Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Thickening prowess of Myristyl Myristate vs Behenyl Alcohol

  • Thickening prowess of Myristyl Myristate vs Behenyl Alcohol

    Posted by Graillotion on February 9, 2022 at 5:02 am

    I was wondering if there is a chart…or even just personal experience, on the thickening ability between these two fatty alcohols.

    I am working on a deo cream formula and found the MM to give the preferred drier finish.  However, a 1 to 1 swap for the behenyl resulted in a very noticeable drop in viscosity.  Is this what one should expect?  (Product went from the desired cream to a thick lotion.)

    Pharma replied 2 years, 3 months ago 6 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • helenhelen

    Member
    February 9, 2022 at 9:48 am

    I would expect that, as MM isn’t a fatty alcohol and sits in the oil droplet rather than plumping out the gel phase of an emulsion. Maybe use both?

    https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/comment/61651

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    February 9, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    Personal experience here. I compared behenyl OH, cetyl OH, MM and cetyl palmitate in the same base. The last two are water thin at 2%. Behenyl is more viscous than cetyl (probably due to higher melting point)

  • Graillotion

    Member
    February 9, 2022 at 9:34 pm

    Thank you all.

    I have concluded the way forward is to blend behenyl with MM.

    Aloha.

  • Abdullah

    Member
    February 10, 2022 at 2:46 am

    I think emulsion has 4 category of components.

    1. Those that go to oil phase 
    2. Those that  go to water phase 
    3. Emulsifier phase that stay in surface between oil and water

    4. Fatty alcohol phase. 

    You can not replace fatty alcohol with any emulsifier, oil soluble or water soluble ingredient.

  • ggpetrov

    Member
    February 10, 2022 at 8:10 am

    Personal experience here. I compared behenyl OH, cetyl OH, MM and cetyl palmitate in the same base. The last two are water thin at 2%. Behenyl is more viscous than cetyl (probably due to higher melting point)

    Have you tried them in combination? Recently I am using Tego MM in a combination with Cetearyl alcohol, and I notice that the consistency is improved in a way to be more thick, but without the waxy feeling of the Cetearyl - especially when it’s used in bigger amount.

  • Pharma

    Member
    February 10, 2022 at 8:20 pm
    Fatty alcohols have always tourbled scientists… What are they? Where are they? What do they do? To which phase do they belong? And so on…
    Me, I tend to count them neither as part of the wate nor the oil phase. We believe to know that one part is very close to the interphase (where the emulsifiers are supposed to be) and possibly part of it whilst the bulk remains in the oil phase… unless in lamellar structures wherein they may be part of the lamellae or form, with a part of the emulsifier, their own alpha-gel, lamellar liquid crystal phase possibly alongside another type of emulsion formed by the rest of the emulsifiers. So, it depends on the type of lyotropic liquid crystals and these are mostly governed by the used emulsifiers. The effect of fatty alcohols is differently in micelles and hexagonal phases than in lamellar structures or in bicontinuous cubic phases… and it’s different in ‘normal’ systems (o/w emulsions) than in inverse systems (w/o emulsions).
    Furthermore, fatty alcohols serve as lipophilic linker. They lenghten the ‘reach’ of the fatty parts of the emulsifiers which increases the emulsifiers oil holding capacity.
    Ester waxes such as MM and cetyl palmitate are clearly part of the oil phase and just slightly change the apparent HLB/HLD of emulsifiers. They also gel the oil phase (-> high melting point) and may serve as oil binders (increasing miscibility of unlike oils such as triglycerides and hydrocarbons).
    This can explain why emulsion A shows an opposite behaviour than emulsion B when swaping a fatty alcohol for an ester wax.

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