Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Lava lip gloss - safe recipe or not?

  • Lava lip gloss - safe recipe or not?

    Posted by jenwatt27 on November 2, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Good day to you. I am working on a fun product for little girls that I plan to offer at my daughter’s Santa Shop this year (elementary school). It is a lava lip gloss. The recipe is as follows-
    78% Castor Oil
    19% Vegetable Glycerin
    2% Flavor Oil
    1% (possibly less) Water soluble Food coloring

    1. Castor oil is mixed with flavor oil
    2. In a separate container, glycerin is mixed with as little as possible (1% or less) water soluble food coloring
    3. Colored glycerin is poured into a 10 ml clear glass bottle (with a roller ball top) at approx 20%
    4. The flavored castor oil is then poured over the top to fill the bottle at about 80%
    5. The oil and glycerin do not mix, so when the bottle is tipped back and forth, the colored glycerin moved like a lava lamp and makes the cutest lava lamp lip gloss.
    This product is in a clear, 10 ml roller bottle and looks like this-https://dailyvanity.sg/news/lava-lamp-lip-gloss/

    My question about the safety of this recipe is because of the introduction of water into an anhydrous product because of the addition of the water soluble food dye. Is this product still considered safely preserved because the water content is so low and stays in the glycerin portion of the finished product? I have read that glycerin can act as a preservative at 50% or more and because the water is less than 5% of the glycerin portion of this mixture, am I still safe to sell this product? And can you please tell me if the glycerin and oil are safely preserved individually because they are not emulsified? I have been trying to find an answer to this question of product safety for a long time and I cannot find any concrete information. I see other companies selling cute kits, but just because they are for sale doesn’t mean they are safe. Any help you can give me would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. I am beyond excited to make and sell this product. I think it will be fantastic, but I will not move forward if there is any possibility of contamination because I did not preserve something that needed preservation. Right now it is my assumption that this recipe would need no preservation.

    Thank you so much for taking time to read this long post for my lava lip gloss. I appreciate any help you can give me.

    das replied 6 years, 4 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • belassi

    Member
    November 2, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    In my opinion this won’t need a preservative; but use a clear oil that has a long shelf life and store the product in a cool place out of direct light.

  • belassi

    Member
    November 2, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    I asked my marketing consultant about this product and got the opinion that this product has already passed its unique “novelty” sales period. In fact lip gloss in Mexico, at least, has been declining for a while and some chains (Walmart) no longer stock it. Do not invest a lot of money in this without first doing test marketing.

  • das

    Member
    November 2, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    Even if the product doesn’t need a preservative, the use of it suggests it will contaminate right away. Lips are full of filth and dead tissue.

    I had an issue with sillicone recently, the bottom of the can had tasty mushrooms. When I asked what happend one of the employees told me that he washed the can with water to clean any remains of plastic or dust, and dryed it with hot air before he transfered from it’s original drum to this smaller one. No other product, just dimethicone. Yet mold appeared at the bottom. 

    So my suggestion would be to add a preservative no matter what. Better safe than sorry.

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