A study of the phase and rheological behavior of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl trioxyethylene sulfate (SDES) and nonionic polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween-80) with alkanoyl-N-methylethanolamide (C-12, NMEA-12; and C-16, NMEA-16) in aqueous system is presented. Upon addition of NMEA to the semi-dilute solution of SIDES or Tween-80, induces micellar growth leading to the formation of a gel-like highly viscoelastic solution in the maximum viscosity region. These solutions obey the Maxwell model of a viscoelastic fluid. It was observed from rheological measurements that NMEA-16 is more effective than NMEA-12 to induce the micellar growth of surfactants. The relationship between the marked changes in viscosity with surfactant-cosurfactant mixing ratio based on the experimental observations is discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.