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Need help about coloring a shampoo.
hello
i am formulating a shampoo for friends and family and the formula is nearly complete. All i need to know is what are the different options to give a nice color to the formulation? Im making a shampoo with all plant vege derived natural ingrediants so need a natural option for coloring too. Will cosmetic micas work at all? Sorry If I sound strange but I have never colored the emulsions before. Only used micas for eyeshadows project so I know they can be used in oil based products easily but what about emulsions like shampoo and conditioner or masks?
I need to use a color that is consistent for all my future orders bcz m selling them and i dont wAnt drastic variations in every batch. Many thanks
ur suggestions wud be much appreciated -
14 Replies
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Read this, will be useful.
https://www.personalcarecouncil.org/colors-cosmetics-regulation-and-nomenclature-united-states
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Mica can be used but without vacuum mixing you’ll never get rid of the bubbles. Not a good idea. Use an approved colour.
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Hi @Belassi thAnku for replying. This is the actual confusion that what is the approved color for shampoos? Im not havin luck in searching them online as im probably not puttin the right keyword. I know they have CI names but i need to know which sort of suppliers will hve them and what do we call it?
Also, any idea about using micas in oil only serum jus for a little bit of color as in few drops? Will it be the same issue with the bubbles or what? Thanku once again for ur patience
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Mica just drops to the bottom of anything unless you have sufficient yield factor (often confused with viscosity but they are not the same) including oil.
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What abt titanium dioxides? I have found some info on colors for cosmetics and they mentioned this
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Titanium dioxide is white. There would be no point. We make white shampoo using pearling agents. And I suspect TiO2 would just fall out of suspension unless you used a suspending agent.
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For shampoo you can use a polymeric opacifier like Opulyn 301 which is acrylates/styrene copolymer.
For oily serum it is indeed very difficult to suspend anything and as @Belassi pointed out the absence of yield factor in such oil only formulations. Best maybe you can mention ‘shake well before use’. Or someone can chip in with a more acceptable solution. -
@Chemist77 thanku for ur input. Ive thought to use a dark colored oil to give a hint of color( anything other than yellow) i wana give to the serum so thats kind of sorted. With regards to shampoo, I am going to look into soap micas which are blends of titanium dioxide with micas/colors as ive seen ppl using them to color soaps. Hope m not going to ruin the shampoo
any suggestions are welcome -
Use only FDA approved colorants. They usually have a number after them.
You can use a pearlizer. You may need an opacifier as well.
It looks like people perceive white, pearl and pale green as more conditioning and maybe even more “natural” than other colors.
@Chemist77 can you use cetyl or cetearyl alcohol as opacifier in a shampoo? or it will just slowly sink to the bottom?
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can you use cetyl or cetearyl alcohol as opacifier in a shampoo?
no, not really. cetyl alcohol apart from anything else, I should think would kill the foam.
soap things generally don’t work in shampoos. -
@Sal I think for serum you can try carrot oil as well which is almost dark crimson, comes from CLR Berlin.
As for shampoo, I think @Gunther has given the best solution. The appearance will be something of suspended mica as you desire.
@Gunther I have used cetearyl alcohol in a shampoo base in the past, TBH not a big fan as there are stability issues, foam issues and much ado about nothin with it in the formulation. -
You can use cetyl if you go the gel network method. But not much.
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@Belassi did you use gel networks in your products, or did further experimentation with them?
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I did try the idea but I found that it left the hair feeling “flat”, almost greasy.
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