To color silicones - Chemists Corner

Formulating

To color silicones

Posted by colorier on October 10, 2015 at 5:53 pm

Hi, I’m trying to make a serum for hair and I’ve been puting color on it, the ingredients are: dimethicone, phenyl trimethicone, and cyclomethicone, the problem is that I keep seeing granules of color, do I need to heat it up in order to mix the color?

colorier replied 9 years, 6 months ago 4 Members · 8 Replies
8 Replies

Bobzchemist

Member
October 10, 2015 at 8:06 pm

Are you using dyes or pigments? It sounds like you are expecting pigments to act like dyes, which won’t ever happen.
colorier

Member
October 11, 2015 at 2:10 am

Thank you so much for taking time to answer Bobzchemist, Im using FD&C Red 4(CI 14700), in my research to small suppliers, they do not usually specify the nature of their colorants, or they are even ambiguous and to me it has been hard to understand the strict differentiation.

Since CI14700 is water soluble and not oil soluble, do you believe it is more suitable to use Red 17 (CI 26100)/Sudan III, wich is oil soluble, to get a cleaner aspect serum?

I apologize for my lack of knowledge, I’m an autodidact, and all I have is internet and some books. I do not have college education or acces to it, but I’m trying to get some grounds on formulating, and hopefully in the future a new career.

Thank you so much for your time, this forum has been of great help in my endeavour.
belassi

Member
October 11, 2015 at 5:01 am

You will need to use an oil soluble dye.
Chemist77

Member
October 11, 2015 at 6:12 am

Make a solution of oil dispersible pigment in paraffin oil (say 1-5%), use it as per need and this is what I do. I get generally stable colors but there are dyes which are very difficult to stabilize in such serums (they tend to agglomerate and settle down even when used as solution), so use regular oil dispersible pigment.
Bobzchemist

Member
October 11, 2015 at 3:19 pm

There are two ways to color an oil-based serum.

Using oil-soluble dyes is one way. They should dissolve in silicone, but test to make sure. Be careful not to use so much that the serum dyes the skin. Because dyes dissolve, their initial particle size isn’t relevant.

Using pigments is the other way. Pigments do not dissolve, so you need to suspend them, and the smaller you can grind the pigment particles, the easier they will suspend. Pigments, unlike dyes, will eventually settle out of your serum, but if you get the particles small enough, it could take years. The best way to grind pigments on a small scale is with a pigment muller.

Using water-soluble dyes might be a bad idea, since they will dye skin, but if you just use a little bit, they will act like pigments in your serum.
Chemist77

Member
October 13, 2015 at 6:03 am

@Bobzchemist wow I had no idea about that water soluble dye usage in a negligible quantity yet having an effect. Gonna try it in the first place, great insight again.
Bobzchemist

Member
October 13, 2015 at 1:57 pm

A pigment muller and a thick ground-glass/frosted glass plate for a base is highly recommended, unless you can afford a 3-roll mill.

http://www.art-boards.com/Muller's.htm 

http://www.amazon.com/Pigment-Muller-Medium-Approximately-Diameter/dp/B000F5WZ6M

It’s best to buy the plate glass at a local shop. Online costs are very high.
colorier

Member
October 28, 2015 at 5:07 am

@Bobzchemist, thank you very much, thanks also to @Belassi and @Chemist77 I tried your suggestion and it came out very good, I tried a oil soluble dye and it worked perfect.

You guys are awsome.