Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating mens hair styling cream

  • mens hair styling cream

    Posted by Ryan on March 27, 2023 at 10:23 am

    Hello, I am a barber and beginner in the formulating world! I am trying to perfect my styling hair cream/pomade/clay.

    I hope this is allowed……I will share my formula that I took bits and pieces of from the internet and from trial and error! Please let me know if something is way off or if I can do something to improve it!

    These are percentages:

    Water 32, mango butter 12, beeswax 10, maltodoxtrin/vp copolymer 10, kaolin clay 9, candelilla wax 8, cetyl alcohol 7, polysorbate 20 6, emulsifying wax nf 5, potassium sorbate .5, and phenoxyethanol .5.

    This is where I am after several different iterations! The batch I made last night is slightly grainy or gritty.

    I melt the beeswax, candelilla, cetyl, ewax, and mango butter..,.once melted, I add hot water

    I remove from heat and add the clay…mix, then add maltodoxtrin vp/copolymer and mix.

    As it is cooling, I will add the polysorbate 20 and then the perservatives. I dissolve the potassium sorbate in a few drops of cold water first.

    That is basically my formula.

    Sorry I am not a pro, so any help I can get is great! Thanks!

    Nyatou replied 12 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • SnowBunnyChemist

    Member
    March 27, 2023 at 8:43 pm

    Hi, whenever you use clay you must use a very fine screen mesh to sift it to avoid grit in your product.

    Natural clays are very imperfect products - particle size wise.

    Also, can I say, Kaolin smells absolutely horrible when it’s wet. (or even slightly damp)

    I cannot imagine anyone is actually going to want it on their hair, to be very honest.

    Just my opinion… although I do formulate with it all the time.

    You absolutely must overcome the grittiness factor with fine screening, or I am sure people will complain about the grittiness in the end product.

    Good Luck 🍀

  • prsguy

    Member
    March 28, 2023 at 12:16 am

    The purpose of kaolin is to remove the shine of the product. you used too much kaolin

  • Nyatou

    Member
    March 30, 2023 at 2:54 pm

    I use cornstarch to reduce shine and it works for me in a body butter

Log in to reply.