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In Need of Help with Phases and Method for a Cream-Gel Hair Product
Hey guys,
I’ve made a couple posts here about an ongoing project of mine. This post/inquiry is just a continuation. In a nutshell, I’m in the process of creating a cream-gel hair product solely for personal use. Its goal is to offer a medium to strong hold, define my curls, and give some shine. I’m drawing inspiration from a beloved discontinued product.
As a newcomer to formulating, I’ve been fortunate to receive some help from Perry, and for that, I’m truly grateful. Now armed with my chosen ingredients and their respective percentages, I find myself at the juncture where I could use some assistance with the phases & the actual method of formulation.
Below I’m going to outline the ingredient list, and phases I’ve concluded from research. While i’m confident in the ingredients, the phases may require revision and the method is incomplete, so any help is appreciated. I really want to correctly develop this product.
Water: 91.7%
Emulsifying wax (polysorbate 60 and cetearyl alcohol): 3%
PVP: 4%
Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate: 1%
Carbomer: 0.2%
Triethanolamine: 0.1% (as needed)Phase A:
Distilled Water 60
Carbomer 0.2%
Few drops of Triethanolamine
Phase B:
Distilled Water 31.7%
PVP 4%
Phase C:
Emulsifying wax: 3%
Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate: 1%
Method:
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Measure out the Distilled Water (60%) into a glass container.
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Sprinkle Carbomer (0.2%) slowly and evenly over the water’s surface. Let it hydrate for some time then mix well.
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Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until the Carbomer is fully dispersed.
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Add a few drops of Triethanolamine to neutralize the Carbomer. Add drop by drop while stirring until the desired pH is reached.
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Measure out the Distilled Water (31.7%) into a separate container.
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Add PVP (4%) to the water while stirring until fully dissolved.
Phase A:
Phase B:
As stated before, I’m uncertain about the subsequent steps I’ve outlined, so I’ll refrain from including them.
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2 Replies
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I’m a beginner Formulator as well, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
Since this is an oil to water emulsification after combining phase A & B in one beaker and Phase C in another. Heat them both up to the same temperature to melt the emulsifying wax, then add the oil phase to the water phase and blend vigorously until it’s homogenized. Let it cool to below 40°C/104°F then start adding your heat sensitive ingredients, such as fragrance oil, Preservatives (not all preservative are heat sensitive) then use citric acid to adjust the pH.
Also, keep in mind that when heating your water phase, the evaporation would result in some water loss. You could either add 10% extra water at the start or keep track of your measurements and add what is lost after. The total formula needs to equal to 100%
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Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate - as 50% aq. solution ala Suttocide A. You’ll have a weakness vs fungi you may want to address and EDTA would be a good addition if your formula can take it..
Keep heat below 60C.
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