Cardanol, as one of components of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), is a mixture of 3-n-pentadecylphenol, 3-(pentadeca-8-enyl)phenol, 3-(pentadeca-8,11-dienyl)phenol and 3-(pentadeca-8,11,14-trienyl)phenol. It has both the characteristics of phenolic compounds and flexibility of aliphatic compounds. As a versatile industrial raw materials, it has been widely used as modifiers of the phenolic resin, rubber plasticizers, coatings and adhesives etc. Specially, cardanol-based surfactants have been reported using with long-chain alkyl moieties as lipophilic group in recent years. Herein, the application of this natural and renewable material to both academic and industrial research of cardanol-based surfactants will be discussed.