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Hair foam formula turning cloudy
Hi everyone,
Hoping I can pick your brain! I’ve been formulating a hair foam for around 6 months now. The initial couple of batches came out crystal clear, all batches after that have become cloudy. I have changed the order of how I mix the ingredients countless times now, still no joy. This is my current way:
Phase A:
Water - 73.9%
DL Panthenol - 1%
Cetrimonium chloride - 1%
Wheat protein - 4%
Polyquaternium 7 - 1%
Pentylene Glycol - 3%
Sodium Lactate - 4%
Sodium Benzoate & Potassium Sorbate - 1.5%
Phase B:
Polysorbate 20 - 1%
Essentials oils (Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Lemongrass, Lemon, Red Mandarin, May Chang) - 0.9%
Vitamin E oil - 0.5%
Decoy Glucoside - 3%
Glycerine - 3%
Caprylyl Capryl Glucoside - 1%
Lamesoft - 1%
Phase C: Xylitol - 0.2%
My lab has been getting quite cold, so I have now started heating phase A & B to 50 degrees and then emulsifying them. Then I add Phase C last. The formula is crystal clear, until it cools.
If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them - thank you so much in advance!
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5 Replies
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Katie - check it for microbial contamination.
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Do you use distilled water? The essential oils or your Vitamin E might contain carrier oils that could cause cloudiness. You might want to reduce the amount of Vitamin E if it’s not necessary. Substitute the reduced amount with EDTA.
Adding a minute amount of PEG-12 Dimethicone (like 0.5%) might be helpful to maintain the clarity of the formula, too.
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I have literally just discovered today that it’s the Vitamin E oil! I made a batch without it and it’s crystal clear. I only add the Vitamin E oil to the formula, to prevent the EOs from oxidising. Do I still need to keep the Vitamin E in the formula for this very reason? Is there something I can use as an alternative? Thanks so much!
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Yes. Oryzanol + Disodium EDTA.
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Vitamin E (Tocopherols, not the Acetate form) is an antioxidant, and very low amounts are usually needed. I’d recommend you to keep it but in a dose around 0.1%.
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