Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Water based hair products

  • Water based hair products

    Posted by natzam44 on January 25, 2017 at 10:41 am

    Hello,
    I have a small homebrew hair product company which operates locally. I currently have 2 oil based products which I sell but I would like to expand and make water based products. I have a basic idea of how to make them (how to create an emulsion) but I don’t have any idea where to start. 

    Ingredients I have:

    Oils and Waxes: Beeswax, soy wax, olive oil, petrolatum, jojoba oil, almond oil, lanolin oil, coconut oil, vitamin E

    Other: Bentonite, shea butter

    I don’t need someone to give me an exact formula, I just need a general direction to go in.

    Thanks, 
    Nathaniel 

    johnb replied 7 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • bill_toge

    Member
    January 25, 2017 at 11:28 am

    what benefit would water-based products have over your current ones?

    I ask as water-based products are an order of magnitude more complex than anhydrous ones, and most styling resins (which you would need to create a high-performance product) are not generally available to home crafters

  • natzam44

    Member
    January 25, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    @Bill_Toge I would like it to be a product which can simply wash out. I have been getting quite a few people from around town asking me to make one.

  • bill_toge

    Member
    January 26, 2017 at 10:45 am

    the easiest way to do that is to add a high HLB and a low HLB surfactant (e.g. PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil and glyceryl stearate) to an anhydrous formula, so it has some means by which it can mix with water; it’ll be water-resistant, but will wash out with shampoo much more easily

  • johnb

    Member
    January 26, 2017 at 10:53 am

    The problem with water soluble hair products is that they wash out during rain showers.

Log in to reply.