Patent ID: 8642056

Claim:
A method for thickening a formulation, comprising contacting a cosmetic formulation with a direct aqueous emulsion of a polymer, followed by regulation of the pH to a value between 5 and 7, thereby forming a thickened formulation, wherein the emulsion is free from surfactants and organic solvents other than water and the polymer consists, expressed as a % by weight of each of the monomers therein, of: a) 20% to 60% by weight of methacrylic acid and/or acrylic acid, where the % by weight of acrylic acid, if present, compared to the total weight of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid is at least 50%, b) 40% to 80% by weight of at least one monomer chosen from among ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and methyl methacrylate, c) 0.5% to 25% by weight of a monomer comprising a hydrophobic group, d) 0.05% to 22% by weight of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, and e) 0 to 1% by weight of at least one cross-linked monomer, wherein the monomer comprising a hydrophobic group has the general formula R—(OE) m -(OP) n —R′, m and n are integers of less than or equal to 150, at least one of which is non-zero, OE and OP are respectively ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, R is a polymerisable group selected from the groups consisting of methacrylate and methacrylurethane groups, R′ is a hydrophobic group having at least 6 and at most 36 carbon atoms.