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  • Hairwax

    Posted by humanity on July 4, 2015 at 12:54 am

    Hi everyone,

    I should start with a caveat and that being I am not a chemist so excuse me if I come across as a little dense from time to time. :)
    So I am working on a formula for as ‘natural’ as possible hair wax for home use, below is my formula:
    51% boiled arrowroot (12 parts water, 1 part arrowroot)
    14.5% beeswax
    3.5% carnauba wax
    17.8% coconut oil
    6.3% cetyl alcohol
    3.8% castor oil
    2.5% lanolin
    0.2% citric acid

    My first issue is when I initially apply the wax to my hair, it is a very stronghold and my hair feels stiff and stays wherever I style it, but as the day goes by the wax loses its strength and my hair softens up thereby losing the style. My suspicion is the oils are being absorbed into the hair, adding the cetyl was intended to prevent this from happening (amongst other things) but to no avail. Anyone know where I am going wrong and how I can maintain a hold ?

    My second issue is stability, using coconut oil in cold temps (below 20c) ensures the oil is solid at room temp, but above that, its a liquid. This is problematic because the formula changes with the temperature. The wax is soft during summers and hard during winters .Any suggestions on how I can stablise the formula to prevent this from happening ?
    Microformulation replied 8 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • humanity

    Member
    July 12, 2015 at 3:45 pm

    Anyone ?

  • belassi

    Member
    July 12, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    The problem with such products is frankly, I think they belong in the Victorian era when the “antimacassar” was necessary to prevent hair oil getting on furniture. Maybe in certain parts of the world that is still popular?

  • Microformulation

    Member
    July 12, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Belassi is correct. However with the movement towards more “natural” products I encounter more and more people trying to use these products as a Pomade. The “natural” products fall far short of the more traditional products. This is arguably an area where “natural” needs to take a back seat to performance.

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