-
Source for Polyhydroxystearic acid
I’m new to the forum and just starting off as a “do-it-your-self” cosmetic formulator.
I do have a basic chemistry education so I’m not starting from scratch. I want to
thank everyone on chemistscorner because I have learned a lot from reading these discussions.I mainly order my ingredients from retail sites like
Ingredients To Die for, etc. However, I’m having trouble finding a source for small
quantities of Polyhydroxystearic acid. I’m working on a mineral sunscreen (ZnO)
and it appears that polyhydroxystearic acid is pretty much a necessary dispersal
agent in low oil formulas. Do I just email the major suppliers for a sample or
does anyone know of a retail website? Does a Ulprospector.com account really
help to get small quantities of products.. if an at-home “do-it-your-selfer”
can even get an account? -
11 Replies
-
ULProspector? Samples? Sure. There’s also Specialchem. But you need to be a business to get an account. Not that difficult really, depending where you are. In the UK for instance a Limited Company is cheap to set up and a Web site too.
-
There’s a procedure for members here to get an account with ULProspector. Do a search of the forum.
As far as I know, you can only get the 100% material from Innospec.
An emulsifying mixture is made by Phoenix:
PHOENOMULSE™ 100(INCI: Water (and) Polyhydroxystearic acid (and) Isononyl Isononanoate (and) Ethylhexyl Isononanoate (and) Sodium Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate) is the ultimate emulsion aid for delivering innovative cosmetic and personal care products. PHOENOMULSE™ 100 creates highly-stable and novel Structured Micelle Aggregate (SMA) external water phase emulsions, using medium shear warm or cold processing. Internal phase loading of up to 50% is achievable. -
ULProspector has upped the scrutiny by which the qualify new accounts. I believe Perry has an alternate method set-up, but in general they are getting stricter.
I spoke with them several weeks ago. The representative stated that they had way too many crafters on the site. They are not biased against the crafters, but they see a trend where some crafters will get a healthy sample and never order otherwise. Many manufacturers were leaving ULProspector for this reason. In these cases they may have used the samples for Production. They will require a business email and an address.
That said, even once you are on ULProspector, expect the distributor rep to call you before they ship the sample. They will ask about your business, projected volumes and end-use of the material.
-
Absolutely expect a call. The problem is why do we ask for samples? To design a new product or test an idea. Pretty impossible to estimate sales and therefore raw materials!
-
To be fair I have never been turned down by a Distributor when called. They understand that not everyone knows the usage data. Honestly, I really think they call to establish who you are and ensure you are qualified. The woman I spoke with said that many of the companies that sample out oils were hit hard by crafters. You can get samples of many oils from multiple sources and combine them to get enough to make a Crafter size batch. I know JE Edwards has really gotten selective.
-
Thanks everyone for the help. I’ll try to setup an account as a forum member and just expect a phone call from the distributor. I’ll try to sound like I know what I’m doing, haha.
-
The problem with home-crafters getting samples from UL Prospector is that they will never be able to meet the often very large minimum order quantities for the product they are interested in. Even as a smallish business we struggle to meet these minimum order quantities and I make sure to ask my supplier about minimum order quantities when requesting samples so that I don’t waste my time developing a product that we will never be able to manufacture.
@Jvic - You could try contacting the major supplier and asking them for distributor information rather than samples. They should be able to point you in the right direction of a distributor who would be able to sell you the quantities you require.
-
A sunscreen is also not a great starting project.
-
@Microformulation Yeah, I know. I definitely like to challenge myself, but I will probably start working on a few other products first before I tackle the long drawn out task of a stable sunscreen and SPF testing. Well, we’ll see if I get a hold of some polyhydroxystearic acid. If I don’t, then I’ll take it as a sign to start smaller.
-
A Mineral (Physical) sunscreen takes a great deal of mixing energy in order to make as the ZnO must be evenly dispersed. This is not in the reach of anyone without the proper expensive equipment and that only touches upon one issue of many. Sunscreens are involved Formulations requiring proper agents for the spreading, additional agents to give water resistant properties as needed and LASTLY they require extensive (think $$$) outside testing of SPF and Spectrum. To do these to “challenge yourself”as a novice Formulator is reckless and ill advised.
Lastly, with the Polyhydroxysteric acid, are you getting that from an Ingredient list? If so, it is likely that it was a component of a pre-dispersed ZnO product such as Solaveil CZ-100, not an added additional ingredient.
Again, this is not a starter project in anyway whatsoever, no, no, no, nyet.
-
I agree that this is not a project to be undertaken as a first, or even a tenth, formulation project.
When you are deciding what to work on, please, please consider the potential dangers/potential damage first. Products like depilatories or skin peels=high risk of a formulation or weighing error causing severe, permanent damage. Products like sunscreen=high risk of a formulation error causing serious damage (see Jessica Alba’s Honest Company Sunscreen, for example).
Products like moisturizers, soaps, shampoos=low risk of a formulation error doing any harm. This is where you should focus your efforts to begin with.
Log in to reply.