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Is Good Idea for using both Xanthan Gum and Carbomer for thickener??
I looked on the fig. 1 of How Do I thicken my cosmetic formula that @Microformulation gave to us.
@Microformulation, and others, Is good idea to use Xanthan Gum + Carbomer to incease the thickness and stabilize the lotion/cream?Are there few carbomers ?
Thanks in advance and appreciate all inputs
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8 Replies
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First, would you mind sharing what the formula is, so that we’re all in the same page?
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I do not have formula yet. Reading the article that @Microformulation gave us. I thought it good to use both xanthan gum + carbomer (acrylic poly). Xanthan Gum works well with carbomer based on article.
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In my experience, you can good effect combining Xanthan Gum with other rheology agents/emulsion stabilizer with good effect. A great commercial example is Solagum AX (Acacia/Xanthan Gum). I have achieved the same effect with carbomers.However, usually with my clients, they either want to be “naturally compliant” or the OTC’s couldn’t care less. With the “naturally compliant” clients the carbomers would be an issue. If you don’t have these marketing constraints, there are synthetic thickeners I would use likely before I used a gum.Now, that is a textbook answer. Determine your market and use the best combination the limitations. Then experiment. -
@Microformulation, Great advice! Thanks a lot.
I will do that. I have no or very little experience on this area. Thanks for article again. -
If you want to learn more about Carbomers, look at the Lubrizol Articles. They have several regarding Carbomers and their uses. You can find them at the Lubrizol website. Carbapol’s (Lubrizol’s Carbomers) are the gold standard for many. There is a lot of guidance on the natural gums. Avoid the blogs and look at some of the information on the supplier sites. Vanzan-NF is a common Xanthan Gum and Vanderbilt (the distributor) also has guidance.Remember also my advice to know your market. Some heads might explode, but not every market sector demands “natural” and in my experience, some products are a flop when made with strict “natural” requirements. In my opinion, for example, a “natural” pomade will fall short of a product with synthetic materials.
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I am not questioning xantham gum’s efficacy as a thickener, however I personally avoid it at any cost. It contributes to, what I call, ranch sauce texture. I am sure that professionals know how to combine it properly but I feel like xantham kills texture of carbomer and make the product slimy (even at 0.2%). I can tell that a commercial product was thickened by xantham without even seeing LOI. There are so many great rheology modifiers to explore! @Dtdang, there are many carbomers. I guess this table will be useful.
I used 940. As you can see, one of the worst performances. There’s also Ultrez 30 that isn’t in this table. I have just received it. Will be testing it today and share my thoughts later. -
@ngarayeva001 thank you so much. I love them and will try soon.
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@Microformulation thank you so much. Your advice is great.
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