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spirulina
Is anyone here using spirulina in cosmetic products?
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45 Replies
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I have used Spirulina in the past. It is available from numerous suppliers as Hydroglycolic extract and is touted for skin conditioning as well as other purported claims.
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I just bought some powder and conducted the usual first test: put some in a beaker, add water and mix. All I can say is - the SMELL! It smells disgusting. Let’s just say that if you wanted to create a fragrance of a damp dog with B.O. it would be pretty close.
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Fortunately the product I purchased was already in a hydroglycolic base and was standardized. I do have to agree. It smells like my Labs when they swim in the neighborhood ponds.
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Lol! Thanks for the warning!
Am I the only one who thinks (hydrolyzed) proteins stink to high heaven?
I had bought hydrolyzed wheat protein but it smells like vomit! -
Doreen it isn’t even hydrolysed! This is just powdered algae we are talking about. I will try a few fragrances that might mask it, but I doubt it.
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@Belassi Honestly it wasn’t all that difficult to mask, especially once it was incorporated into the Formulation at the the proper usage rate. Much more pungent as the undiluted raw material.
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Aha. OK I will try it in a shampoo. With a herbal fragrance I think. I guess the question will be, what is the maximum I can use without it smelling bad. It certainly has an interesting colour.
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We determined a usage rate from a Japanese patent that has I believed already expired. There was not a great deal of data available from the supplier. If I recall correctly it was listed as 0.1-1% wt/wt.
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Thanks for that. Hmmm… I paid about USD$5 for 100 grams. That’s $50/kilo. At 1% usage I would need 4g for a 400mL bottle. Which is about 20 cents. Yes, in marketing terms I think I can design a product that will stay inside the cost envelope. I’ll have a go when I get a minute. I will have to try investigating its colour properties as I suspect it may act as an indicator.
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They use it quite a bit in soaping to make the soap green. I recall that from the research we did into the raw material.
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This patent implies beneficial hair effects and a reduction of eye irritation. Use was around 0.8% as far as I can guess from their weird formula listing.
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I had to do some math to figure it out as well.
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People use it in soap and it doesn’t discolour with the high pH? Interesting. I will have to test.
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I just made a version of our Tea Tree shampoo with 1% spirulina and the aroma was very acceptable. The shampoo has a herbal fragrance and the result was fine.
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@Belassi
Doreen it isn’t even hydrolysed! This is just powdered algae we are talking about.I know, but the disgust reminded me of the proteins.
Weren’t you planning to hydrolyze several proteins? I’m very curious if there are differences in scent! -
Aha yes Doreen, I was going to do some protein work but too busy ATM.
I have just tested the spirulina in a shampoo with herbal fragrance oil and the result was fine at 0.8% - I could hardly fail to notice another aspect though, which is this: spirulina appears to be a thickening agent. If my test shampoo had been any thicker it would have been pretty difficult to get it out of the bottle. I think it is going to become a product. -
Test marketing
I put together a “development news” post for our FB page. While investigating spirulina I had found this rather nice YouTube video about it, so I included that as a link. I then boosted it with the equivalent of about $3 and it had a reach of 2,000; we had several messages enquiring about it; The interesting thing is that it had an ‘organic’ reach of 1,000. I’ve decided to go ahead and finish the design, ask the graphic designer to do the label, have them printed, and add it to the range shortly, I hope. -
Update: I think 0.8% is too much. Going to reduce the level a bit. Am very impressed with the sensorials.
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I tested this and can verify the claim in the patent of zero eye irritation. This is probably going to be our first baby shampoo.
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I am having problems with this. The spirulina powder is quite fine, but the larger particles are settling out even with the viscosity at the practicable limit. I don’t see a way of increasing the yield value except with maybe a gum, and the spirulina is already quite “gummy”. I’ve experimentally determined the approximate minimum for removal of eye irritation and it gives a nice light green colour when pearled. Without pearl its not appealing. Of course I am not even going to bother using something like a carbomer in a pearl shampoo.
So . . . how to solve this problem?
I’ve asked a Chinese supplier if their phycocyanin powder has the same effect for eye irritation. It’s water soluble. Meanwhile any suggestions are welcome. -
Two options - either reduce the particle size to the point where the spirulina doesn’t settle, or use a different green powder.
To reduce the particle size, you need to mill/grind it. For a test, you could use a coffee grinder or a kitchen blender. For production, you’d probably need something bigger. Be careful of heat buildup, though.
As an alternative, Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin works well here - of course, we use it only as a deodorizing ingredient, since it is not an approved colorant.
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We used a standardized Hydroglycolic extract and as such particle suspension was not an issue.
However, the product did not impart a great deal of color in our product. That would be one concern.
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Thanks guys. I checked the hydroglycolic extract and it’s not strong enough for my purposes, I think. After remixing and leaving for a day, its appearance is much better. I guess what’s happening is the larger particles are becoming more hydrated and less dense. Obviously this is going to be a pain to produce; leaving bulk product to hydrate/settle then mixing again and bottling. Don’t like that idea much.
I have a second idea I got from researching the influenza study. At the end of it they mention the method used by the Taiwan Biotec company to prepare an aqueous extract.
Basically it uses freezing to destroy the cell walls, as far as I can see.
1. Prepare a hydrated batch of spirulina
2. Freeze it as ice cubes overnight
3. Thaw in a refrigerator
4. Blend and filter out the particulates
I am going to try this, and it occurs to me that the technique might be of use with other types of vegetable material, too. -
If you use a strong enough blender, you wouldn’t have to defrost the ice cubes before you start blending.
But, if you do this more than occasionally, a colloid mill might be a good purchase to look into. http://www.chemineer.com/products/greerco/colloid-mill.html
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