Looking for suspending agent for an oil-based cleanser

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Looking for suspending agent for an oil-based cleanser

Posted by dmh0023 on January 8, 2014 at 2:11 pm

Hi guys, been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I have an oil cleanser that I want to suspend mica in. I bought carbomer, but I don’t know if that’s what I’m looking for exactly as I believe it’s meant for water based formulas. I had someone suggest Soy Lecithin, but from my research it looks like mud, and I want to retain the clarity of the product. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated!

mikebavington replied 10 years, 9 months ago 5 Members · 10 Replies
10 Replies

mikebavington

Member
January 8, 2014 at 2:49 pm

Pemulen TR-2
Bobzchemist

Member
January 8, 2014 at 4:12 pm

When you say oil-based, I’m assuming you have an anhydrous formula that is just oil and a bit of surfactant, which means none of the water thickeners will work at all. The first thing that comes to mind is just to use a thicker oil.

The next easy answer is fumed silica.

The harder answers involve looking at oil-based thickeners. Needing to retain clarity eliminates most of them. Having to be compatible with surfactants may eliminate the rest of them, but you’ll never know for sure unless you experiment. Try doing a search for transparent gelled oil - that should get you a starting point.
dmh0023

Member
January 8, 2014 at 10:01 pm

Thanks, guys! I will check both of those out. There’s no surfactant in the cleanser, the majority is an anhydrous oil blend and a much smaller amount of emulsifier. The recipe is in large part fractionated coconut oil, so it has a very thin consistency. I’m hoping to find something that retains clarity and also doesn’t thicken the oil blend up too terribly much.
Herbnerd

Member
January 8, 2014 at 10:40 pm

If it is a fractionated coconut oil why not consider using a hydrogenated coconut oil?
Depending on the amount used, you should be able to retain some clarity.

In the course of my work, I have to do this sort of thing a lot - but clarity has never been an issue. We tend to use GMS, Beeswax, hydrogenated oils and the like.
Bobzchemist

Member
January 9, 2014 at 9:58 am

I’m just going to be a little nitpicky, sorry.

Not all emulsifiers are surfactants (short for Surface Active Agents) but most are, and it is extremely likely that anything soluble in oil is.

Not all surfactants are emulsifiers, either, but again, most are. Typically, surfactants are the larger class, and emulsifiers are a smaller sub-group of surfactants. The exceptions are things like polymeric emulsifiers and some natural gums, which are not surfactants, strictly speaking.
dmh0023

Member
January 9, 2014 at 2:04 pm

Hydrogenated coconut oil? I’ll check it out. Do you think it would suspend mica without adding too much thickness to the final product?

And thank you, Bob! Nitpicky is good - I need to know these things. The emulsifier I’m using is Cromollient.
dmh0023

Member
January 9, 2014 at 2:06 pm

Also, Herbnerd - where does one find hydrogenated coconut oil? I’m looking at my supplier websites and amazon and such and I’m not finding it. ><
Bobzchemist

Member
January 9, 2014 at 2:52 pm

If you’re using fractionated (liquid) coconut oil, it would probably be easier to find and try whole coconut oil before trying to source hydrogenated oil. Whole coconut oil can be found at any health food store.
jakapiggy

Member
February 2, 2014 at 7:17 pm

Global Seven has a product (Global 4075) for anhydrous systems that will gel oils to any consistency ranging from flow-able to hard stick. Maybe stir in some powder SLSA- but then it might make it hazy and obscure mica.

Just a thought:)
mikebavington

Member
February 5, 2014 at 5:22 pm

You could use Cera Belina - it gels oils.