High HLB surfactants dehydrate low HLB surfactants, forcing them to curve more tightly around oil droplets, leading to smaller sizes.

A balanced combination of low and high HLB surfactants packs more efficiently at the oil-water interface, significantly lowering interfacial tension and reducing the energy required to create new surface area during emulsification.

Low HLB surfactants exclusively reduce interfacial tension, while high HLB surfactants only provide steric hindrance.

Mixing surfactants always increases the overall viscosity, which slows droplet coalescence, allowing smaller sizes to form.