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Do I need a preservative for this formula (cleansing balm)?
Hello All,
I recently found this formula on a popular DIY blog. I
usually try to copy commercial products and make some modifications to it, and
don’t rely on DIY formulas, but I found this one interesting because it allows
me to utilise ingredients I don’t use and make a product very similar to my favourite
Korean cleansing balm (I don’t want the copy the Korean balm because I don’t
have half of the ingredients).This is the original formula from the DIY blog:
Complete
emulsifying wax10%
Posysorbate
808%
Fractionated
coconut oil44%
Castor
oil10%
Stearic
acid19%
Cetyl
Alcohol5%
Vitamin
E1%
French
green clay3%
Blend of
essential oils1%
I used Cetearyl alcohol/PEG-20 Stearate blend, reduced
tocopherol to 0.5%, and reduced essential oils to 0.2%. Now, my question is:
should I preserve it? The formula has no water, but it will be stored in the
bathroom, and there is no was I won’t stick wet fingers in it (I just know
myself). If it should be preserved, what would you recommend to use? I am more
experienced in O/W emulsions than such products, so any advice is highly appreciated.Thank you in advance!
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29 Replies
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@ngarayeva001 it is just oily phase wich contains already Antioxidant “vitamine E” play the role of presevative.
Just for cost and needs i think that you can reduce % of Vitamine E Untill 0,2% and you can verify that. -
Thank you @Fekher. Agree regarding Vitamin E, probably 0.5% is still too much. I am not using more than 0.3% for lotions, but I was thinking that probably since this product has so much oil I need more. The reason why I am thinking a preservative should be added is that some water can be introduced to the product during the use. Again, I am not experienced with this type of balms.
By the way, do you think I can replace Polysorbate 80 to PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil? I have recently ordered a big bottle and trying to find a use for it
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@ngarayeva001 you are welcome about ploysorbate 80 i know that it is solubilzer however i never try it but i think that it will be fine to use it in place of PEG 40 cause both are used in many Lol.
About Vitamine E i think that 0,2% will be fine whatever the quntity of oils ” for oily product”
cause that amout i see at many Lol of different oily products. About water it will not be able to mix with your product cause it is oily product.
Just i see that not only Vitamine E can be reduced but also polysorbate you have 1% H.E and knowing that polysorbate 80 ratio is 3 (polysorbate 80): 1 ( HE) i think you will be able to reduce %polysorbate to 3 or to be more secure 4. -
Vitamin E is not an antimicrobial preservative.
https://chemistscorner.com/vitamin-e-is-not-a-preservative-and-other-cosmetic-preservation-misconceptions/Yes, you should use a preservative especially if the product will have your damp fingers dipping in it. There is no good reason not to use a preservative. Phenoxyethanol or Propylparaben should work.
Vitamin E is not a preservative - and other cosmetic preservation misconceptions
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Thank you @Perry! That was exactly my point. I will definitely forget that I shouldn’t do it and dip my damp fingers in it.
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Sorry @Perry but in oily products why we need antimicrobial preservative , can microbes prosper in oil? yes our finger contain many microbes but that does mean really that oily product must have antimicrobial presevative ?
@ngarayeva001 if really we need antimicrobial preservative so it must be used. Unless it will be more healthy to keep it without presevative and that what i see.
i already made oily product without antimicrobial preservative and theire is no problem of conservation knowing it is used by fingers. -
@Fekher, I agree that a product without any water in it might not need a preservative, but if you use something in the bathroom, you might scoop it out with wet fingers and introduce some water to the product. And that water is sufficient for microbes to grow. A water free product in airtight container probably wouldn’t need a preservative.
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@ngarayeva001 maybe ,about my oily product it did not need without any problem of microbes.
About PEG 40 i miss understand you actually sure you can use it in place of polysorabate 80 and same notice for 1% E.O i think may 4% PEG 40 will be good you can try it if you want.
Actually sometimes i’am not smart , here we don’t need solubilizer it is just oily phase so i think you can keep also you PEG 40 cause no need for solubilizer for that Lol.” i can guess that polysorbate is used for other function??? it can be..” -
This formula is from DIY blog, so it’s definitely far from perfect. The texture is pretty nice, but I will need to experiment. Maybe it will work without solubilizer.
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Two points:
(1) This is an anhydrous emulsified clay, so you really don’t need the Polysorbate 80, nor any other solubilizer. If it were not emulsified, then the Polysorbate 80 would be helpful in “binding” the product so you don’t have a film of liquid seeping out of the concoction.
(2) You probably can get away without using a preservative, but if it’s going to be in an open jar and consumers will dip their fingers into the jar to scoop out product, you will introduce water and could get contamination. So, there is no downside to adding a preservative. Best to take the precaution and add a preservative.
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@ngarayeva001 when we have oily product theire is no problem about E.O solubilty cause we talk in such case about mixcibility so we have just the contraint of dose no more solubilty problem.
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@Fekher - no, microbes don’t prosper in oil. They need water to grow. But that’s exactly what they will get when someone dips their wet fingers into the product.
There is no reason not to include a preservative. It is safer with one. When you are making products for consumers, you should always err on the side of caution.
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@Perry i respect your vision even you explention is soo clear . just one thing it will be big reason even for consumers to make free preservative product if we can do it.
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I agree that consumers love “preservative free” products (this always makes me cringe). The airtight container would be a solution if the product is relatively soft. The formula above is not too soft, but I guess it is possible to play with proportions to make it softer.
Thank you @MarkBroussard, I will exclude polysorbate at all.
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By the way, another problem with such balms is that they melt. I made many attempts to create a make up removing balm before. I made one this summer and it was solid in my climate (I live in London), but a friend of mine took it to a hotter place and it turned to liquid.
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@ngarayeva001 we can think about espacially butter cause i find it best thing for increasing fusion temperature of oil blend with keeping lovely texture and benifetes also , but solid oils(adding % of fractionned coconut oil , adding stearic acid, and other solid oils) and ester ( waxes, some emulsifiers) and fatty alcool ( cetyl alcool , stearyl alcool , blend of them…) can be other solutions.
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“Preservative Free” is just a marketing claim … generally, all it means is that the product does not contain a traditional listed preservative, not that is does not contain any ingredients whatsoever that provide for preservation.
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@MarkBroussard, I absolutely agree with you. But it’s a general trend, like when they mark vegetable oil “cholesterol free” or something that can’t potentially contain any gluten marked as “gluten-free”. It is very difficult to re-educate consumers.
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@Fekher, good idea, I will try to replace oil with a butter that stays solid in a room temperature.
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To further clarify my point … there are bacteriostats/fungistats that allow for a “preservative free” claim … just because a product is claimed to be “preservative free” does not necessarily mean that the product does not contain non-traditional ingredients the effectively function as preservatives.
Zeastat™ INOLEX Incorporated - Supply Chain Info
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INCI Name:
CaprylhydroxamicAcid (and) Propanediol
Zeastat™ is a complete system for preservative-free cosmetic and personal care products. Zeastat™ contains no biocides or typical preservatives. Instead it uses multifunctional agents that have excellent efficacy as biostatic and fungistatic agents. Zeastat™ is ideal for personal care products where a paraben-free or preservative-free claim is needed. -
@ngarayeva001 actually for vitamine E all Lol seen contain % between 0,1 and 0,5 so even 0,5% can be good.
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@ngarayeva001 i believe that Posysorbate
80 is good for “washability” of your cleansing balm. -
I am still playing with the percentages. Made 5 batches with different proportions and still experimenting. I agree, it seems like solubilizer improves the “washability”. PEG-40 HCO works better than Polysorbate 80 (same %).
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Is this from Humblebee & Me?
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@gnomebeard it is indeed. I like the idea but I think it needs some work. For example the original formula has extremely high concentration of EO, too much of Vitamin E etc. And a preservative of course.
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