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Emulsifier choice for retinol face creams - some options better than others?
In the past I’ve used ewax to emulsify a 0.3% retinol formula and honestly it has worked OK stability and efficacy wise (we did RT stability testing assaying retinol %), the higher the oil content the better the stability generally speaking.
I’m wondering however if other emulsifiers could be better with regards to:
- Sensorials (more glide)
- Efficacy (better penetration)
- Stability (less degradation)
- Moisturization (e.g. better TEWL reduction).
And not be irritating to the eyes (wonder if some glucoside containing emulsifiers like montanovs could cause eye irritation too easily?).
There was a discussion about the best natural emulsifiers here: https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/5195/brainstorm-the-best-natural-emulsifiers
Montanov L seems like a good pick here as long as eye irritation doesn’t become a problem, any other suggestions?
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5 Replies
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@Zink Of the four attributes you’ve listed the emulsifier is a significant factor in only one: stability. For the other three, you are going to add builders to achieve better results (and you are experienced enough to already know that I suspect.) As for emulsifier choice, I’ve never liked the APG family (Montanov) of “naturals” and found better results using the polyglyceryl esters. Co-emulsify with a small amount of anionic such as glyceryl stearate citrate or sodium stearoyl glutamate and you have a nice mild emulsion base without ETO-based nonionics.
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chemicalmatt said:@Zink Of the four attributes you’ve listed the emulsifier is a significant factor in only one: stability. For the other three, you are going to add builders to achieve better results (and you are experienced enough to already know that I suspect.) As for emulsifier choice, I’ve never liked the APG family (Montanov) of “naturals” and found better results using the polyglyceryl esters. Co-emulsify with a small amount of anionic such as glyceryl stearate citrate or sodium stearoyl glutamate and you have a nice mild emulsion base without ETO-based nonionics.Even though I use some Montanov’s….they give me tons of grief! Granted you may not want to use the PEG’s (165 type), that is where I get my best stability, supported with GSC. Sometimes I will include a Montanov in that combo….for added texture to an already stable platform.
I have been doing this a little over two years now….and I have a sunny window….that I put samples in… I use a clear bottle…and fill them only half way….(want tons of head space to aggravate the situation). I have a two year old sample sitting up there…that was just Tego Care PBS 6… (Polyglyceryl-6 Stearate (and) Polyglyceryl-6 Behenate), no co-emulsifier…and probably little or no fatty alcohol. As time goes by…and emulsions break or fail…those samples get tossed….that one still remains. (And the one listed below.)
Oddly enough ( I guess I say that…cuz Lecithin never instilled confidence in my mind….but the other two components shouldn’t surprise.)….the other one that has passed the torture test with flying colors…has been HelioFeel (Glyceryl Stearate Citrate (and) Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate (and) Hydrogenated Lecithin).
So….from someone that early on….with poor combinations (did not use co-emulsifiers or fatty alcohols) and little knowledge, two years ago….Those were standout emulsifiers. Also early on…I tended to use any emulsifier at a very low rate. So I think my tests…speak volumes for those two emulsifiers.
So Matt of course is spot on…I just thought I would give my personal experience, and some brand names you can try and find.
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Thanks for the input, yes the factors other than stability can be added with other ingredients, but still choosing and emulsifier that performs well with regards to those factors could be beneficial.
My main concern with this formula is penetration of retinol, there are some studies indicating certain oils may help (oleic acid definitely helps but may disrupt the skin barrier too much), frankly I’m not sure if the emulsifier will have much influence on this so I’m asking here
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I got over this post looking for retinol formulations. Thank you for the useful suggestion. The sunny window rings all the bells. Retinol is sensitive and degrades exposed to sun or oxygen and we get all sorts of unpleasantly smelling notes as soon as the cream is opened.
Retinol is always tricky because it is known to cause irritations. I use Vitamin A propionate from BASF. BASF also has selfemulsifying Retinol GS50 and I combined both. Both develop rancid smell rather quickly. This is why the retinol products are heavily perfumed, which is sometimes OK, but not for a night cream, because you want it light. I was at InCosmetics fair this year in Amsterdam and met those guys from perfumes. When we came into discussion, I was suggested to drop heavy scents and use simply Aldehyde C11 Undecylenic because it cancels out the developing smell of any retinol cream. For facial creams they suggested in addition Violet Leaf Aldehyde. Those two make perfect accord. They together have very light hint of cucumber smell and hence it can be associated with natural home/made face mask. The trick is not to use them in a typical fragrance amount but much, much lower. I got sample diluted to 1% in triacetin and give 2 to 5 drops of each to my lab batch of 800 mL. Even after a week exposed to sun, the Vitamin A decollete cream did not smell bad. For the heavier eye cream I added just a hint of vanillin and Fema 2615. If you want fresher notes, such Vitamin A moisturiser goes well with citral and Surcide G50.
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