Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Bad emulsification

  • Bad emulsification

    Posted by ajw000 on August 29, 2019 at 12:01 am

    Working on a new men’s styling recipe, to be a thicker paste/wax. This formula is not emulsifying completely, I can still see separation when stirring.  Any pointers would be appreciated! 

    49.0%  Water 
    6.15%  Beeswax 
    5.14%  Cetearyl Alcohol 
    5.00%  Lanolin Wax 
    4.00%  Petrolatum 
    3.75%  pvp/va 
    3.43%  Propylene Glycol 
    3.25%  Ozokerite 
    3.00%  Carnauba 
    3.00%  CaprylicCapric Triglyceride 
    3.00%  PEG-40 Castor oil 
    2.43%  PVP 
    2.00%  Glycerin
    1.90%  PEG-150 Distearate  
    1.20%  Sorbitan Oleate 
    0.40%  Oleth-10 

    3.35% preservative/fragrance

    ajw000 replied 4 years, 5 months ago 3 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • markbroussard

    Member
    August 29, 2019 at 1:29 am

    It looks like you are really light on emulsifiers.

    Also, without knowing your phases … ie: how you are forming the emulsion and the order of addition of the ingredients, it’s not really possible to help you.

    My suspicion is that you don’t have enough emulsifer and it could also be related to the order of addition of the ingredients.

  • ajw000

    Member
    August 29, 2019 at 1:52 am

    oil phase heat to 170 melt all ingredients and mix thoroughly

    water heat to 170+ 

    mix water and oil phase

    I tried adding more emulsifiers but still no results… 

  • markbroussard

    Member
    August 29, 2019 at 1:55 am

    What ingredients are in your Oil Phase?

    What ingredients are in your Water Phase?

    What ingredients are you adding at cool down after you form the emulsion?

  • ozgirl

    Member
    August 29, 2019 at 3:14 am
    I agree with Mark that you seem to have too little emulsifier.
    Also, what preservative are you using? Your fragrance/preservative level also seems high which may also contribute to instability.
  • ajw000

    Member
    September 2, 2019 at 2:33 pm
    Putting all ingredients except water and PVP/va in the oil phase, that goes in after water is mixed in.
    Think I’m going to add ceteareth-20 to the mix and see how that helps.
  • markbroussard

    Member
    September 2, 2019 at 2:53 pm

    This may work better:

    Phase A
    49.0%  Water 
    2.00%  Glycerin
    3.43%  Propylene Glycol 

    Phase B
    6.15%  Beeswax 
    5.14%  Cetearyl Alcohol 
    3.25%  Ozokerite 
    3.00%  Carnauba 
    3.00%  CaprylicCapric Triglyceride 
    3.00%  PEG-40 Castor oil 
    1.90%  PEG-150 Distearate  
    1.20%  Sorbitan Oleate 
    0.40%  Oleth-10 

    Form Emulsion … Then Add Phase C Ingredients one at a time mixing to incorporate

    5.00%  Lanolin Wax 
    4.00%  Petrolatum 
    3.75%  pvp/va 
    PVP

  • ajw000

    Member
    October 5, 2019 at 2:40 pm
    Thank you for the input.
    Without changing my phases I added more emulsifiers to the ingredient list and the emulsion came out very strong. But I always want to learn and improve! Can you help me understand why you suggest changing the phases the way you listed? How would it impact the emulsification process?

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