Adpating an emulsion base to become a Night Cream

GabyDGabyD Member
in Formulating
Hello everyone, hope you are all keeping well. Given the problems I was having in formulating from scratch, I have decided to buy in a base from another company and adapting it to become a Night Cream.

I am considering doing this by adding Shea Butter and some actives.  However, I am not quite sure how to do this.  I guess I could melt the Shea Butter and then add it to the emulsion base.  Does anybody foresee any stability problems in doing this?

The ingredients are as follows:

Purified aqua
Behenyl Alcohol
Glycerin
Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Glycerol Monolaurate
Glyceryl Stearate Citrate
Glyceryl Stearate
Hydroxyethyl Cellulose
Phenoxyethanol
Ethylhexylglycerin.


Many thanks.

Comments

  • PerryPerry Administrator, Professional Chemist
    Yes, I foresee stability problems doing it that way.

    You'll probably still have stability problems however you might try heating both the base formula and the shea butter (probably to 75C). Then mixing them together at the high temperature maybe 20 minutes, then cooling the batch. You might still need to use a homogenizer and this might also still not be stable.  You'll also probably need to add more preservative too.


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  • GabyDGabyD Member
    Thanks Perry. Do you mean mix for 20 mins? I will also add more preservative proportional to the added ingredients. 
  • lewhitaklewhitak Member
    When incorporating shea butter into a previously cooled cream, rapid movement and quick cooling are important. Previously, I have seen it work when a food processor was used. Melted shea butter was slowly poured in while the cream was mixing. Afterwards, the cream was placed in a freezer or fridge to cool. Issues with shea graininess were never seen, but maximum usage for the shea was < 3%.

    Your base cream will need to be tested for stability compared to the original, and you won't know if your base can withstand this type of mixing until you apply it. The addition of more oils/butters may also pose a problem.

    The easiest starting point is to add a bit of extra oil to the base and see how it does. Shea comes with a set of problems which you don't need when finding out the limitations of your base.
  • BelassiBelassi Member, PCF student
    In my opinion, formulating from scratch is easier than adding things to someone else's formula and expecting it to be stable. It really is not that difficult. My first experiment was to combine organic shea butter and hair gel. It worked fine. A carbomer cream. 
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  • DoreenDoreen Member
    Belassi said:
    In my opinion, formulating from scratch is easier than adding things to someone else's formula and expecting it to be stable. (...)
    Totally agree with this!
  • GabyDGabyD Member
    I had a formula that I just could not get right. It worked perfectly well for the formulator I bought it from, alas it became unstable when I tried to make it myself. And this was multiple times over a 2 year period. I concluded that I’m just not good at creating things from scratch!
  • ngarayeva001ngarayeva001 Member
    Post the formula, maybe someone can advise. I agree with previous commentators. It’s safer to make it from scratch. There’s only one base I use, but I made it myself for a specific active that oxidises quickly.
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