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  • Formulation

    Posted by Marie Kidze yaaya on September 12, 2024 at 6:58 pm

    Please why is Benzoyl peroxide causing my face wash runny and also having a creamy consistency instead of clear. I desolved it with Ethyl alcohol

    Juggsy replied 1 hour, 58 minutes ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • aniela

    Member
    October 13, 2024 at 2:50 pm

    Hi, I’m not familiar with benzoyl peroxide, but you have on this page quite a few formulae, plus the complete ingredient lists (when you click on a formula)- this might help you discover what’s missing in your own formula. https://incidecoder.com/search?query=Benzoyl+peroxide

  • Juggsy

    Member
    October 13, 2024 at 7:51 pm

    Without formula and process, it’s hard to know what has happened, but in general benzoyl peroxide (BPO) BPO is not very soluble in water. When you dissolve it in ethyl alcohol, it may not be completely mixed into the water-based part of your face wash, potentially creating a suspension. This could cause it to look creamy or opaque (I think it’s bc the crystals would scatter light? that’s my understand but could be wrong).

    But for viscosity loss, alcohol is a solvent and can always affect the performance of the surfactants in a system, so this could easily be the cause of the viscosity loss.

    I would try using a solubiliser to help incorporate the BPO, like PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil. I would also look at the concentration % of alcohol in the formula as it could be causing the viscosity loss. Is your rheology modifier compatible with alcohol? not all are.

    As said, without formula and process, this is just guessing but might help you to work through what is happening.

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