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hydrolyed proteins and viscosity loss.
Hi! I have been formulating a styling cream for all hair types, and I’ve had some trouble thickening the formula. I want it to be really dense, almost like a butter. However, I noticed that at the very end of my formulation, it loses a significant percentage of its viscosity. The last ingredients I add are hydrolyzed silk protein and hydrolyzed wheat protein, each at 1% of my formula (a total of 2% hydrolyzed proteins). I know that the proteins are causing the loss of viscosity, but has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? and if you have, what did you do? (i am aware that i can lower the concentration, but i would like it to stay the same)
Thanks in advanced for any tips or suggestions!
This is my formula
Phase A
- Water – 84.35%
- BX-E10 Extract (Aloe Vera and Alnus arguta, Matricaria chamomille, Cucumis sativus L., Ginkgo biloba, Panax ginseng meyer) – 1.00%
- Glucam P20 – 0.10%
- Panthenol – 0.20%
- Polyquaternium-37 – 0.25%
- BTMS 50% – 6.00%
- Cetyl Alcohol – 2.00%
- Silicone Alternative – 1.00%
- Rice Butter – 1.00%
- Argan Oil – 0.50%
- Coconut Oil – 0.25%
- Jojoba Oil – 0.25%
- Vitamin E – 0.10%
- Silk Protein – 1.00%
- Wheat Protein – 1.00%
- Phenoxyethanol – 1.00%
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This discussion was modified 1 month ago by
natasha.acendra.
Phase B
Phase C
Mix Phase A and heat until 70°C-80°C. Mix Phase B. Add phase B to really hot phase A. stir at high speed until combined. Let the mixture cool down. When the mixture is below 40°C add phace C.
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I asume both proteins are hydrolyzed. Can you check what’s the solvent? If they are both 1% solutions, I’d reduce them up to 0.1%.
Phenoxyethanol can also cause a viscosity drop, just in case.
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Yes! Both of them are hydrolyzed. The solvent is water, so i don’t see any problem in that. I guess i’ll try lowering percentage of the proteins and see if it helps.
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If you don’t want to reduce the proteins, could you try increasing your thickener to compensate? Polyquaternium-37 is a pretty substantial thickener in my experience, you could increase it to ~0.5% and see if that helps.
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I did a test like that a while ago, but I saw no substantial difference between 0.5% and 0.25%. However, I had different ingredients back then, so I can definitely try it again.
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Try testing it in water first. I observed that a 0.5% concentration of Polyquaternium-37 in water remained fluid, while a 1% concentration formed a thick gel—thick enough that the mixture wouldn’t move even when the bottle was flipped upside down.
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I tried the formula, increasing the Polyquaternium-37 to 0.5%, and the cetyl alcohol to 5% as well as reducing de hydrolyzed proteins to 0.25% each, here’s what I noticed after i used it:
- It left my hair feeling quite smooth when WET but stiff when DRY.
- It helped me detangle my hair.
- When I blow-dried my hair, I could see smoke coming out of it.
- When I curled my hair, it didn’t hold the curl as well as other times
On another note, making these changes to the product itself helped A LOT with the viscosity problem I was dealing with. I could even say it was almost too thick—like when you turn a Blizzard upside down.”
Do you have any idea what could be causing these negative effects after it dries on the hair?
I think it might be the polyquaternium—that it could be sensitive to heat or that it forms a film around the hair, which evaporates when heat is applied. But i’m not that sure, it’s just a wild guess.
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This reply was modified 1 month ago by natasha.acendra.
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For those questions, I will have to defer you to @ketchito 🙂
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Hahaha, Thank you!
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This is also a wild guess (too wild maybe), but perhaps PQ-37 because it can attract water, it making you retain more water than usual and tha’s the smoke you see when blow drying. That water-holding capacity might also have something to do with your curls. And the high thickness, a mixture of high amounts of fatty alcohols and PQ-37. Maybe you could reduce both PQ-37 and cetearyl alcohol…like 0.35% of PQ-37 and 3.5% of Cetearyl alcohol ?
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UPDATE!
I tried the changes you suggested, but I still have the same problems—there’s still smoke coming out when blow-drying the hair, and it doesn’t hold curls. However, I did another test and swapped P-37 for P-7, and it worked really well! I think it solved the problems I encountered before. I also made the changes Abdullah recommended, and I think I now have a pretty good formula.
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Reducing BTMS by 2% and adding 2% stearyl alcohol will increase viscosity a lot
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Thanks! I do have some stearyl alcohol so i will do this version of the formula in the upcoming days and let you know how it works out!
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UPDATE!
I tried the change you suggested and it did wonders! Totally loved it! I took out the cetyl alcohol (on it’s own) completely, added 3% of stearyl alcohol, reduced the BTMS 50% by 2% and loved the results. It did wonders to the viscosity and left a really nice feeling to the hair.
Thank you so much for the tip!
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