from (1) amphoacetates and diamphoacetates, (2) sultaines and (3) alkylbetaines, and

ii) from about 0.2 pbw to about 15 pbw of a conditioning agent.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the isethionate (b) is of formula R b COOCH 2 CH 2 SO 3 X b , with R b being an unsubstituted alkyl group having 6 to 30 carbon atoms.

3. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the isethionate (b) is of formula R b COOCH 2 CH 2 SO 3 X b , with R b being an unsubstituted alkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms.

4. The composition of claim 3 , wherein the isethionate (b) is of formula R b COOCH 2 CH 2 SO 3 X b , with R b being an unsubstituted alkyl group having 7 to 21 carbon atoms.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) is one amphoacetate of formula:

wherein R is an aliphatic group of 8 to 22 carbon atoms and M is a cation.

6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein M is sodium, potassium, ammonium or substituted ammonium cation.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) is one diamphoacetate of formula:

wherein R is an aliphatic group of 8 to 22 carbon atoms and M is a cation.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) is one sultaine of formula:

wherein m is 2 or 3, or variants of these in which —(CH 2 ) 3 SO 3 — is replaced by:

wherein R 1 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or alkenyl group having 7 to 22 carbon atoms, and R 2 and R 3 are each independently alkyl, hydroxyalkyl or carboxyalkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) is one alkylbetaine of formula:

wherein R 1 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or alkenyl group having 7 to 22 carbon atoms, and R 2 and R 3 are each independently alkyl, hydroxyalkyl or carboxyalkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) to methyl oleoyl taurate (a) is greater than or equal to 1, based on the weight percent of each surfactant in the final composition.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant (c) to isethionate (b) is greater than or equal to 1, based on the weight percent of each surfactant in the final composition.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises one sulfosuccinate.

13. The composition of claim 12 , wherein said sulfosuccinate is a monoalkyl sulfosuccinate of formula R c O 2 CCH 2 CH(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c , an amido-MEA sulfosuccinate of formula R c CONHCH 2 CH 2 O 2 CCH 2 CH(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c , an amido-MIPA sulfosuccinate of formula R c CONH(CH 2 )CH(CH 3 )(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c or an alkoxylated sulfosuccinate of formula R c —O—(CH 2 CH 2 O) n C(O)CH 2 CH(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c , wherein n ranges from 1 to 20, R c is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or alkylaryl group having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, and X c is a counterion.

14. The composition of claim 13 , wherein the sulfosuccinate is an alkoxylated sulfosuccinate of formula R c —O—(CH 2 CH 2 O) n C(O)CH 2 CH(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c , wherein n ranges from 2 to 20, R c is an unsubstituted alkyl group having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, and X c is a counterion.

15. The composition of claim 14 , wherein the sulfosuccinate is an alkoxylated sulfosuccinate of formula R c —O—(CH 2 CH 2 O) n C(O)CH 2 CH(SO 3 X c )CO 2 X c , wherein n ranges from 2 to 20, R c is an unsubstituted alkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms and X c is a counterion.

16. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the total amount of surfactants ranges from 5 to 15 pbw, relative to the total weight of the composition.

17. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the conditioning agent is a cationic or ampholytic conditioning agent.

18. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is a personal care cleansing composition.

19. A method comprising washing keratin substrates using the composition of claim 1 .

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the keratin substrates are the hair or the scalp.