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propylene glycol vs butylene glycol vs propanediol: virtually the same?
Are these ingredients nearly exactly the same in form and function? Both are solvents and humectants. The only difference I could find online was that propylene glycol has a greater potential to cause irritation, and that butylene glycol is thicker. Is that true? Does butylene glycol add nice body to the texture of your solution? Does it help the product spread more easily, compared to propylene glycol… or are they the same in that regard too?
Also curious about propanediol and how it compares to the above mentioned ingredients, as well as glycerin. I often read comments where someone suggests you replace the solvent with glycerin.
It just seems like if given the choice, butylene glycol is always the way to go especially over propylene glycol. .
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10 Replies
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Not really….
I do this with every liquid ingredient that passes through my hands….
Make a grid on your arm…. apply…. take notes….observe….feel your skin 15 min later.
When I did that test…. propanediol actually had water bead up on my skin….none of the other did that. (I live in super high humidity Hawaii.) It will also give you a feel for the inherent stickiness of many of the humectants.
Yes… They have similar effects in formulation….but if you do some achive searches…you will see they perform slightly differently at different humidities…hence why some of blend our humectants. Also some are more sticky than others.
Propanediol and natural betaine are my favorites of the group.
If it is all about cost….glycerin is cheaper than bottled water.
Want to make your product feel wetter….try pentylene glycol.
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For the record…I use glycerin in all my formulas….but I use a humectant blend. (Partly to avoid stickiness, and drag, and I have no idea what climate my product will end up in.)
Also, as with all my ingredients…I buy the smallest size from all of my suppliers….Butylene glycol as an example (which did not make my final cut)… the variation between how it felt and absorbed was astonishing….vendor to vendor.
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Graillotion said:For the record…I use glycerin in all my formulas….but I use a humectant blend. (Partly to avoid stickiness, and drag, and I have no idea what climate my product will end up in.)Also, as with all my ingredients…I buy the smallest size from all of my suppliers….Butylene glycol as an example (which did not make my final cut)… the variation between how it felt and absorbed was astonishing….vendor to vendor.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. In your experience, what has been the best ingredient that eliminates drag? You said you use a humectant blend, do you feel like each of them has a unique ability to increase slip, and so cumulatively they perform better together than one by itself?:smile:
Do you remember why butylene glycol didn’t make your cut? Did propylene glycol make your cut, however?
Do you have any opinion on HA vs these glycols, propanediol,etc? I am interested in trying glycereth-26 too, seems like it would be in this category of moisturizing humectant-solvents. I can’t find a supplier though
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ETcellphone said:Graillotion said:
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. In your experience, what has been the best ingredient that eliminates drag? You said you use a humectant blend, do you feel like each of them has a unique ability to increase slip, and so cumulatively they perform better together than one by itself?:smile:
Do you remember why butylene glycol didn’t make your cut? Did propylene glycol make your cut, however?
Do you have any opinion on HA vs these glycols, propanediol,etc? I am interested in trying glycereth-26 too, seems like it would be in this category of moisturizing humectant-solvents. I can’t find a supplier though
I have no idea what level formulator you are, and what you have on hand. So I will try and answer your questions as though I was working through them. I make rather complicated formulas….tend to buy every possible combination of ingredients…and try them all. My last cream took 41 tries to get what I wanted. I micro-manage every aspect of my formulas. I feel process and equipment is as important as what goes into them.
Well…lets see what we can come up with. How to eliminate drag… First…I would try not to introduce drag….as in…if you don’t introduce it…there is that much less that you have to eliminate. I follow the principle taught to me by my mentor…of cascading emollients. So other than water, Isoamyl Laurate is my most used ingredient. Depending on the formula…I will create the 3-D cascading effect with some of the following: IPM, Lauryl Laurate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Cetyl Esters (helps thicken), dimethicone, cyclomethicone (love this one at 1%), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (when I want some scent retention) and of course thickener/emulsifiers like Aristoflex and carbomer. That being said….your primary emulsifier is also critical….if you use a draggy waxy emulsifier…you have that much more to overcome.
For each formula…depending on goals… I will retest this collection and pair those that best match the goals…. so if quick absorbing is word of the day…I’ll use those….if lingering emolliency is what I am chasing…than some of the slower absorbing ones can be used. Once you get used to the players…common sense fills in the blanks pretty easily. Most beginners….don’t use nearly enough of this grouping. To make products amazing….these groupings should be around 10% of your formula.
Regarding: Do you remember why butylene glycol didn’t make your cut? Did propylene glycol make your cut, however?
I use neither. Mainly because of their perception (by customers) ….and better alternatives. I guess I would say…why use PG when you could use Propanediol??? The non petrol based versions of BG….did not absorb…it was like adding Vaseline, there were simply way better glycols for my purpose.Regarding: Do you have any opinion on HA vs these glycols, propanediol….
My primary purpose with the glycols is preservation…so I am looking at binding free water…(plenty in the archives on this). So I do not view them as interchangeable with HA. I think most in this group (myself included) believe HA is way over hyped. That said…I use it in everything…hey…gotta market this stuff. Plenty of good stuff in the archive on this…but basic premise is….the HA is your product is 100% hydrated….so how can it add any water once applied???? Chew on that one for a few hours.If you truly want to learn and explore the worlds of humectants….create a very simple bare bones formula….little more than an emulsifier, emollient, barrier, and then sub a different humectant in…and make it over and over. Then see which one hydrates your skin (or target market skin) the best…and use the ones that work best for your goal. You can never hit the target…if you don’t set goals.
Good Luck in you journey.
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Just to give some more feedback to confuse you, lol.
For propylene glycol vs butylene glycol vs propanediol: Propanediol would be a “green” alternative to Propylene Glycol, in terms of solubilizing wise, more expensive in cost, and also seems to have lower irritation potential. For Butylene Glycol, the moisturization is very close, but in terms of Butylene Glycol vs the other two, the preservation boosting capabilities can be very different, besides from the potential skin feel differences. The choice of which glycol to use can largely depend on what you are looking for it to do.
For HA vs glycols, personally i’m not a big fan of normal HA since it (1M dalton ) doesn’t seems do anything much for me, my preference is the HA crosspolymer since i find that the performance is more significant in humid climates.
For Glycereth-26, i use it in my hand wash, somehow i find that it make my skin drier. Perhaps others would have another opinion with it. I do use Butylene glycol or Propanediol in the same formula depending on what i have more of, i find that they moisturize my hands roughly the same.
As what Graillotion has mentioned, i’d also recommend looking into the lipids and emulsifier you are using, so to increase spread and to reduce drag from that point. For my moisturizer, normally i don’t use any glycols if possible as they seem to irritate my face, though no issues for my hands or body.
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jemolian said:my preference is the HA crosspolymer since i find that the performance is more significant in humid climates.
What is the name of the HA crosspolymer you are working with? I love new things.
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@Graillotion it’s Hyacross from Bloomage, they manufacture various HAs and Polyglutamic acids. 0.5% to 1% should be sufficient.
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jemolian said:@Graillotion it’s Hyacross from Bloomage, they manufacture various HAs and Polyglutamic acids. 0.5% to 1% should be sufficient.
Don’t suppose I can get the same effect, with an 1% HA solution and a polymeric?
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Perhaps it’s possible, but i’ve not really done a side by side test to figure that out.
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Man did this question go off the rails! To answer your original inquiry @ETcellphone: best use of either BG or PG is to “de-tack” stickier humectants and water-borne ingredients such as glycerin, sorbitol, xylitol, HYA and on and on… butylene glycol works best, but propylene glycol is less expensive. Both also decrease the freeze point which helps with freeze-thaw. As for these other uses, such as antimicrobial value: please ignore. As for renewable-grade propanediol: why waste money on that? Only 0.001% of the market cares where it came from.
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