[azzja]

this seems like a not very elaborate product, and I think there are other more nutritious oils for anti-aging products - such as argan, apricot kernel, rosa rubiginosa, punica granatum, almond, grapeseed oil… i think sunflower oil is here mostly because it’s pretty cheap. also, it doesn’t state which form of vitamin E. i’m not an expert but i’ve read that only d-alpha-tocopherol is absorbed and accumulated in the human body. also, i have no idea why put lemongrass eo except for the smell, a better choice in my opinion would be carrot seed eo

[azzja]

@MarkBroussard

sorry, i thought we were talking about vegans and what people generally think when they say “natural”

of course there are regulations that define what is meant by the term

[azzja]

i think i like how this sounds, thank you Belassi

i’m just not sure about the percentage of NaOH/KOH mixture, i understand i’m supposed to use it as a baseline, but how much of it? and in which step do i neutralise? sorry if i’m asking too many stupid questions, but i’ve never made a shaving cream before and i wouldn’t like to mess it up.
edit: i found this formula, it sounds similar to yours, what do you think of it?

Stearic acid                          33.1g                     

Coconut oil                           9.12g                     

Glycerol                 19.41                     

Pot. Hydroxide     7.13g                     

Sod. Hydroxide    0.86g                     

Borax                                     0.59g                                       

Perfume                 0.91g                     

Water                                     28.67g                   

Procedure:

1.      
Heat the fatty acids (stearic and coconut) in a porcelain
dish to 75-80 C

2.      
Dissolve KOH,NaOH, borax and glycerol in
water, then heat to the same temperature.

3.       Add #2 to the fat melts in #1 with slow stirring. Stirring
is continued for 15-20 minutes at 75-80C 

[azzja]

Thanks Yes, that’s what I found out after reading, ingredients only cost so much and the rest is marketing. And that was my biggest realization and the thing that made me mad the most

[azzja]

I’ll ask him to try that and report the results.

Thank you Bobzchemist!

[azzja]

Hi everyone! I’m Ivana from Croatia.

I am, unlike most of you, new to cosmetics making, and have no formal education (I have a degree in humanities). I became interested in making my own products because I have problematic skin and was sick of not understanig the inci names and the function of each ingreedient. I was also wondering what makes some creams cost 100$ and some 10$, aaand that’s how I got into all of this I read some books on the subjects, started following some blogs and I’m looking for new places for learning and exchanging advice.

[azzja]

thanks Belassi!

this combo looks like it might cause some skin irritations, and the person who wants the cream has very sensitive skin and wants the product “as natural as possible”. 

i don’t advocate for exclusively natural ingredients since i think there are some great synthetic ones as well and i like to include them in my creams.but this person’s skin reacts to sls and als. and i don’t think they would be happy about dea :S

[azzja]

thanks milliachemist!

[azzja]

i just did a search and there’s no available triethanolamine where i live, and i don’t have time for on line orders. is there an alternative to that ingredient?

[azzja]

thanks David!

[azzja]

@MarkBroussard 

“Bees make honey and beeswax … it’s part of what they do for a living … it’s sustainable.  If the product or ingredient is a by-product derived from the death of the animal, it is heresy.”

-> actually, vegans are against keeping and breeding animals for the purpose of utilizing the fruits of their labor. it doesn’t matter that bees produce honey and beeswax anyway, they’re against it. i am myself not a vegan, nor a vegetarian, but i have read about the subject and their philosophy.

also “NATURAL” is a very misleading and unclear term, it can mean a lot of things. that’s why it is so commonly used when trying to misrepresent cosmetics contents. very often manufacturers write ingredients and then in brackets they say “derived from natural source” like that even matters if the final ingredient was so heavily processed that it can’t really be considered “natural”. but people seem to buy that stuff, and everything that says “natural” will have a lot of buyers.