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Role of emulsifiers in anhydrous preparations
Hi
I’ve been looking at a lot of oil based hair pomades lately and one thing that comes across is that almost every brand will include an emulsifier in the preparation even though there is no water included.
Most popular are: steareth-2, steareth-25, oleth-5, ceteareth-20.
A sample product:
http://www.luxurybarber.com/uppercut-monster-hold
Ingredients: petrolatum, cera, microcristallina, lanolin, ricinus communis seed oil, candelilla cera, cera alba, stearic acid, steareth-2, parfum, linalool, geraniol, hydroxaldehyde, CI 75120/annatto.The common topics to address with the anhydrous hair pomades are:
-uniformity of ingredients of a broad range of melting points-easy removal of the product from hair-pliability and holdIs this why you would use an oil based emulsifier? To bring everything together into a better working, more uniform mixture?I’m trying to understand what’s really happening here.Appreciate your input into this. -
5 Replies
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having seen the photo on the website, the product definitely looks like an emulsionand CI 75120 is a water-soluble dye, so it would be a little silly to use it in an anhydrous product
also, the INCI list is evidently incorrect and/or incomplete (“cera microcrystallina” is one ingredient, and there is no such thing as “hydroxaldehyde”; at a guess, it’s probably meant to be “hydroxybenzaldehyde” or “hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde”)in other words: I don’t think it’s anhydrous at all -
If I was making an anhydrous hair pomade, the primary reason I’d put an emulsifier in the pomade would be to help the pomade wash out.
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I have seen this before and the only reason I could think of except what Bobzchemist mentioned is to solubilize the perfume which could have a water soluble ingredients.
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I appreciate your comments. Sorry for taking long to reply, I’m getting distracted with all the start-up work.
Bob, I have compare a few pomades and they are infamous for trouble with washing out. No problem with the Uppercut product, so this could be spot on.
Bill, you’re completely right, the ingredient list is wrong, I just copied it from the website but comparing it to the product I have at home, there’s parts missing.
No water though. I had it in my hands and can’t seem to believe that it would be an emulsion.Is it feasible that a company with global sales removed water(and corresponding preservative) from the list?
As a personal observation. Powders considered water-soluble still suspend evenly in oil bases.
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depends where they’re sourcing it from; if it’s come from China then the written ingredients list is likely to bear marginal (if any) resemblance to the actual product
and if it washes out easily, it will be water-based; I know from experience that you can formulate very wax-like O/W emulsions if you use the right emulsifiers and rheological additives
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