[Aniela]

1. To find out which is one “superior” you’ll have to analize every component of both preservatives and find out if any of your preservatives cover ALL of these: gram+, gram-, and mold/fungi. I’m pretty sure you’ll find none of those two do that.

As @Graillotion said, tocopherol is an antioxidant- it might be useful in your formulations, or not- nobody can tell without knowing the ingredients you’ve used.

2. Regardless of your ethos, you should bring to the market ONLY safe products, and that is not a claim, that is inherently expected from any product on the market.

“Clean” only relates to the definition of “clean” given/implied by your market segment, so if you use what they think it’s “clean”, then no issue.

3. You have the answer from @Graillotion : preservatives tend to be formula-specific.

PS- I see you’re new here: to enable the members to provide help, one should use the INCI names of the ingredients (not trade/commercial names), and also provide the list of ingredients used in the product(s).

[Aniela]

Sorry, just noticed they still have the program https://personalcarescience.com.au/CosmeticScience/CertificateinAdvColourCosmeticFormulation-1900/

[Aniela]

This is the only one I know of https://personalcarescience.com.au/Books/Colourcosmeticformulationbook-477/

This is an older video, and at that time I remember they had a separate course on colour cosmetics: maybe they took the course out and replaced with the above book, no idea…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-y17TiHLz8&t=888s

[Aniela]

Listing the %s would be quite useful.

My bet is on the “parfum oil”. Have you used before in the same formula and had no issues?

Also “vitamin E” is a broad description of what you’ve used. Depending on other factors, it can undergo oxidation, which may further contribute to color changes.

[Aniela]

@PwrsNY , @Elliot <div>

I don’t know anything about the rules/regulations of cosmetic pigments, but it might be that a treated iron oxide can come under the same INCI name as an untreated one, if the treatment is a trade secret.

</div>

[Aniela]

Bonjour,

I love to see a different language here🙂

Hair products are not my “strong suit” but I wonder about the possible build-up of polyquats from all the other products used- shampoo, conditioner, hair-cream, hair-gel.

Regarding the other questions, I will leave them to the experts here.

[Aniela]

Are you asking about something like this?

https://www.alexmo-cosmetics.de/Fantasia-Pink_1

[Aniela]

I doubt that an emulsifier alone could do that: it always depends on the overall formulation, plus the skincare regimen.

Here they list some products- you could search the ingredients list for each of them and see what captures your interest.

https://pariserderm.com/2025/01/02/glass-skin-radiant-dewy-perfection/#:~:text=Cosmetic%20ingredients%20that%20can%20increase,and/or%20exfoliating%20your%20skin.

[Aniela]

I’m curious, did you find the “culprit”?

[Aniela]

I would take @ggpetrov ‘s advice and drastically reduce the % of retinyl palmitate.

For two reasons: it does cause a sticky feel which is exacerbated by it’s slower absorption rate, and it might not be safe at that %.

The second reason is based on SCCS’ opinion which says “- via face cream at the maximum concentration of 0.3% may lead to daily systemic dose of 1185 IU for an adult. This exposure could constitute up to 24% of the UL of 5000 IU/day of Vitamin A. Therefore, the SCCS considers that the use of Vitamin A in face cream products per se is safe.” https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/vitamin-retinol-retinyl-acetate-retinyl-palmitate_en

Even if you’re not in Europe, you’re using 2% which is 6.(6) times higher than 0.3%=> which gives a daily systemic dose way higher than the recommended 5000 IU/day (7900 UI)- that is if your costumer does not eat anything containing vitamin A, which is highly improbable. That could prove a dangerous daily systemic dose for any adult, healthy or not.

[Aniela]

You might find this reading useful

https://labmuffin.com/100-mineral-sunscreens-using-unregulated-chemical-filters/#more-12552

She has many other posts on the subject of sunscreens, so here goes your weekend😉

labmuffin.com

SPF Boosters: Hidden chemical sunscreens in “mineral sunscreens” | Lab Muffin Beauty Science

There's a sort of industry secret with mineral sunscreens: a lot of them contain unregulated chemical sunscreens. Which isn't always a big problem… but it also kind of is. Today we'

[Aniela]

Why would you want to mix those two?

Tego Care PBS 6 works well on its own, it doesn’t need another emulsifier.

[Aniela]

Off the bat:

1. Olivem 300 is an ester, not an emulsifier. It can be used as a co-emulsifier though (in o/w).

2. What is aloe vera for? I highly doubt it affects the beard in any way.

[Aniela]

Hi Natasha,

Found a link to an e-book format https://www.perlego.com/book/2682094/coloring-the-cosmetic-world-using-pigments-in-decorative-cosmetic-formulations-pdf

I don’t know how much/if they charge as the only option is “Read this book now” so you’ll find out after signing up, I suppose.

• This reply was modified 1 day, 23 hours ago by  Aniela.

[Aniela]

For fun (and a bit serious😉): why is it a good idea to use the function “Search Forums”?

Because you find things like this https://chemistscorner.com/color-cosmetics-a-practical-guide-to-formulation-review/

[Aniela]

Glad I could help.

[Aniela]

If “vitamin E” is a tocopherol mix, and it’s in there to prevent the oxidation of the fragrance, you have A LOT in there- that can accelerate the oxidation process.

[Aniela]

As much as it is safe- conform IFRA guidance.

Some details from manufacturer’s guidance:

“Difficult to stabilize ingredients like electrolytes
and high amounts of urea or ethanol are well
tolerated by emulsions based on TEGO® Care
PBS 6.

TEGO® Care PBS 6 is suitable for the formulation
of O/W emulsions with all types of cosmetic oils
at a pH of 4.0 to 8.5.

TEGO® Care PBS 6 is suitable for systems preserved with natural preservatives such as organic
acids (e. g. benzoic acid and sorbic acid).

The recommended usage concentration of
TEGO® Care PBS 6 is approx. 2.5 to 4.0% in lotions
and sprays.

Typical oil phase contents of emulsions based on
TEGO® Care PBS 6 are 10 - 30% for lotions and
10 – 20% for sprays.

Typical combinations for O/W lotions are 2.5 –
4.0% TEGO® Care PBS 6 with up to 3.0%
consistency enhancers. Suitable combinations
include TEGIN® M Pellets (Glyceryl Stearate) and
TEGO® Alkanol 18 (Stearyl Alcohol) or TEGO®
Alkanol 1618 (Cetearyl Alcohol) in a ratio of
50:50.”- meaning from the “up to 3% consistency enhancers”, 1/2 would be glyceryl stearate and 1/2 would be either Stearyl alcohol, or cetearyl alcohol

[Aniela]

Thank you. I’ll take a look.

[Aniela]

Never created a SPF formulation, nor do I know the rules of the “game”. I do know though that getting the texture right might prove to be a greater challenge than getting the SPF right.

I remember I did answer a SPF question, but just because I’ve found some sound details during an un-related search. Yup, a bit of a nerd: I do take notes on everything I find interesting, even when I know it’s a low/no probability to ever use the said notes. The info just completes the BIG picture for me😇

Just go ahead with your testing as you have to start somewhere, right?

[Aniela]

Thank you for such a detailed explanation.

I’m on the fence about the trade-off, though: do I really have to stop using lactic acid in all my formulations? Or should I use the GLDA and citric acid combo only in the more “vulnerable” formulations?

[Aniela]

Thank you, Abdullah.

[Aniela]

You could use ARLACEL 1689 (Sorbitan Oleate, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate). It does allow the incorporation of a small amount of water soluble ingredients in anhydrous products. Being such a small amount of “water” to solubilize, it shouldn’t require too much emulsifier.

[Aniela]

I only know manufacturer’s guidance: “It is an ester with strong emolliency and lubricant properties that offers a distinctive skin smoothness and long-term moisturizing effects. It serves as a solubilizing aid for essential oils and perfumes. It can also be used as a co-emulsifier for o/w systems.”

“Recommended use levels for Olivem300 are as follows: in toiletries 0.5 – 2% as a refatting agent, 1 – 10% as a fragrance solubilizer, and 2 – 5% as a moisturizer; in skin care 2 – 5% as an emollient; in color cosmetics, 3 – 5% as a nourishing and adhesive aid; in bar soaps 1 – 2% to protect the hydrolipid barrier and decrease water absorption; in transparent gels 0.5 – 1% as a hydrating agent.”

You can try, if you want to.

On the other hand, why not go with an oil soluble ingredient, as bisabolol, and skip the aloe?

• This reply was modified 4 weeks ago by  Aniela.

[Aniela]

Thank you. For everything: I’m “swimming” through the emulsifiers (Q&A in the forum) and I’m grateful for your answers. Some additional questions will definitely come up after my “swimming” lesson😇

• This reply was modified 4 weeks ago by  Aniela.