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opacifier as emulsifier?
Hi everyone,
I’m trying to use an opacifier (that is a mixture of glycol distearate and surfactant) in shampoo.. My question is:
Does glycol distearate in the opacifier effect HLB system? If I figure out the glycol distearate percent in that opacifier, can I use it as emulsifier? -
4 Replies
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Sorry if this is a nooby question
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Be careful not to apply the HLB system to areas where it is not applicable - such as a shampoo.
The opacifier (glycol stearate) in a shampoo is present in the form of very small platelet crystals, not as a solution and will not behave as if it were dissolved.
Even though there is a lot of pseudoscience and mumbo jumbo around the HLB idea, it remains after more than 60 years, as an arbitrary (rough and ready) method of formulating an emulsion. This is in part because commercial surfactants are invariably mixtures of materials and subject to batch-to-batch variation in composition.
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@johnb thanks a lot for your comment
1. correct me if I misunderstood you: glycol distearate in shampoo makes colloidal solution.. and it won’t effect HLB system.
2. can you explain your pov why HLB system is not applicable in shampoos?
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Please don’t become over-influenced by the HLB system. There are places where it is useful (nonionic emulsions) and places where it is not so useful (ionic systems).
It would be wise for you to learn some of the fundamentals of cosmetic science so that you have a better understanding of what is going on in the products. There is a lot of information available through Google (and other search engines)
Aslo look to the right of these pages: Learn to formulate cosmetics! etc.
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