Complex aqueous mixtures comprised of swelling clays and hydrosoluble polymers naturally occur in soils and play a major role in pedogenesis. They are also very often used for formulating oil-well drilling fluids, paints, and personal-care products. The suspensions of some natural clays, thanks to their large nanoparticle aspect ratio, spontaneously form nematic liquid-crystalline phases where the particles align parallel to each other, which affects their flow