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Cleanser using 3.5% glycol distearate not showing pearlizing effect
Hi, need some help on my cleanser. Below are the rough formulation.
SLES 6%
Glycol Distearate 3.5%
Glycerin 4.2%
Acrylates Copolymer 5%
Hydroxyethylcellulose 0.5%
Cocamidopropyl Betaine 1.5%
Phenoxyethanol 1%
Sodium Cocoyl N-methyl Taurate 1.1%
TEOA 0.2%
My shampoo isn’t showing any pearlized effect but milky white. Is it because there’s not enough surfactants? I’m using solid type of Glycol distearate. I’ve heat it to 80C before adding into the bulk. The viscosity is quite thick. I think it should be no problem with the suspending power.I need the pearlizing effect something like this:
And another problem, the cleanser become watery after adding NaCl, I thought supposedly NaCl can thicken up the formulation?
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10 Replies
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Use Glycol stearate instead of distearate.
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You don’t have a lot of surfactant, so even though salt can help thicken it may not be enough to build viscosity like you’re hoping for. Did you make a salt curve for your formula? You also already have acrylates and HEC thickening, so why add salt on top?
I second Abdullah that Glycol stearate should have a better pearlescent look. You can also try heating your base and cooling slowly, this should help the glycol stearate form some larger crystals that create the effect you’re hoping for. If you don’t want to heat the whole base, you can buy a premade pearl blend for cold-process use, or try to create your own premix.
https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/5647/pcc-adding-pearlescence-in-cosmetics/
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@PassionFruit95 As @evchem2 mentioned, the process is fundamental to get flat crystals that can properly reflect light. Also, you probably added too much Glycol distearate (try just with 1%), and have too little surfactant. Also, you could remove HEC since you already have Acrylates copolymer and Salt.
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@Abdullah & @evchem2 thanks for the advice. I’m just using whatever that have in my inventory. Will give a try on glycol stearate. I want to thicken the cleanser a little bit more so I try to add some salt into it, but it turned out become watery. I’m adding salt because it’s cheaper as I have budget concern too. As I was benchmarking sample, I should follow the thickness of the sample.
@ketchito I’ve tried 1% and 2% glycol distearate before this, but the pearlizing effect is not that obvious so I increased it to 3.5%. I’ve also tried to increase my SLES to 6% and Betaine to 4%, but the result is the same too. Maybe I should add more surfactants though.
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Is that actual surfactant or active surfactant percentage?
How much salt is this come salt?
You can add less salt. -
Glycol monosterate is a more reliable pearling agent
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your acrylates copolymer thickener is very likely to have been knackered by rhe salt, and your product has lost viscosity as a resultas for the pearl effect, if you’re not using a premixed pearliser, you need a lot more SLES, or a lot less glycol stearate, to see the effect -
@Abdullah it’s the actual surfactant. I’m only adding 0.2% of salt.
@Bill_Toge Is that mean that if less SLES need lesser glycol stearate to show the pearlizing effect?
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I’m having the same problem. I’m using glycol distearate at 1.5% and am just getting milk. No pearlizing effect. Is there a trick to it?
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I have already given up trying to get Glycol Distearate to work as a pearliser … I have tried (I believe) everything. And fail every time
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