-
Issues with HEC to thicken face cream
Hello all,
Background: I’ve been trying to create a face cream which is light on the skin yet has a creamy texture. I’ve tried 6 versions of my formula so far. Currently the version I have feels ok on the skin (maybe a tad sticky, for which I plan to reduce glycerin by 0.7% and replace that with sodium lactate instead). But otherwise, it isn’t coming out creamy. Since my oil phase is quite low, I need a thickener that will aid in bulking up, but wont feel draggy at ALL.
I decided to try HEC for this but I’m new to working with it and I’ve read up quite a bit about hydrating it, yet I feel a bit lost on how to go about using it in a lotion. Most literature seems to be for making a gel out of it and then adding the gel to thicken the formula. I see some formulas made with HEC added to the oil phase and then continued with the normal lotion process of mixing heated oil and water phases.
What I did was disperse the HEC in glycerin, add part of the water phase (roughly equivalent to 30% of the formula), then stirred occasionally and let it hydrate for about 25-30 mins before adding this slightly thickened slurry into the heated water phase (using the remainder of the water) (to which all the other powders have already been added and mixed), and then adding the heated oil phase, mixing with a spatula before homogenizing.
Currently, my formula feels thick enough but the texture is all wrong. It has pulled in a lot of air even though a homogenizer was used (I’m guessing the HEC is somehow the reason here?). The end result is a bubbly weird “cream” which feels fine when applied but looks awful and doesn’t feel good when scooping. (SEE PIC)
Can someone please guide me on how to make this formula with the same amount of HEC, as in HOW DO I HYDRATE IT and which stage do I add it into the mix?
79.05% Distilled Water
0.30% Sodium Gluconate
3.00% Niacinamide
0.10% Aloe Vera 200x Powder
0.25% Moringa Powder
1.00% Arrowroot Powder
1.50% Glycerin
0.70% Hydroxyethyl Cellulose
2.00% Macadamia Nut Oil
2.00% Olive Squalane
3.00% Coco Caprylate Caprate
2.50% Montanov 68
2.00% Cetyl Alcohol
1.00% Green Tea Extract
0.10% Rosemary Oleoresin Extract
1.00% Geogard ECT
0.15% Clary Sage EO
0.13% Juniper Berry EO
0.13% Palmarosa EO
<google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin><google-sheets-html-origin></google-sheets-html-origin>
0.10% Frankincense EO
-
7 Replies
-
HEC is mostly used in personal lubes because it has very slippery feel. Not sure you want it in a face cream. I would suggest switching to Xanthan Gum Soft or even better some synthetic polymer like Sepimax Zen or Aristoflex.
But if we look even deeper to the original intention. You want to make your face cream creamier. Usually we use oil thickeners for this. Cetyl Alcohol is the one who gives this creaminess feel without making the cream heavy,
-
Hi, thanks for the suggestion. I’ve tried another version with xanthan gum and found it too snotty for my liking. I cannot get Sepimax Zen and Aristoflex where I live.
I did try another version with more cetyl alcohol but this felt a bit heavy personally for the face.
Can I please get some guidance on how to hydrate the HEC for this formulation so I can try out this formula with that and see if it serves my purpose?
-
Xanthan Gum has different grades. You need Xanthan Gum Soft. And definitely not the food grade.
Why do you even want to hydrate HEC? Just put it to oil phase, it gonna hydrate itself during emulsification.
-
I’m not able to find the Soft grade so easily here with suppliers. They have only two kinds as far as I’ve seen - labelled “Xanthan Gum” or “Xanthan Gum Transparent”.
Any idea why I’m having the bubbly texture in my formulation? I thought it might be because the HEC was not hydrated correctly.
-
I suspect “Xanthan Gum Transparent” is another name for Soft grade in your suppliers list.
I assume the reason it bubbles is the very high amount of HEC. The product is just too thick and bubbles can’t get out
-
This reply was modified 1 hour, 51 minutes ago by fareloz.
-
I doubt it’s the thickness trapping the bubbles. I tried another version where I’d reduced it to 0.6% (had reduced the main oils also a little bit). That formula didn’t thicken as much and was a lotion consistency but still was full of bubbles. I tried hitting it repeatedly to try and remove the trapped air but no luck. It’s a bubbly lotion. I really don’t know how to work with HEC!!!
Would it work to hydrate the HEC in water and letting it sit overnight to get a clear gel and then adding it to thicken a lotion and get it to a creamy consistency without the bubbles???
-
This reply was modified 1 hour, 51 minutes ago by
-
-
-
-
To reduce the bubbles, you can either add some dimethicone or replace your Montanov 68 with a different emulsifier, like PEG-100 stearate (and) Glyceryl stearate.
Log in to reply.