Lipophilicity, hydrophobicity, and non-polarity may describe the same tendency towards participation in the London dispersion force, as the terms are often used interchangeably.
Surfactant molecules also aggregate in water as micelles with their head groups sticking out and their tails bunched together.
Micelles draw oily substances into their hydrophobic cores, explaining the basic action of soaps and detergents used for personal cleanliness and for laundering clothes.
[citation needed] Cell membranes are bilayer structures principally formed from phospholipids, molecules which have a highly water interactive, ionic phosphate head groups attached to two long alkyl tails.
[citation needed] Oxybenzone, a common cosmetic ingredient often used in sunscreens, penetrates the skin particularly well because it is not very lipophilic.