Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Advice on my formulation

  • Advice on my formulation

    Posted by Lindsey1009 on July 18, 2019 at 7:50 pm

    Hi guys,

    I appreciate all help in advance. I would like to formulate a more natural eye cream. I am still in my learning stages, but I’m hoping I am on the right track with this. Please let me know if I left anything out or is you guys have an suggestions or tweaks. I would love to keep the CoQ10 in there; I could not find a lot of info about how it works with the other ingredients. 

    Thanks again :)

    Eye cream recipe

    ·        
    10 drops frankincense essential oil

    ·        
    28 grams ounce pure aloe vera gel

    ·        
    28 grams unrefined shea butter

    ·        
    28 grams unrefined coconut oil

    ·        
    5 grams vitamin E (Tocopherol)

    ·        
    2 grams beeswax

    ·        
    2 grams Argireline NP (peptide)

    ·        
    .5 grams Coq10 powder

                .5 grams spirulina  (not sure if this % will work for smell reasons)

    ·        
    Recommended % Optifen

    Also, do you guys think I could get a one year shelf life with this? If not, why not?

    Lindsey1009 replied 4 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 24 Replies
  • 24 Replies
  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 7:57 pm

    And your emulsifier is?

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 7:59 pm

    And your emulsifier is?

    beeswax. But if I need a co-emulsifier I am completely open to that too

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:07 pm

    And your emulsifier is?

    I also edited my original post to include a tiny bit of spirulina. Hopefully that works in this, as it is such a small amount.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:21 pm

    The problem is, beeswax isn’t an emulsifier. You need a proper emulsifier for this product. Can you please put this in % because drops and grams are very hard to read. Your water phase is around 30% while oil phase is around 60. What kind of texture are you expecting to get? My point is, it will be very very greasy unless it’s what you want.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:31 pm

    https://www.makingcosmetics.com/GelMaker%C2%AE-NAT_p_1420.html

    Have a look at this one. It is considered (or should I say market as) ‘natural’. The texture isn’t bad for a ‘natural’ emulsifier. But you need to reduce your oil phase for this emulsifier. Otherwise look at polawax but it has ethoxylated compounds.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:46 pm

    The problem is, beeswax isn’t an emulsifier. You need a proper emulsifier for this product. Can you please put this in % because drops and grams are very hard to read. Your water phase is around 30% while oil phase is around 60. What kind of texture are you expecting to get? My point is, it will be very very greasy unless it’s what you want.

    That’s a good point! Thank you for pointing that out. I re-formulated my recipe, added a few ingredients, and took out some of the oils and replaced with distilled water. What do you think of this?

    Eye cream recipe

    ·        
    1-gram drops frankincense essential oil

    ·        
    28 grams ounce pure aloe vera gel

    ·        
    10 g distilled water

    ·        
    28 grams unrefined shea butter

    ·        
    18 grams unrefined coconut oil

    ·        
    5 grams vitamin E

    ·        
    2 grams beeswax

    ·        
    5% Olivem1000 (will convert to %)

    ·        
    .5% xanthan gum (“)

    ·        
    2 grams Argireline NP

    ·        
    .5 grams Coq10 powder

    ·        
    Recommended Optifen

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:54 pm

    I recommend to reduce vitamin E to 0.5 max. Same about essential oil.  Overall it should work now. I prefer fatty alcohols  for thickening but I see no reason (other than sensorial) why you can’t use beeswax. You might want some humectant in it as well (glycerin?). Keep optiphen at maximum allowed amount. Aloe vera and natural emulsifiers are hard to preserve.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    That’s funny, I was thinking I should maybe throw some glycerin in there too! I will add that in and reduce vitamin E. Why is too much vitamin E detrimental? Just curious. Cost?

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 8:58 pm

    It is going to be greasy. If you have very dry skin it might be ok. If you decide that you want more elegant product consider gel maker i posted above and different oils (a combination of oils and butters, not just butters).

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 18, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    I was planning on tweaking the oil types just a bit, but I just want to make sure the amounts of each ingredient type will work. I also plan to use a few different essential oils (but keep the .5% total!). I guess this is just a blueprint type recipe for me :)

    In terms of the emulsifier, do you think the olivem100 and little bit of beeswax will be okay? I’d prefer to use these because I already ordered a lot of it. I do want this on the greasier side, just not overboard. Does the vitamin E tend to feel more greasy as compared to regular carrier oils such as avocado and coconut oil? Also, I prefer to put this cream in a serum/pump type bottle for sanitary reasons. Do you think the consistency will come out correctly for this packaging type?

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 10:40 am

    Olivem and beeswax should be ok. The only concern I have is that your oil phase is a bit high, so you need to make it and see whether it’s stable or not. I don’t have much experience with Olivem because it’s too draggy for my taste.
    Have a look how it was used in The Drunk Elephant’s product:

    https://incidecoder.com/products/drunk-elephant-protini-tm-polypeptide-cream
     
    They used cetearyl alcohol as a thickener (pretty standard), carbomer, xanthan and Sepinov EMT 10 as stabilisers.

    Regarding serum bottle, it might not work, but you need to run the formula and see. I predict it’s going to be too viscous. 

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 1:54 pm

    Olivem and beeswax should be ok. The only concern I have is that your oil phase is a bit high, so you need to make it and see whether it’s stable or not. I don’t have much experience with Olivem because it’s too draggy for my taste.
    Have a look how it was used in The Drunk Elephant’s product:

    https://incidecoder.com/products/drunk-elephant-protini-tm-polypeptide-cream
     
    They used cetearyl alcohol as a thickener (pretty standard), carbomer, xanthan and Sepinov EMT 10 as stabilisers.

    Regarding serum bottle, it might not work, but you need to run the formula and see. I predict it’s going to be too viscous. 

    Yeah I think you are right. I will have to play around with the oil/water %’s until I find what I like. That product you sent me seems pretty good! There are quite a few ingredients in there. 

    Do you have any easy additive ideas to make a product feel more smooth and silky? I am thinking this could be a nice addition. I may also add a little bit of green mica powder to get my desired color if I decide to use spirulina extract instead of powder. 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 2:02 pm

    Yes they have quite a few ingredients, but mostly a fluff. Always look at functional ingredients.

    I could have many suggestions how to make it more silky, but I don’t know what would be acceptable for you. I am not sure which natural standard you are sticking to. Looking at that peptide moisturiser, I would say Sepinov EMT 10 is a great idea but it’s derived of acrylic acid if that’s ok for you.. You can buy it on lotioncrafter in the US.

    I also think you need a humectant. Either glycerin or 1,3 propanediol.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 2:07 pm

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 2:08 pm

    Yes they have quite a few ingredients, but mostly a fluff. Always look at functional ingredients.

    I could have many suggestions how to make it more silky, but I don’t know what would be acceptable for you. I am not sure which natural standard you are sticking to. Looking at that peptide moisturiser, I would say Sepinov EMT 10 is a great idea but it’s derived of acrylic acid if that’s ok for you.. You can buy it on lotioncrafter in the US.

    I also think you need a humectant. Either glycerin or 1,3 propanediol.

    Yes! I actually revised more formula a bit more last night to include a few more things:

    Eye cream recipe

    ·        
    .5 frankincense essential oil

    ·        
    10 grams ounce pure aloe vera gel

    ·        
    60 g distilled water

    ·        
    10 grams unrefined mango butter

    ·        
    15 grams (total) rice bran oil & grapeseed
    & rosehip

    ·        
    1 grams vitamin E (or .5 max?)

    ·        
    2 grams beeswax

    ·        
    5% Olivem1000 (will convert to %)

    ·        
    .5% xanthan gum (“)

    ·        
    2 grams Argireline NP

    ·        
    .5 grams Coq10 powder

    ·        
    Vegetable Glycerin 3%

    ·        
    1 g panthenol

    ·        
    3% 1,3 propanedial

    ·        
    1 g rice protein

    ·        
    .5 g spirulina

    ·        
    .5 allantoin

    ·        
    Recommended Optifen (max
    amt, + add other preservative)

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 2:15 pm

    0.5% of xanthan for this formula might be a bit too much, I would reduce to 0.2%. 
    I don’t see a reason to add 1% of vitamin e. It’s an antioxidant for your product (not for skin benefits) and you don’t need much. Please confirm it’s tocopherol not tocopheryl acetate.
    3% of glycerin and 3% of 1,3 propanediol might be ok, but it’s a matter of your taste. You should make it and decide whether you like it or not. I would say it’s a bit too much, but depends on the skin. It will be a little bit sticky but some people actually like it. By the way, mix allantoin in propanediol and add it in the end. It’s heat sensitive.
    Reduce panthenol to 0.5%.

    Other than that your formula is good to go for the first lab run. All further changes will depend on your results.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    Awesome! Thank you so so much!

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 3:31 pm

    0.5% of xanthan for this formula might be a bit too much, I would reduce to 0.2%. 
    I don’t see a reason to add 1% of vitamin e. It’s an antioxidant for your product (not for skin benefits) and you don’t need much. Please confirm it’s tocopherol not tocopheryl acetate.
    3% of glycerin and 3% of 1,3 propanediol might be ok, but it’s a matter of your taste. You should make it and decide whether you like it or not. I would say it’s a bit too much, but depends on the skin. It will be a little bit sticky but some people actually like it. By the way, mix allantoin in propanediol and add it in the end. It’s heat sensitive.
    Reduce panthenol to 0.5%.

    Other than that your formula is good to go for the first lab run. All further changes will depend on your results.

    Yes definitely tocopheryl! One more QU, will my small amount of frankincense essential oil be okay to add in cool down phase? I know they are oil, but they are also heat sensitive. This is how it looks…

    Cool
    down

    ·        
    2 grams Argireline NP

    ·        
    .5 grams Coq10 powder

    ·        
    .5 frankincense essential oil

    ·        
    .5 g spirulina extract

     

    Final phase:

    ·         MIXED .5 g allantoin (NO more than .5%) & 2% 1,3 propanediol (heat
    sensitive)

     

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    It will be safer to mix EO it with solubilizer before adding but I don’t know a single naturally compliant solubilizer. Try to add as is. Experimenting can answer many questions. This is the only way to develop an intuition in formulating. Regarding q10, yes you can add it to cool down. But it’s quite orange. And it tends to get darker with time. Plus green spirulina.. It might not look good. Also lookup spirulina on this forum. I remember someone discussed using it in shampoo and it was changing color.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    NatraGem S140 NP is a natural solubalizer. Would I simply mix that with the EO’s and add during last phase?

    I was thinking of adding some mica in a rich green color to overpower the changes in color that might occur. I wasn’t sure If that makes sense though, just something I came up with. 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 7:50 pm

    I usually see lakes and oxides as colorants. They are stable throughout life of the product.

    yes, mix solubilizer with EO (2:1 should be ok) and add to cool down phase. 

  • pharma

    Member
    July 19, 2019 at 8:50 pm

    … feel more smooth and silky? …

    Trade in some of the beeswax with cetyl palmitate (silky and smoother than pure wax) or myristyl myristate (softer and shinier). Like 1-2% plus 0.5% wax instead of 2% wax. 2% beeswax are probably giving a “gritty/rough” and waxy feel and a somewhat “chippy/scaly” look (dunno how to describe it). Or change to a smoother, lower melting wax such as candelilla or any of the berry waxes.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 20, 2019 at 1:03 pm

    I usually see lakes and oxides as colorants. They are stable throughout life of the product.

    yes, mix solubilizer with EO (2:1 should be ok) and add to cool down phase. 

    Great, I will try it! Thanks again for you expert opinion. I appreciate it so much.

  • Lindsey1009

    Member
    July 20, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    Pharma said:

    … feel more smooth and silky? …

    Trade in some of the beeswax with cetyl palmitate (silky and smoother than pure wax) or myristyl myristate (softer and shinier). Like 1-2% plus 0.5% wax instead of 2% wax. 2% beeswax are probably giving a “gritty/rough” and waxy feel and a somewhat “chippy/scaly” look (dunno how to describe it). Or change to a smoother, lower melting wax such as candelilla or any of the berry waxes.

    Okay I will try cetyl palmitate! Thank you so much.

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