Betaine is found naturally in many plants, such as beets, spinach, malt, mushrooms and fruits. It is also found in some animals, such as the chelates of lobsters, octopus, squid and aquatic crustaceans, including the human liver.Cosmetic betaine is mostly extracted from beet molasses by chromatography, and its natural equivalents can also be obtained by chemical synthesis with trimethylamine and chloroacetic acid.  

Betaine also has the effect of anti-allergy and reducing skin irritation. The 4% betaine (Bet) solution was added into 1% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS, K12) and 4% cocamide-propyl betaine (CAPB), respectively, and the transdermal water loss value (TEWL) was determined.  The addition of betaine can significantly reduce the skin stimulation of surfactants such as SLS. The addition of betaine in toothpaste and mouthwash can significantly reduce the stimulation of SLS on oral mucosa.  According to the anti-allergy and moisturizing effect of betaine, by adding betaine in ZPT anti-dandruff shampoo products as anti-dandruff agent, can also significantly reduce the stimulation effect of surfactant and ZPT on scalp, effectively improve the scalp itching and hair drying phenomenon caused by ZPT after washing;  At the same time, it can improve the wet combing effect of hair and prevent hair tangling.  

Betaine can also be used in hair care products, its excellent natural moisture properties, but also can give hair luster, increase the water retention of hair, prevent by bleaching, hair coloring, perm and other external factors caused by hair damage.  At present, betaine has been widely used in personal care products such as facial cleanser, shower gel, shampoo and emulsifying system products because of this performance.  Betaine is weakly acidic in aqueous solution (1% betaine has a pH of 5.8 and 10% betaine has a pH of 6.2), but results show that betaine can buffer the pH of acidic solutions. This characteristic of betaine can be used to prepare mild fruit acid skin care products, so as to significantly improve fruit acid anti-aging skin care products due to low pH value of fruit acid caused by skin irritation and allergy.