• Formulating

  Adding surfactants to a balm

  Posted by formulator808 on July 14, 2023 at 11:35 am

  Hello fellow formulators! I would like to experiment adding non ionic liquid surfactants and glycerin to a balm base. I am using a blend of Olive M 1000 and glyceryl stearate to emulsify. What else can I add to keep the formula creamy and stable? Since gums need water that is not an option as I am trying to keep the water content to a minimum? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

  Bill_Toge replied 1 year, 4 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Rockstargirl

  Member

  July 14, 2023 at 12:16 pm

  Why don’t you try a powder surfactant? It will probably work better.

  • 

    formulator808

    Member

    July 14, 2023 at 12:27 pm

    I did experiment with SCI but it didn’t foam up enough and made the product too hard. Slsa/ blend SCI is really more for a syndet bar and I couldn’t get the right consistency/foam balance. The container is a squeeze tube so I am trying to keep the formula pliable/creamy. It’s been interesting experimenting with the “texture” aspect

• 

  Bill_Toge

  Member

  July 14, 2023 at 4:38 pm

  in my experience, a water-free high HLB surfactant (e.g. Tego Care 450, INCI Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate) can easily be included in anhydrous products, provided that you also have a suitable dispersant, e.g. polyglyceryl-3 polyricinoleate

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