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The role of antioxidants in protecting formulations
Hi everyone! Long time no see!
I’ve been thinking for a while about the role of antioxidants in protecting formulations and I’ve recently dealt with some interesting questions on this topic.1 - Do they also act to protect the aqueous phase, or are they limited to the oily phase?2 - Are there natural options on the market to meet the “natural-lovers” that appear so often searching for these ingredientes?3 - Is there any “improved” action when used in association with chelating agents? (I can hardly find technical materials on, for example, BHT - I imagine it’s because it’s a commodity - and the only one I had access to said “best used in combination with EDTA”)4 - What examples besides BHT, Tinogard TT (Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate) and Vitamin E do you know and use?
In all of the above cases, the focus is only on the formulation, not the skin.
Thank you for your time!
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7 Replies
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When I had an oxidation issue a while back on a project. My chemist pointed out that we needed to determine which phase the problem existed in. The oil soluble antiOx’s like E and ROE are going to work in said phase. So, if the problem is in the water phase, they will not render much assistance. So, since my problem was in the water phase, we attacked it with sodium metabisulfite, and ascorbic acid (water soluble). NAC is another one…that the natural lovers might like. I think they like words like amino acids.
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1. No, they are limited to protecting the oil phase.
2. “Natural” Vitamin E 😉
3. I believe chelating agents can work synergistically with antioxidants. LotionCrafter says sodium phytate does, but I don’t actually know…
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I once heard that between the two forms of vitamin E most used in cosmetics (“Tocopheryl Acetate” and “Tocopherol”) one is more effective for protecting cosmetics and the other for having antioxidant action on the skin (not sure which one) - and that, if I’m not mistaken, doesn’t protects the formulation. So, research with your suppliers before deciding what to use.I believe that a concentration of +/- 0.3% (of the right Vitamin E) would be effective in protecting the formulation, but I could be wrong.If anyone has more details on this it would be interesting, I don’t have much basis on this subject to go further. -
Rafacasti said:I once heard that between the two forms of vitamin E most used in cosmetics (“Tocopheryl Acetate” and “Tocopherol”) one is more effective for protecting cosmetics and the other for having antioxidant action on the skin (not sure which one) - and that, if I’m not mistaken, doesn’t protects the formulation. So, research with your suppliers before deciding what to use.
Tocopherol is the one that will protect the formulation, while Tocopheryl Acetate has supposed skin benefits.
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If you want a water-soluble antioxidant try Ergothioneine. Other oil soluble antioxidants are Tocotrienols, Asthaxanthin for instance.
Chelating agents bind heavy metals, so they are more boosters of preservation systems.
Tocopheryl Acetate is relatively useless in protecting your formula and it has very low conversion rate (0.6%), so it is also useless regarding skin benefits.
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Thank you all! I’m writing down all your suggestions (:
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@MarkBroussard
Any suggestions for where one can purchase small quantities of said ergothioneine? Thank you.
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