[belassi]

I use native labour. The main difficulty is cleaning the grease from the big black pots after we finish boiling down the missionaries. 

[belassi]

I’ve just been reading up on it. OK, I see how it works now, it binds with keratin.

[belassi]

First, better ask yourself, has your friend actually made any money doing this? Does she own a brand? Does the brand have a successful Web site and social media pages? Does she know any influencers?

I don’t know all this. What does this have to do with my question?

It has everything to do with your question, and if you do not know the answers I suggest that it would be better not to get involved. Because, you know, SALES and MARKETING.

[belassi]

First, better ask yourself, has your friend actually made any money doing this? Does she own a brand? Does the brand have a successful Web site and social media pages? Does she know any influencers?

[belassi]

Is it due to the fact that we are using food grade colorants ?
- Yes. You also need to test colours for stability under light. I once made a shampoo and used a combination of blue and red to get violet. I left a batch standing on a table and was amazed to see that when exposed to sunlight, the colour changed to turquoise in less than a minute.

[belassi]

From what I see in the ingredients list, for instance the face cream: it’s a pretty standard sort of veggie-oil O/W, but I don’t see any evidence of hurdle tech and the package looks like a bog standard 2 oz wide mouth pot. If they’ve got the pH at 5 or less then the benzoate will stop mould, no problem, but it lacks bactericidal ability in some respects. 

[belassi]

Try Dehyton G, sodium cocoamphoacetate, for your third surfactant. Makes nice dense small-bubble foam. I suggest trying it at 7.5% 

[belassi]

How do you formulate a product that is stable without standard stabilisers? I remember you mentioned that you don’t use polymers either.
There is nothing really difficult about it. It’s just a case of spending enough time on development and not being afraid to fail.

[belassi]

sodium benzoate / potassium sorbate

[belassi]

This is too broad a question to answer. There are so many types of emulsion. So many types of emulsifier. So many types of emollients. However I will say:
The only products I make that have an ingredient acting as thickener or stabiliser are my early ones, which I copied from existing products. I prefer to design emulsions that are stable without needing extra help. Apart from anything else, using gums or carbomers complicates packaging because they don’t perform in a linear way with change of temperature. Or in other words it can be difficult to dispense the product into the package.

[belassi]

Polysorbate is soluble in hot or cold water. You’d start by dissolving the oils in it.

[belassi]

I think it is important to gain confidence, so don’t start out by formulating sulfate-free two-in-one shampoos. Start with simple scrubs, gels, and creams. I believe it is incredibly important to ‘play’ with the materials to get a sense of how they work, what they can / cannot bring to a product, and if they cause problems with other ingredients. At the same time I think a basic understanding of general chemistry is important: acids, bases, pH, salts, solutions, emulsions, stoichiometry. 

[belassi]

And what type of cosmetic is this?

[belassi]

When you say a “foundation line” I assume you’re talking colour cosmetics.
To begin to be taken seriously you need a brand and an influencer personality. So, first, do you have a brand?

[belassi]

It really depends on your production scale. For instance, if you were making a 50 gallon batch, it would not be difficult for me, or someone like me, to put together a system in which three pH sensors (majority voting system) controlled the inflow of citric acid solution, cutting it off when the required pH is reached. Basically three sensors, a pump, an electrically operated valve, and a programmable logic controller.

[belassi]

The performance of shampoo thickeners is directly proportional to their cost. EG, 
Worst: Xanthan gum.
Medium: PEG-150 distearate
Best: Glucamate VLT.
It is possible to combine. EG, 1.5% PEG-150 distearate + 1.5% cocamide MEA + 1.5% Glucamate VLT.

[belassi]

The formula does not look well balanced to me, and also, lacks a stabiliser.

[belassi]

Well not really. The molecules might be identical, but one might have been grown on the side of a highway, in a hydrocarbon exhaust breeze, and the other… no it’s all nonsense! It doesn’t work anyway, not topically. I grew some 17% plants and made a 10% cream (obviously it would have cost a fortune) and it was useless. 

[belassi]

I’ve no idea what E-Wax NF is — it sounds like one of those mixtures sold by a hobby site — but I suggest you try a ratio of 3:1 and if that works, find the point at which it doesn’t, then back up a little. Also, the 35% of salt is going to greatly complicate things.

[belassi]

You’ve got a 12:1 ratio between lipids and emulsifier! That will never work.

[belassi]

acv???

[belassi]

Damn. Sorry, I missed the “non physical” part. OK then:

[belassi]

[belassi]

Have you thought of the possible problems if someone uses one in a Jacuzzi?

[belassi]

http://www.nardev.com/UploadSection/ProdCat-199-1444267262.pdf