My Toner is Sticky, is it the extracts?

JarJar Member
edited August 2019 in Formulating
Hi there, 

I have been fooling around with making a facial toner with some new ingredients I got, and have put together a formula, but it is leaving my skin feeling sticky. I am wondering what the culprit might be. I am worried it is coming from the extracts, since they contain glycerin.

Distilled Water = 41%
Witch Hazel (14% alcohol) = 20%
Rice Ferment Filtrate = 10%
Aloe Vera Water = 10%
Panthenol = 2%
Silk Amino Acids - 2%
Honeyquat = 2%
Hydrolized Rice Protein = 2%
Ginger Root Extract = 2%
Green Tea Extract = 2%
Willow Bark Extract = 2%
Chamomile Extract = 2%
Phenoxyethenal / Ethylhexylglycerin = 1%

Comments

  • MarkBroussardMarkBroussard Member, Professional Chemist
    @Jar:

    Yes, with 2% Panthenol + Glycerin-based extracts, you're going to have a stickly mess in a Toner
    Chemist/Microbiologist formulating in the Organic & Naturals & Clean Beauty arena under ECOCert/Natural Products Assn/Whole Foods/National Organic Program/Clean At Sephora/Credo Clean guidelines focused skincare & haircare products. 

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  • JarJar Member
    MarkBroussard said:
    @Jar:

    Yes, with 2% Panthenol + Glycerin-based extracts, you're going to have a stickly mess in a Toner
    I haven't worked with Panthenol yet, is it generally considered sticky? What would an appropriate level be in a toner?
  • PerryPerry Administrator, Professional Chemist
    Try a a "build-up" experiment.

    1.  Start with your main ingredients (water & witch hazel + preservative) 
    2.  Test it on your face to see if it is sticky. If not, move on to next step
    3.  Add the next ingredient (rice ferment)
    4.  Test it on your face to see if it is sticky.
    5.  Continue to build up the formula repeating this process until you figure out which ingredients cause the most stickiness.

    I agree with @MarkBroussard that it is probably Panthenol (1% is plenty) or the extracts. It might also be the rice protein or filtrate.  You have to experiment.



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  • ngarayeva001ngarayeva001 Member
    All these extracts are added at tiny amounts in commercials products. Look through LOIs of a couple of benchmarks and you will see that the extracts are clearly below 1% line.
  • JarJar Member
    @Perry I actually think it was a combination of the rice ferment and the aloe vera juice. I cut the rice ferment in half, eliminated aloe, and took all the extracts and Panthenol down to 0.5%. 
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