Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating “Gentle” Conditioner for Soft Hair

  • “Gentle” Conditioner for Soft Hair

    Posted by TLNCJM on May 23, 2016 at 11:28 am

    Hi again, everyone! I need to formulate a conditioner that doesn’t irritate my scalp but still leaves my hair feeling soft. A few weeks ago I made a conditioner using 4% Incroquat Behenyl TMS-50,  5% Dimethicone 1000 cSt, 5% Cyclopentasiloxane, and 1% Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride. My scalp started itching as soon I started running the conditioner through the hair. It also didn’t leave my hair feeling very soft at all. So, I have purchased some additional ingredients to try in a new formula. I want this product to have excellent slip so that it’s extremely easy to distribute through the hair. I also want it to leave the hair feeling really soft. I did have a few basic questions.

    Water 75.3%
    Propanediol 6%
    Cyclopentasiloxane (and) Dimethiconol 5%
    Dimethicone 5%
    Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG-100 Stearate 5%
    Hydroxyethylcellulose 1.5%
    Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride 1%
    Climbazole 0.5%
    Potassium Sorbate 0.5%
    Disodium EDTA 0.2%
    Citric Acid Q.S. to pH 4.5

    1) I have read good things about the Glyceryl Stearate and PEG-100 Stearate combination. Is 5% of this emulsifier usually the most you would use in a hair conditioner? I would like a thicker cream but don’t want any tackiness or drag. I know this is a non-ionic emulsifier but I’m going to rely on the Cationic Guar and silicones for conditioning.

    2) Should I add an additional 5% Cyclopentasiloxane (by itself, without Dimethiconol) for the amount of slip I want or is this going to be enough?

    3) Do I still need 1.5% HEC as a stabilizer if I already have 1% Cationic Guar? And is 1% Cationic Guar the most that should be used?

    Yes, I know that I’m going to need to experiment, which I really enjoy! But if any of you have time to offer a little guidance, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again and have a great week!

    belassi replied 7 years, 10 months ago 5 Members · 10 Replies
  • 10 Replies
  • jiroband

    Member
    May 24, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    Hi Tim,

    I’m assuming this is a rinse-out product. Have you considered that you may be sensitive to or having an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients?

    Some things that stand out to me:

    1. I see you’re bringing the pH down to 4.5. If you have any pre-existing scalp irritation, you may be itching from the low pH.

    2. Your silicones add up to 10% — I would think this would feel “greasy.” (Not that this would necessarily cause itching — it just seems like a lot.) I would keep silicones in the 2% - 4% range.

    3. If you want more slip and softness, consider adding Di-PPG-2 Myreth-10 Adipate, CETAC, and DL-Panthenol. 

    4. I would also include a hydrolyzed protein.

    5. Consider adding Allantoin and Aloe as anti-irritants.

  • belassi

    Member
    May 24, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    I think you could take a more logical approach to this formulation. If you are really sensitive to all sorts of ingredients and you have no idea which, I would begin by formulating a conditioner on paper, then do a patch test on myself with each ingredient in turn, using the same dilution on the patch as you would in the formula. 
    Having identified a set of ingredients that individually cause no reaction, then combine them into the conditioner and see how that goes.
    Looking at your formula, I consider the only possible ingredients for irritation to be:
    Climbazole 0.5%
    Potassium Sorbate 0.5%
    So I would begin with these.
    @jiroband also made some good comments.
    You should consider adding anti-irritants such as calendula and aloe vera extracts.

  • bill_toge

    Member
    May 24, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    I used to work with someone who was allergic to various grades of Jaguar (guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride), so it could be that

    in my view 1% is a bit excessive; you’ll get perfectly good results with 0.3-0.5%

  • TLNCJM

    Member
    May 25, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    Thank you all for your replies. Actually, the formula above is the one I haven’t made yet. I was not clear in my original post. Sorry, guys. Here is the one I made a few weeks ago that seemed to cause more itching:

    Water 69.3%
    Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride 8%
    Propanediol 6%
    Cyclopentasiloxane 5%
    Dimethicone 1000 cSt 5%
    Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Butylene Glycol (and) Cetyl Alcohol 4%
    Polyaminopropyl Biguanide 1.5%
    Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride 1%
    Disodium EDTA 0.2%
    Lactic Acid Q.S.

    I usually use citric acid to adjust the pH but I wanted to try out the Lactic Acid 90% I purchased from Lotioncrafter. The pH of that conditioner was around 5. That formula also did not contain any climbazole or potassium sorbate.

    I am sorry that I made it seem like I was trying to identify the ingredient(s) causing the increased itching. It could have been the biguanide, BTMS-50, or even the cationic guar as @Bill_Toge mentioned. I’m hoping it’s not the cationic guar since I need that for increased deposition of the silicones. This next formula will not use BTMS-50 or the biguanide.

    Those are all great suggestions, @jiroband. I will be using potassium sorbate to preserve this next formula, so I think I’ll keep the pH below 5. This will be pretty close to the average skin pH of 4.7. As far as the silicones, you’re right, 10% is a lot. However, the formula with BTMS-50 contained the same amount and my hair did not feel greasy at all. In fact, that formula did not leave it feeling conditioned. I’m Caucasian and I have straight hair but it still doesn’t feel as soft as I want it to. I’m just wondering if the dimethicone will still be necessary or if the cyclopentasiloxane/dimethiconol will be enough.

    @Belassi, that’s a very good idea. I think that’s what I’ll do if this next formula gives me the same kind of itching.

    @Bill_Toge, thanks for letting me know about the cationic guar. I may reduce that to 0.5%. If I choose to keep the silicones at 10%, will 5% Glyceryl Stearate/PEG-100 Stearate be able to emulsify them?

    Thanks again for your help!

  • jiroband

    Member
    May 25, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    Try to do a bit more testing to see if the BTMS-50 is truly part of the problem. This is such a fantastic conditioner and emulsifier, it would be sad if you had to leave it out.

    In my humble opinion, I think you would get much better results adding Jojoba oil and cutting down on the silicones.

    Getting back to slip and softness — I really recommend Di-PPG-2 Myreth-10 Adipate and CETAC. You can get CETAC at Lotioncrafter, and the Di-PPG-2 from thepersonalformulator.com.

  • david

    Member
    May 25, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    Polyaminopropyl Biguanide @1,5% ? - It is not even considered safe @0.3 SCCS opinion. SCCS states it is irritating to the skin as well.

  • TLNCJM

    Member
    May 26, 2016 at 11:52 am

    You’re right, BTMS-50 is a great emulsifier, @jiroband. I can use it on my face with no reaction whatsoever. I may give it another try but I’m going to wait until I make this next formula with Glyceryl Stearate/PEG-100 Stearate and see how it feels.

    Jojoba oil is another great suggestion that I really appreciate! Unfortunately, I suffer from seborrheic dermatitis, so I will have to stick with silicones. Jojoba oil is composed mostly of free fatty acids that have carbon chain lengths between C16 and C24. Since these are longer than C10, they can be metabolized by Malassezia, which are lipophilic yeasts.
    http://www.biochemj.org/content/ppbiochemj/108/2/225.full.pdf

    I will keep Di-PPG-2 Myreth-10 Adipate in mind! I see it is available from Lotioncrafter at a lower price.
    http://www.lotioncrafter.com/cromollient-sce.html

    Hi @David! Cosmocil CQ (Polyaminopropyl Biguanide) is a 20% aqueous solution. 1.5% of that is equal to 0.3% active PHMB.
    http://dewolfchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014_11_Cosmocil-CQ_TDS_lowres.pdf

    I agree that it’s a likely culprit so I don’t think I’ll be using it again.

  • jiroband

    Member
    May 26, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    I know it sounds like I have stock in this stuff because I keep pushing it, but if I was allowed access to only one emollient for conditioner, shampoo and bodywash, I would choose DPMA. (I feel kind of dumb, but I didn’t realize that Lotioncrafter carried it under the name Cromollient-SCE.)  

    OK, I’ll get off my DPMA soapbox now - I promise.

    I don’t know if you’ve come across this site, Swift Crafty Monkey, but I highly recommend it. It’s run by Susan Barclay-Nichols, who is also a chemist. The site contains a wealth of information on ingredients and formulation “recipes,” and it’s updated several times each week. Susan is fantastic at explaining the science behind ingredients and how they interact with skin and hair.

    Here is a quick link to her section on emollients
    http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/p/oil-butter-posts.html

    The ONLY negative with the site is that she is really busy, and if you ask a question, it likely will NOT get answered. 

  • TLNCJM

    Member
    May 26, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    Yes, I am aware of Susan’s blog. I’m really glad that people find it so helpful!

    I just want to reiterate that I have seborrheic dermatitis, so I avoid the application of oils and butters to my scalp. Here is an excellent article that explains it very well!
    http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1308503

    Esters like DPMA don’t present this problem, of course. So, it would be a good one for me to try. Thanks again for the recommendation.

    Caprylic/Caprylic Triglyceride is a good emollient for those of us with seborrheic dermatitis since it is composed of caprylic (c8) and capric (c10) fatty acids. These are medium-chain triglycerides that do not support the growth of Malassezia yeasts.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10507598

    But it turns out that Malassezia may not be responsible after all!
    http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24877

  • belassi

    Member
    May 26, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    I read the last article, thanks for the link.
    My own feedback from customers using our anti-dandruff shampoo (active: tea tree oil) is that some reported complete clearing of dandruff in 6 weeks typically, and loved the product, while others reported little or no effect. This fits with the idea that dandruff has not just one cause but possible multiple causes.

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