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Anhydrous Organic Sunscreen Formula
Hello everyone,
We have been manufacturing this anhydrous organic SPF 30 zinc sunscreen cream for a few years now and are noticing that over time clumps form. These clumps melt on contact with skin so we are thinking it is the 6% cocoa butter in the formula. I thought maybe adding it in at 70 - 75 degrees Celsius was making it crystallize so we changed the formula to have it added at 40 - 45 degrees Celsius. However, we are still seeing even tinier clumps reforming as it sits for about a week. We mix it for 10+ hours to cool-down to room temperature with a side sweep and Christmas tree mixer going. We homogenize the zinc at the beginning when it is still very much a liquid and before adding cocoa butter. Here is the formula…let me know your thoughts. Thanks!Zano 10 (Zinc Oxide) 23%Organic oil blend 56%Cocoa Butter 6%Mango Butter 2%Organic Yellow Beeswax 13% -
8 Replies
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It might be the cocoa butter, it might be the beeswax, it might be both together. You should probably try a set of knock-out batches.
However, waxes grow crystals over time. There’s really no way to avoid this without adding something to your formula to prevent it. -
Thanks for the reply Bob! What do you suggest adding to prevent the wax crystallization?
We will work on some knock-out batches in the meantime. I am thinking it’s one of the butters, cocoa or mango since the clump that forms melts so easily on the skin. -
If you can allow it, Cera Bellina from Koster Keunen. It’s the most natural thing I know of that will help.
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my money’s on the cocoa butter
we recently produced a range of lip balms that had exactly the same problem; they were perfectly fine if they were cooled rapidly (e.g. put in the fridge), but turned out gritty if they were cooled slowly (e.g. in production) because the cocoa butter went through a crystalline phase during the cooldown
they used a much larger amount of cocoa butter (30% w/w), so crystallisation was very noticeable!
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I vouch for Cera Bellina, great stuff to work with. Have used it in one of my creams and had no issue whatsoever, the cream was anhydrous with lots of titanium dioxide.
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You could also revamp your procedure to avoid the long, slow cool down, but that would require a substantial investment in heat-transfer capability.
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You could also try replacing a portion of your butters with Captex SBE (https://www.ulprospector.com/en/na/PersonalCare/Detail/601/47564/Captex-SBE?st=1&sl=37447693&crit=a2V5d29yZDpbQ2FwdGV4IFNCRV0%3d&ss=2&k=Captex|SBE&t=Captex+SBE),
We have had great results using this with Shea and Cocoa butter on the Production floor to prevent the graininess. -
Koter Keunen has also Sunflower Wax - great powerful gelling wax !
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