Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Cooling and tingling effect in sexual wellness cosmetics

  • Cooling and tingling effect in sexual wellness cosmetics

    Posted by Lab on May 22, 2023 at 8:46 am

    Hey guys! 👋

    I’m currently working on the development of formulas aimed at the sexual wellness market. We’re doing well and making progress, but I’m dealing with some difficulties…

    Our benchmarks that show a tingling and/or refreshing sensation have Menthol in their composition, but when I try to formulate these products and apply to an area of skin (back of hand or palm), I don’t feel the effect. I tried with Menthyl Lactate as well, but I didn’t have positive results. Maybe concentration is the problem?

    I thought it might also be the region where I’m applying it to test it, but I don’t have the balls to test you-know-where… 😳

    Remembering that I am formulating from Brazil, so the regulation here may be different from yours, but the question is about the minimum % to feel the effect (in the case of the gel, I can smell the freshness, but not feel it on the skin)

    Here’s the benchmarks and the formulations we made

    PLEASURE GEL

    (https://mylola.com/products/pleasure-gel)

    Cyclopentasiloxane (and) Dimethiconol -> qsp (100%)

    Cyclopentasiloxane -> 15%

    Menthol -> 0.6%

    PLEASURE BALM

    (https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/lubes-essentials/better-sex-for-her/better-female-orgasms/p/lovehoney-tingles-menthol-pleasure-balm-7g/82811.html)

    Dicaprylyl Ether -> qsp (100%)

    Cocoa Butter -> 3%

    Shea Butter -> 1.5%

    Sweet Almond Oil -> 5%

    Beeswax -> 25%

    Menthol -> 0.1%

    Vitamin E -> 1%

    Mint Fragrance -> 1%

    Thank you all for your attention 🙂

    Pattsi replied 3 months, 2 weeks ago 7 Members · 10 Replies
  • 10 Replies
  • Perry44

    Administrator
    May 22, 2023 at 8:51 am

    Yes, where you apply matters. Some areas of the body have a higher density of nerve endings and will experience a greater sensation.

    • Lab

      Member
      May 22, 2023 at 9:07 am

      A colleague tried the application on the lips, since it is a mucosa, and we had no effect either… regarding the terminal endings, I imagined that the palm of the hand (despite not having as many as the intimate region in question) had been a good choice … I don’t think anyone will volunteer for the tests now 😳

      • Perry44

        Administrator
        May 22, 2023 at 11:15 am

        The lips should be a good approximation but not quite.

  • Paprik

    Member
    May 22, 2023 at 3:28 pm

    Are you sure you are using proper Menthol?

    I have refreshing face wash with 0.15% Menthol in it (if I remember correctly) and it does cool the face and give the fresh feel. I cannot imagine putting more than 0.05% you-know-where ..

    • Lab

      Member
      May 23, 2023 at 6:14 am

      As strange as it sounds, yes I do. It’s the same one we use in some shampoos where it’s clearly possible to feel the cooling effect… we increased the concentration because we hadn’t felt anything before, but maybe if we had tested it in the female region the effect would be expressive…

      I think this is one of the greater difficulties in formulating cosmetics, when you try to do something specific for a niche that you are not part of and never had contact with other products

  • Lab

    Member
    May 23, 2023 at 6:15 am

    Update:

    Yesterday we carried out three more tests, one on the back of the hand, one on the sole of the foot and one on the upper region of the lips. On the back of the hand there was no effect, while on the foot it was possible to feel a slight coolness (I thought it was funny, like tickling 😆). As for the lips, in the upper part (inside) the sensation was very vivid (it had no effect on the outside). When we tested it on the bottom lip, we didn’t feel anything on either side… how crazy

    Of course, all this refers to the pleasure gel, I haven’t tested it with the balm yet, but maybe that’s the way to go… I’ll have to use the upper lip (inside) as a parameter and adjust the concentrations until the effect is milder…

    Is there any other component that has menthol or any refreshing active that you recommend for these cases, that is less irritating?

  • Heroics123

    Member
    January 5, 2024 at 1:47 am

    Well is there any component for warming sensation for similar use?

  • justyna_lenka

    Member
    January 5, 2024 at 6:06 am

    The form of the product base also influences the feeling of cooling/warming effect. Water-based products (gels, shampoos) will have a stronger effect (especially cooling) than emulsions - it turns out that fat somehow cancels out the effect of menthol? therefore, it may be difficult to achieve the desired effect with the balm.

    We managed to prepare a body lotion recipe combining the raw material Menthol, Menthyl Lactate and a small addition of Camphor.

    But feeling cold is probably a very individual matter, because some people felt cold, e.g. on their legs, and others did not.

    We added <i class=””>Vanillyl Butyl Ether to the warming body lotion 🙂

  • PhilGeis

    Member
    January 5, 2024 at 1:29 pm

    Come on!. Put some skin in the game - try it where the sun don’t shine! How else will you know its effect - good or bad..

  • Pattsi

    Member
    January 10, 2024 at 9:11 am

    I have tried these products on my 🐱, no big deal, they’re just lubricants.😎

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