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Please help me formulate Leave-in-conditioner
Hello everyone, I need help with making a leave-in-conditioner/hair moisturizer
A few years back I made diy with Jamaica castor oil, aloe vera juice, olive oil and Shea butter, infused carrot oil . While this seemed to work really well for my hair, it left my hair feeling heavy and oily and would go bad after short while so stopped making it. I want to make product that will moisturize without feeling oily and heavy. I have afro that is super dry, it doesn’t like many hair products. So simply often works best
I want to make a grow-up version of it.
Here is formulations I’m considering at the moment, is it okay
Phase A
40%Distilled water
30% Aloe vera juice
3%Glycerin
0.2% Xantham gum
Phase B %
4 % BMTS 85
5 %Shea butter
3 % Olive oil
6% Jamaican black castor oi
3.8% Dimethicone 350
Phase C
0.50% Preservative liquid germall plus
2% D panthenol
2% hydrolyzed wheat protein
0.50 fragrance
Or should I make two products one being hair mist with the phase A&C ingredients and hair butter with the phase B ingredients
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5 Replies
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Hi @Yolise
A few things for you to consider:
- Xanthan Gum is an anionic (negatively charged) thickening agent; it is incompatible with cationic (positively charged) ingredients like BTMS, so you will need to remove it or replace it with either a nonionic alternative like Hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) or a cationic alternative like Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (Cationic Guar Gum).
- The aloe vera juice concentration is very high and will likely cause stability issues with your formula. Aloe vera is primarily used as a claims ingredient; it does not have much benefit to the skin or hair, if at all. I would recommend replacing it with distilled water.
- You don’t really need a high concentration of oils, especially for a leave-in product. The conditioning is going to come from the BTMS and dimethicone; the oils and butter may add some shine to the hair, but too much will cause the heavy, oily feeling you mentioned. Try to reduce the total lipids to ~3%; perhaps 1% of each, but play around with different concentrations and see what your hair likes the best.
- You will probably get the same performance without the dl-panthenol and save yourself some time and money by removing it.
- The concentration of BTMS seems a bit high for a leave-in product, but my experience is limited.
Good luck!
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Hello @Camel thank you for advice especially about xantham gum, I had forgotten that it’s anionic. <div>
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I agree with @Camel about everything he said. One thing I can add is try using 1% BTMS-85 (0.85% active) and 5% fatty alcohol to test stability. I personally never worked with BTMS-85. Only BTMS-50 and 25 and they usually contain a fatty alcohol in them.
As for the humectant, test 3% and see how it goes for you. You could also try increasing the glycerin to 5% (bare in mind it will feel a bit sticky, but it goes away once your hair has dried)
For the dimethicone, 2% would do the job well and would save you some extra for more use.
I would also personally get rid of the protein as it will only form a protective layer for to keep hydration which you already get from the dimethicone. It’s MW is too large to penetrate and provide deep hydration.
Happy formulating and let us know the results ????
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Hello @Heath0o7
Thanks for the advice.
It’s also my first time using BTMS 85, I’m more familiar with BTMS 25. The supplier says it’s has 15% fatty alcohols cetostearyl alcohol.
I have too much dimethicone than I possibly know what with it, i bought 50ml but got 500ml that will expire at the end of the year.
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Remove glycerin. Reduce shea butter to no more than 1%, and BTMS 85 to no more than 2% (as mentioned, it helps having some fatty alcohol like cetearyl alcohol starting at 3-4%).
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