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Stickiness of aqueous serum
I have an aqueous serum for a facial sheet mask consisting of:
Water 72%
Glycerin 5%
Zemea 5%
Betaine (Genencare OSMS BA) - supposedly reduces tackiness
Xanthan 0.8% (need this viscosity to stop it dripping off the sheet)
Actives - 15%
Preservative - 1%
Fragrance - 0.5%It is a bit tacky or sticky after removing the sheet and wiping dry.
Any suggestions? -
9 Replies
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it’s likely to be the xanthan gum causing that
what are the actives?
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As Bill says, probably the xanthan gum - 0.8% is a very high level for this material but 15% of undefined actives may be the real problem.
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@peterlehrke:
Actually, Glycerin at 5% is your problem. Glycerin at anything above 1% will be stick. Best you drop the Glycerin down to 0.5%. Check to see if any of your Actives are in a glycerin or water/glycerin base. If possible, use only Actives that are in a water base. If you want, you can replace Xanthan with Sclerotium Gum.
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Most of the Cream/gel/lotions contain between 3 and 5% glycerin
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No, you are absolutely wrong on that point. Most cream/gel/lotions formulations contain approximately 1% to 2% glycerin.
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@MarkBroussard I beleive you. I use to put 3 % of pure glycerin (and you have to add the glycerin of glycerin based ingredients) in most of my products and they are not sticky. Most of the orientative formulas that ingredient suppliers send me (Croda, Dow corning, DrStaetmans, Gattefosse, etc.) have glycerin level between 2-5%
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Those are sample formulations to highlight their ingredients, not commercial products. Ask yourself why those formulations are not commercial products.
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It’s helpful to realize that the cheapest possible ingredient in cream/lotion formulas is water. Most of the time, as commercial cosmetic chemists, we are striving to use the very lowest amount of ingredients (other than water) needed to achieve our objectives.
The difference in performance between no glycerin and 1% glycerin is noticeable, but the difference between 1% and 5% glycerin is fairly small. The cost difference, however, between 1% and 5% can be significant.
Using more than you need is frequently not better.
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@Bobzchemist you are totally right, and the same comment is valid for the surfactant that many time is overloaded
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