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Hair gel formula starts to smell rancid after 3 weeks
90.69% Aqua
5% Glycerin
2% Xanthan Gum
1.5% Sodium Benzoate & Potassium Sorbate
0.5% Carrageenan Gum
0.04% Persea Gratissima Oil
0.04% Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil
0.04% Oryza Sativa Oil
0.04% Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil
0.04% Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil
0.04% Jasminum Officinale Oil
0.04% Citrus Limon Peel Oil
0.03% Tocopherol Acetate
The formula starts off great, however after a few weeks the smell starts to change. At first I thought it was because I was storing the hair gel in a PET tub and the constant lid removal mixed with dipping in with damp hands was introducing bacteria into the formula (one family member experienced mould growth). I changed the packaging to PET bottles with a pump enclosure, but the formula smell is still changing.
Any help would be HUGELY appreciated!
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9 Replies
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Hi,
You need a stronger preservative system for your formula and also a solubilizer. The ‘smell’ may come from Carrageenan gum, you can make a knock-out test and leave out Carrageenan.
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Thank you so so much for your reply! Would you suggest adding an additional preservative or changing the preservative entirely? Also, if the carrageenan is causing the smell, is there anything that I can do to counteract that? (Unfortunately the end formula gives a completely different result to the hair when I remove it). Are there any solubilizers that you would recommend? Thank you again, so much for your time.
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Hi KatieW.
You can try cationic guar gum instead of Carrageenan, it’s quite beneficial for the hair (make sure you order the cationic one). For preservation I would completely change or at least add Benzyl Alcohol or Pehentyl Alcohol for the above system (they both smell nice, so double-win) - but here we have more experienced chemists than me, I’m sure they can help you with the preservation. For solubilizer, you have many options, if you would like to stick with the ‘more natural’ ingredients, you should try Oramix CG 110 (3:1 solubilizer : oil but different oils need different ratio so you have to play with it) or Polysugamulse D9. Otherwise, PEG-s can easily do the job.
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Thank you so so much for this - soooo super helpful and I really appreciate your time 🙂
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Do prob need better preservation. Check similar products on the shelf.
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Ok Phil, thank you so much for your thoughts.
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I see no acid in there. What is the pH? Those organic acid don’t work as preservatives above around a pH of 5.0
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Hi Perry - thank you so much for this!! I’ve just checked and the preservative is only affective for formulations with a PH under 5.5. I had completely overlooked this! The PH of my finished product is 6.8!! Does this mean that my preservative is completely in-effective as a result of the PH? In which case, if I adjust the PH with Citric Acid and bring it down to PH 5, it will fix the issue? Do you think I should add a secondary preservative or do you think adjusting the PH with the current one will be sufficient? So sorry for all the questions and thank you so much for your time.
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I’ll answer for Perry here (he’s a busy guy), YES, reduce the pH to 4.5 - 5.0 using lactic acid or citric acid. You had an unpreserved product all this time! Yeesh! Just curious here: this hair gel sounds like a gummy thing with no fixative properties. What application does it serve?
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