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  • Face oil formula critique

    Posted by Sheila_d on April 30, 2021 at 11:44 am

    Hi guys,

    I’ve been lurking for a long time but after some experimenting of my own, I am developing a face oil, specifically to be suitable for sensitive, ‘blemish’-prone skin. This is a WIP but I would appreciate your thoughts at this stage.

    So far I have the following oils:

    Red Raspberry seed (Refined) 24.25%
    Red raspberry seed (CP) 10%
    Blueberry seed 10%
    Strawberry seed 10%
    Blackberry seed 10%
    Tomato seed 10%
    Pomegranate seed 10%
    Black cumin seed 10%
    Oat kernel 3.3%
    Sea Buckthorn seed 2%
    Bisabolol 0.25%
    Tocopherol 0.2%

    The aim was to include seed oils higher in Linoleic and Linolenic Acid that absorb quickly into the skin, as well as adding in pomegranate seed for its Punicic Acid, and then for more soothing ingredients, I have used Oat Kernel oil (beta glucan) and bisabolol for the anti-inflammatory effects. 

    I have used some refined and some CP of the raspberry purely to make the formula a bit lighter. I am trying to source most of my oils as close to me as possible, hence why not many ‘exotic’ oils (everything comes from the EU except the black cumin seed oil). 

    I probably got carried away with oils that have a similar fatty acid profile!

    Thank you in advance :)

    Sheila_d replied 4 years ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    April 30, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    Have you checked iodine value of these oils? I recall pomegranate is very high. Tocopherol obviously helps but it can only do so much.

  • Sheila_d

    Member
    April 30, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    I did a while ago but didn’t note them down stupidly. I kind of (maybe wrongly) presumed that seeing as other face oils I use have pomegranate seed oil with just tocopherol as an antioxidant in them that me using it like this would be fine…

  • OldPerry

    Professional Chemist / Formulator
    April 30, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    My critique is that you have too many oils.  I embrace a “minimalist” formulating philosophy and try to minimize the number of ingredients used.
    This has a number of benefits including…

    1. Reduced chance of negative consumer skin reaction
    2. Reduced chance of experiencing an ingredient supply problem
    3. Reduced chance of instability
    4. Reduced chance of ingredient contamination
    5. Reduced cost
    6. Makes production easier 
    7. More environmentally friendly and sustainable
    8. Less land use required to grown ingredients used for cosmetics

    Also, why would you add 2 ingredients that have the same function (Oat Kernel oil and bisabolol)?

    I wonder, would you even be able to tell a difference if you left one of the oils out?  If you can’t tell a difference between two formulas, you should make the one that has fewer ingredients.

  • Sheila_d

    Member
    April 30, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    Yeah you’re right! Making life harder for myself for no good reason. I thought adding both oat kernel oil and bisabolol would mean more anti-inflammatory properties (by volume) seeing as bisabolol is added in such a tiny amount.

    Back to the drawing board  B)

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