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Stabilizing retinyl palmitate in a balm formula?
How would one go about doing this? I am currently homogenizing the balm and then adding the retinyl palmitate at around 120F before popping it into the freezer for 10 minutes to speed cooling.
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8 Replies
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What do you mean by “stabilizing”? Are you having separation issues? What is happening with your formula that you want fixed?
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Hi Perry! It’s not separating, but I do know retinoids are notoriously finicky to work with, so I’m wondering if I need to do anything further to stabilize the retinyl palmitate and ensure it stays active? As of now, the physical properties of the formula perform beautifully
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What is already in your balm?Retinoids worst enemies are oxygen, light (UV) and heat.Freezing is not an option (obviously), light can be kept out of your product using the right packaging, and air entering during usage can be excluded with an airless dispenser systems…. leaving you with oxygen already in your balm and introduced during homogenisation and filling. -
Hi Pharma, the balm is shea butter, squalane, cera bellina, tocopherol, chamomile essential oil, thyme essential oil, cedarwood essential oil.
I heat to around 130-140 to homogenize, hold at that temp while mixing occasionally for about 20 minutes, and then when it cools down to 115-120ish I add the retinyl palmitate, quickly pour and pop into the freezer for a few minutes.
The packaging is an opaque glass jar that allows zero light in.
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Well, if the physical properties of the product are great then there doesn’t seem to be much else you’ll need to do. Of course, you’ll need to do stability testing to see if there are any formula changes (eg color or taste) but that’s probably about it.
In reality, it’s unlikely that you or your customers will see any noticeable performance difference in whether you use a retinyl palmitate that has stabilized or one that has oxidized. In fact, I would guess you wouldn’t be able to tell a difference whether you put the ingredient in your formula or left it out entirely. Most actives in cosmetics are for stories not for performance.
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Thank you, Perry! I listen to your podcast regularly, you’re actually one of the few podcasts I get excited about when a new episode comes out. You and Valerie are great. I keep hearing retinol referred to as the “gold standard” in active ingredients - do you think they are ineffective? Or is it that retinyl palmitate is just too weak after it goes through conversion to retinoic acid?
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@dmh0023 - thanks for the kind words! We actually covered retinol on episode 208. Basically the conclusion is that while Retinoic acid is effective as a drug, retinol is not nearly as effective. It likely has some effect, so I wouldn’t say it’s ineffective, however it’s not nearly as effective as retinoic acid. While it may be the “gold standard” for cosmetic ingredients, its effect is not anything I would call “incredible.”
Then when you further derivatize the ingredient by making it a more stable version like retinyl palmitate, you reduce its effectiveness even more. Basically, I doubt you’ll see any noticeable impact when using retinyl palmitate in a formula. Granted, there might be some lab measurable effects but not something a consumer would notice. It’s those lab measurable effects that get talked about in advertising and beauty magazines.
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Copy that! Also, I like that you know exactly which episode it was in.
Thank you for this, Perry, you’ve been super helpful.
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