Bancroft rule
The Bancroft rule in colloidal chemistry states: "The phase in which an emulsifier is more soluble constitutes the continuous phase." This means that water-soluble surfactants tend to give oil-in-water emulsions and oil-soluble surfactants give water-in-oil emulsions. It is a general rule of thumb, still used, but regarded as inferior to HLD theory (Hydrophilic Lipophilic Difference), which takes many more factors into consideration.