Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Hair Conditioner

  • Conditioner

    Posted by Ola on September 15, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    Hello guys, I’m trying to formulate a deep conditioner for an African textured hair…

    Can you please take a look at this formula for me please 🥺
    Looking forward to your help and advice. Thank you.
    Water 72%
    Cetyl alcohol 6%
    Coco butter 0.5%
    Coconut oil 2%
    D-panthenol 1%
    Btms 50 2%
    PhenoX 1%
    Frag 0.1%
    Germall plus 0.5%
    Lactic acid 0.5%
    Glycerine 4%
    Centrimonium 1%
    Coco betaine 0.5%
    Vit E 0.50%
    Dimethicone 5%
    Propyl G 1%
    Aloe gel 0.50%
    Wheat protein %
    Ola replied 3 years, 7 months ago 2 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • ketchito

    Member
    September 17, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    @Ola I’d actually reduce Cetyl alcohol a bit, so the product is not so thick and can spread good along hair fibers. I’d remove Phenoxyethanol, since Germall Plus should be enough to preserve the system. I’d definitely reduce Dimethicone, and maybe even replace part of it by Amodimethicone, which has more affinity and builds up less. D-panthenol at that level might be too much…it’s actually more active when applied to skin.

  • Ola

    Member
    September 17, 2020 at 9:53 pm
    @Ola I’d actually reduce Cetyl alcohol a bit, so the product is not so thick and can spread good along hair fibers. I’d remove Phenoxyethanol, since Germall Plus should be enough to preserve the system. I’d definitely reduce Dimethicone, and maybe even replace part of it by Amodimethicone, which has more affinity and builds up less. D-panthenol at that level might be too much…it’s actually more active when applied to skin.

    Thank you very much. I really appreciate your response.. Amodimethicone is not available in my region here… More reason I’m using up 5%…
    Do you think it will work well if I added Gelatin of about 1-2%
    Do you think more emollient like shea/ olive oil will make a difference?….0.5%
    I need so much slip in the conditioning mask.

    Thanks again @ketchito your tips are really helpful.

  • ketchito

    Member
    September 18, 2020 at 12:39 pm

    @Ola I understand. I would still lower the Dimethicone to prevent build-up, and add a bit of PQ-7 (PQ-10 might be too much in terms of build-up) for better and more even deposition of the silicone. 

    Did you try your prototype already? Try it first with Dimethicone 3-4%, PQ-7 (10% w/w) at 1%, Cetyl alcohol 4-5% and without Phenoxyethanol. If you need more slip, you can start increasing the Dimethicone…and I wouldn’t increase butters (they actually reduce slip) and natural oils (they just don’t feel so nice on hair). 

    Also, I noticed you added coco-betaine. Any particular reason for that? It wouldn’t be on my lineup of ingredients for a conditioner, which of course doesn’t mean you can’t use it.

  • Ola

    Member
    September 20, 2020 at 9:55 am

    @ketchito thank you so very much. I tried my protype it has a lot more slip than without the Dimethicone..
    I don’t have pq-7 at the moment so I will have to wait.

    I added the Coco betaine just to give it a lil more lather while washing out… But I guess it’s not necessary it didn’t make much of a difference.

    You didn’t say anything about the gelatin🥺
    Would wheat protein be effective at just 1%?

    Thanks for taking out time to attend to me♥️

  • ketchito

    Member
    September 21, 2020 at 1:23 pm

    Hi @Ola. I honestly haven’t used gelatin in any hair care product, but I don’t believe it’d do much than increase the viscosity (forming hydrocolloids)…nevertheless, I don’t know how it might impact on stability.

    Being not a fan of hydrolyzed proteins for hair products, I’m aware that the quaternized types have more affinity for hair fibers, so I’d use them instead (I remember Gluadin WQT P being a quaternized version of hydrolyzed wheat protein).   

  • Ola

    Member
    September 29, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    Thanks very much @ketchito ♥️♥️♥️

Log in to reply.