'Natural' swap outs for a fun moisturiser

Hirondelle21

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Okay, I'm formulating something for a client and they want a fun product for their customer, a kind of DIY moisturiser that the customer makes up every day.  They take a pressed tab of the product below, add a tsp of water , zap in the microwave for 30s, then add more water and stir.  No preservatives necessary and great for travel.

Anyhoo, they want it to be a natural and vegan.  I've explained that getting it 100% natural is a tall order and also that natural is a pretty loose term, but they've asked me to look at it. I could do with some help on some of the swap outs .  A lot of this formula is natural anyway, but a couple are making me scratch my head.  

The alternatives are in brackets, but of course, I will bow to the knowledgeable ones on the forum and take any suggestions.

PHASE A

Ethylcellulose 1.5

Diisopropyl Adipate (this has got me head-scratching) 13.5

PHASE B

Octyldodecanol (and) Pogostemon Cablin Leaf Extract 0.67

Oxidized Corn Oil 6.03

Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil (and) Hydrogenated Soy Polyglycerides 15

Myristyl Myristate (and) Myristyl Laurate 5.6

Bis-Stearoxydimethylsilane (and) Stearyl Alcohol (and) Dimethicone

(Cetyl Palmitate?) 10

Glyceryl Stearate (and) Behenyl Alcohol (and) Palmitic Acid (and) Stearic Acid (and) Lecithin (and) Lauryl Alcohol (and) Myristyl Alcohol (and) Cetyl Alcohol 28

Synthetic Wax (Rice Bran Wax) 3

Cera Alba  (carnauba wax) 6.5

PHASE C

Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride 1.2

Sodium Polyacrylate (polyglutamic acid?) 8

PHASE D

Fragrance 1

total 100.00% 

procedure

1. In a side beaker, disperse EC N-200 in other Phase A ingredients at RT. Homogenize while heating at 80°C until the gel is homogeneous and clear

2. In the main beaker, mix Phase A and Phase B ingredients while heating at 83°C until all completely melted

3. Add Phase C and mix until powders are well dispersed while maintaining temperature at 83°C

4. Add Phase D and mix well while maintaining temperature at 83°C

5. At 83°C, pour into molds

6. Cool down until moldings are solid

7. Unmold

   
   

   
   

Pharma

Hirondelle21 said:

...zap in the microwave for 30s...great for travel. 'merica, where people have a built-in microwave in their car!

...100% natural is a tall order and also that natural is a pretty loose term... A good part of the ingredients may be from renewable resources; if that qualifies as 100% natural... marked these with a *

Ethylcellulose 1.5 * Oil gelling agent, may be switched with other stuff

Diisopropyl Adipate (this has got me head-scratching) 13.5 * As (un-)natural as above product; the isopropyl-moiety is often through petrochemistry but may also be sustainable. Light polar "solvent" for ethylcellulose, might probably work with isoamyl laurate? But that one is also not 100% natural, just 100% from natural resources.

PHASE B

Octyldodecanol (and) Pogostemon Cablin Leaf Extract 0.67 * Octyldodecanol may be derived from petroleum or plants... usually not regarded as natural.

Oxidized Corn Oil 6.03

Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil (and) Hydrogenated Soy Polyglycerides 15 * Hydrogenated polyglycerides are of natural origin but synthetically modified. May probably be replaced with other butters?

Myristyl Myristate (and) Myristyl Laurate 5.6 * As synthetic/natural as isoamyl laurate or any other of the "modern good guys".

Bis-Stearoxydimethylsilane (and) Stearyl Alcohol (and) Dimethicone

(Cetyl Palmitate?) 10 Finding a silicone replacement might prove difficult. BTW stearyl alcohol is synthetically modified stearic acid. Cetyl palmitate might be of petrochemical and/or natural origin (and it's palm oil derived like many of the ingredients in here).

Glyceryl Stearate (and) Behenyl Alcohol (and) Palmitic Acid (and) Stearic Acid (and) Lecithin (and) Lauryl Alcohol (and) Myristyl Alcohol (and) Cetyl Alcohol 28 * Again those fatty alcohols...

Synthetic Wax (Rice Bran Wax) 3

Cera Alba  (carnauba wax) 6.5 Or a mixture of carnauba with candelilla wax since carnauba is harder...

PHASE C

Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride 1.2 Depending on synthetic route, partially synthetic to very synthetic (only the guar is natural). No 100% natural alternative available, only semi-synthetic non-polymeric cations with a higher % of "natural"

Sodium Polyacrylate (polyglutamic acid?) 8 Synthetic polymer which may be replaced with a bunch of other natural polymers, polyglutamic acid might be too "slimy".

...

See comments within your quote.

Hirondelle21

Pharma said:

Hirondelle21 said:

...zap in the microwave for 30s...great for travel. 'merica, where people have a built-in microwave in their car!


Hahahaha! That made me laugh like a drain!  I was thinking, of course, of travel allowances for liquids on planes, but I take your point

See comments within your quote.

Great help @Pharma  Thank you. There's some lovely swap outs in there that I hadn't thought of and some which have rung bells.

As I said, 'natural' can be a moveable feast.  I''m not going to get into that now (don't light the touch paper), but so much of that is greenwash and marketing.  Still, I try and do what I'm asked to do and just smile.