Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Advanced Questions Optiphen Plus 1% in 99% water creates weird goo ball

  • Optiphen Plus 1% in 99% water creates weird goo ball

    Posted by sean9980 on February 4, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    Why does blending the Optiphen Plus 1% in 99% water create this weird goo ball, it’s like rubber almost and doesn’t dissolve, is it the sorbic acid or the glycol, I am leaning on the glycol… this will be a Hyaluronic acid serum 1% but I am trying to understand why my preservative is acting this way

    sean9980 replied 4 years, 2 months ago 4 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • Pharma

    Member
    February 4, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    Is that ball (by the way :p :D you made my day, that’s the first snowball of the season for me! Sorry… :blush: ) ALL of your product (preservative and water) or did it form in the water and is mostly composed of Optiphen Plus?

  • OldPerry

    Member
    February 4, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    Yes, I wouldn’t think just Optiphen plus and water would result in that.

  • sean9980

    Member
    February 4, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    Alright so it was a 55000g batch, so thats why it looks so large, usually in smaller batches it just looks kinda like a stringy film, that doesnt quite blend in the product. This goo ball formed within the product and sank, I was using a high speed mixer, so I think it pushed it all together… However, even when I was making smaller batches this film like product still existed even after 24 hours. I did NOT add any Hyaluronic Acid to the product before adding the preservative (Optiphen Plus) into it, maybe thats my issue??

    1) Measure out 55,000 grams of Water
    2) Add Preservative (I originally added 1.25%— but noticed it still does this goo like substance when I added 1%)
    3) Use a mixer it looks like this
    https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/88268c40-b1b2-44bd-85ae-fb495e4ebe9b/svn/hdx-paint-mixers-stirrers-hm5-hdx-64_1000.jpg

    (By the way these work really good for mixing gels up)

    Then thats when I noticed the giant ball of goo forming

    Here is a smaller batch you can see the stringy parts sitting on the top of the water,

  • lmosca

    Member
    February 5, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    Solubility of 1,2-octanediol is ca. 18 g/L, phenoxyethanol is about 26 g/L, Sorbic acid is 1.5 g/L. Their concentration in Optiphen+ is 41.7%, 52.3%, and 6%, respectively. 
    If my math is right you should be well below the maximum solubility limits for each individual compounds. 
    But… organic molecules in water are weird. Solubility does not sum up. I guess what you have there is a mixture-ball of the two least soluble things, sorbic acid and 1,2-octanediol. 
    I suppose the water is just that and does not contain any other ingredient, right? 

  • Pharma

    Member
    February 5, 2020 at 8:36 pm
    Such things can happen if you add poorly soluble stuff too quickly to the water. Add slowly while mixing vigorously, wait until fully dissolved every now and then before adding more.
    I experienced the same issue with adding paraben concentrate in propylene glycol to cold water… just without the snowball ;) .
  • sean9980

    Member
    February 5, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    I’ve noticed if I add the Hyaluronic Acid, wait for it to hydrate and then mix it in, it seems to not bunch up. However it gets cloudy, so I tried adding a little glycerin to help clear it up

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