Bobzchemist
Forum Replies Created
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I’d suggest an AHA and/or BHA with Trehalose.
(Warning: really bad pun and old movie reference - What is the Three Stooges favorite cosmetic raw material? Trehalose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGtMwU8wDmc )
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It’s weird, but yes, if you want to sell a cosmetic in the US, you have a strong incentive to make sure that it does not work physiologically, and an almost equally strong incentive to imply (but not say outright) that it does work.
Also, (and please consult with a lawyer, don’t take my word for it) you’re probably from a legal standpoint better off NOT doing any sort of claim substantiation/clinical testing at all.
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In my opinion, the optimum way of starting a line like this is to begin with private label manufacturers. They have low relatively low minimums, you’re buying a tested formula, and digitally printed labels have come way down in cost.
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The products being sold for this purpose are getting away with it both because they use “weasel words” to describe how their products work AND because - surprise, surprise - they have proof that their products do not actually work.
If their products worked, they would be selling an unapproved new drug and would be shut down.
If you have a product that actually speeds hair growth, the FDA will consider it a drug. Period. Selling it without a NDA will potentially put you in a world of hurt. Natural vs. synthetic is irrelevant.
There are only two choices to keep from being sued/prosecuted into oblivion - sell something that doesn’t work and pretend that it does, or sell something that does work with the proper safety and efficacy testing and file a NDA.
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Baking process is just hot enough to evaporate water efficiently. Must be determined by trial and error experimentation.
If you use the process above, you could use any water soluble ingredient, come to think of it, even parabens.
The typical commercial pressed powder process produces thousands of pieces an hour, or more. The original slurry processes all tried to match that speed, so that the water in the slurry was essentially vacuumed away - and with it went all the parabens and other water soluble ingredients. The costs involved with the slurry process killed this technology for about 20-30 years - until the “baked makeup” process came along. That disk they are putting in below the slurry is the key to solving all the slurry problems we used to have, by the way. Very high tech stuff.
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Now that’s a fun question. I don’t usually get to play with equipment at that level.
Yes, I have info about all size levels. How large are we talking about?
(When I first started working, I worked for Unilever. I used to joke about buying one of their surplus soap tanks to live in - it was larger than my house).
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Store the paste undiluted, if possible, to avoid micro problems.
Diluted paste, if it’s liquid, will probably be much easier to process after it’s been stored, however, so you’ll have to choose which is better.
Polyethylene buckets with sealed lids should be fine. Temperature controlled is better than not - avoiding freezing is a good idea.
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Your best option will be to buy a pre-made, stock base that is robust enough for you to customize with additives, etc.
Please remember that @Belassi is right - “Organic/Botanical” cannot possibly be “simple” - there are a huge set of challenges involved in the formulation that don’t exist when formulating with synthetics.
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There are things to be said for having a small amount of safety stock (finished product) on hand, primarily linked to the ability to staff as leanly as possible, and avoid having to ramp up/work overtime when a big order comes in. It is also prudent to have a small amount of raw material inventory on hand, to guard against suppliers failing to deliver on time. @johnb is very correct in saying that every bit of that inventory represents money tied up that can’t be doing something else useful. The decision your management needs to make is whether or not the investment in raw material/finished goods inventory is worth the money, i.e., does it provide a benefit to the business greater than the benefit of investing that money elsewhere.
From a purely chemistry point of view, the less water in your WIP (Work In Process) stock, the better.
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Ah, I see. You are having the classic problem of “mass tone” versus “skin tone”, where makeup looks darker in the bottle/stick/container than it does when applied on skin.
Have you tried increasing the amount of oil binder you’re using in your loose powder?
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If you need a little to play with, let me know.
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Sodium copper chlorophyllin gives a very intense green color (purely as a side effect, you understand). To tint your gel green would require 0.005% or less. It’s expensive in bulk, true, but a little goes a long, long way.
It’s good bug food, though, so I’d strongly suggest adding it as a 1% solution in ethyl alcohol.
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That high a concentration of acetic acid is flammable. Just FYI.
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If I remember correctly, INEOS had a patent on a scrub using silica that broke down into smaller particles as you used it.
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I’m probably misunderstanding the question, but - why can’t you simply use more pigment?
Also, loose powders will never look “wet”. The physics of light reflection from particles makes it impossible.
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Most essential oils have some level of toxicity, and a few are poisonous. Please be EXTREMELY careful about putting any in a mouthwash.
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You need one of these instruments, and this software. Or similar equivalents. Otherwise, trial and error, or hire a consultant. It takes years to learn how to do this without a computer.
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Of course it’s obvious after you tell us about it, @Belassi, but I didn’t think of it - I’m always focused on staying below the peak of the curve. Great idea!
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Et = Ethyl
OH = Alcohol
Chemist shorthand.You can get it at the drugstore as rubbing alcohol. Isopropyl works just as well.
Small toothbrushes work for most areas. Tiny brushes/mascara brushes can be had from Qosmedix, which are invaluable for cleaning the screen holes. -
Have you tried using sodium copper chlorophyllin? (As a deodorant, of course, because using it as a colorant would be contrary to FDA regs)
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Unless you’ve got the entire batch in a tank or in storage waiting to be adjusted, rather than add water, which will lower the % of all the other ingredients, I’d cut back on just the ingredients that are thickening your batch.
If it’s a standard salt-thickening formula and there’s no other thickener, just use less salt next time.
If you are trying to adjust the first batch that’s too thick, you might want to try adding more of your primary surfactant and water, rather than just water. Of course, test this on a lab scale first.
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Getting a patent is a good first step, but it’s relatively worthless, and not usually a good use of your time. Why? Because a patent is only as good as your lawyers and the size of your legal budget can make it.
Honestly, companies buying an idea is extremely rare, whatever the size. Cosmetic companies already evaluate hundreds if not thousands of ideas from their own staff every year. Yours will probably not stand out enough.
What gets bought on a regular basis is other successful companies.
Coming up with an idea, taking it to a finished product, and having it ready to sell is only about a third of the total cost. Launching a product, distributing it, advertising it, and getting consumers to buy it is the other two-thirds. Just buying an idea, no matter how good it is, is an enormous risk. No one actually knows how the buying public will react to it until it is on the market. Even if you do manage to sell an idea, or even a patent, you won’t get much for it.
On the other hand, if you start up a small company, contract manufacture your product, successfully market your product and show a profit, even if it’s tiny and you only sell on the internet, your chances of being able to sell the whole thing go way up.
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Look into the small fillers used for epoxy
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Hot water plus soap in a large beaker 5 min runtime
Completely disassemble and clean with brushes and soap.
Soak everything in 50% EtOH overnight.In extreme cases, autoclave.
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I will agree with Matt about using the chelating agent - you do have a choice between that and deionized water. But…I’d still caution against using untreated/unfiltered tap water. Aside from the legal/liability concerns, you should see some of the crud that gets filtered out of the tap water we use here.
If you use unfiltered/untreated tap water, you are relying on the city water treatment facility to provide you with decent quality water - and whether or not they do this is out of your hands.