Bobzchemist
Forum Replies Created
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I’m having too much fun with this to let it go just yet. Maybe we could market sunscreens alongside herbal viagra? Or in the same aisle as contraceptives?
But sadly, you’re right about EWG, etc. I wouldn’t take that bet at any odds.
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You need a suspending agent and an emulsifier. Look for starting formulations that use Veegum HV.
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Mark, I’m still laughing about that one.
You could take it the opposite way, too.
“Men! Are you a pansy or a real man? Don’t let sunscreens destroy your manhood any more! Use our new UltraMale SPF100 sunscreen! Now with none of the virility-destroying sunscreens those other companies use.”
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I would very, very strongly suggest that you hire a professional to coach you in this, or take a class about it, or both. Learning how to write a strong cover letter is one aspect of learning professional business communication, and knowing how to communicate professionally and effectively in writing can only help you further your career.
Just having someone write a cover letter for you would be a bad idea, in my opinion.
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If you’re really seeing rancidity, which comes from the oxidation of oils and fats, and not just bacterial contamination, you are going to need to add a strong anti-oxidant, like BHT, to your formula, on top of a preservative system.
You’ll be able to tell if you need this after you add your preservative system and put your product on stability for a bit.
Also, I’ve always found it very helpful to distinguish between “actual” HLB values and “required” HLB values when planning a formula - otherwise, it can rapidly get confusing. Only surfactants have HLB values. Everything else has a required HLB value - which is what HLB a surfactant must have in order to emulsify that ingredient.
I really wish more websites would make this distinction - fats, oils, waxes, etc. should have rHLB numbers, not HLB numbers.
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It’s critical to know how many tubes you need to fill, and what price range you consider “affordable”. If you only need to fill a few hundred tubes, you could even get away with a glass syringe and a blunt needle as filling equipment.
Labor costs are also important. Back 30 - 40 years or so ago, Estee Lauder filled all of their mascaras completely by hand, and as their sales increased, just kept adding factory workers to the production line. It took years longer than I expected for management to find the ROI needed to justify an automated filling line. If their labor costs had been higher, or if their prices had to be lower, they would have had to automate much sooner
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We had this discussion on another thread - the FDA has put a hold on enforcement for glitters and colored micas, mostly (I think) because they have limited enforcement capability, and they’ve had to choose where to apply it.
It’s not that there’s all that much danger involved with putting glitter or some of the colored micas on your body, but the companies involved are clearly not following the rules - and yes, I think the rules should be changed. Of the two, I think glitter is more dangerous, due to its sharp edges and corners and the potential for damaging the eye if some gets in. Outside of the eye area, there’s no safety issue with either.
Personally, I think that this situation is a ticking time bomb, just waiting for some people’s eyes to get injured by glitter, or for some crusading consumer safety group trying to make a name for themselves. That could happen tomorrow, or it could be ten years from now - there’s just no telling.
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The suitability of a preservative can only be determined by micro challenge testing.
The best and safest preservative to use for this is a combo of parabens and phenoxyethanol.
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However, judging by the questions you asked, you have little to no experience. Clear lipstick is much, much harder to make properly than regular lipstick or lipgloss. Also, the temperatures required can be dangerous! I would strongly advise you to stay away from these formulations until you have 6-8 months of experience putting together regular lipsticks.
Otherwise, you will just be wasting your time, materials and money.
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@Johnb, welcome to the old-and-decrepit chemists group here - there are only a few of us. Your expertise is appreciated by us all.
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Hydrogenated Castor Oil is just a wax - it does very little in that formula except thicken. It should be PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil instead, which is a very good solubilizer.
“Micellar water” is a made-up term - it is a pure marketing creation - scientifically, it’s just a fancy way of saying “surfactants diluted in water”.
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Ingredients (What’s inside):” would be safer, but you could probably get away with “What’s Inside (Ingredients):” instead - but I’d check with a lawyer first, if I were you.
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@ssdc has it right. There is also a very short window to pour this stuff before it starts turning yellow - pour into molds as fast as you can.
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ok, that is just the weirdest thing…
Try it through Google:
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You need a cowles dissolver or similar high-speed, high-shear disperser if you can’t use a 3-roll mill:
http://morehousecowles.com/products/lab_mixers/
http://www.morehousecowles.com/pdfs/Fundamentals%20of%20Dispersion.pdf
Anything else will be either nearly impossible to clean or extremely expensive - or both.
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Fewer ions.
Seriously, look up the deionizing process. Some of the materials removed from tap water are detrimental to the stability and/or performance of your soaps.
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A number of the liquid SLS versions use alcohol to reduce the thickness of their blends. Otherwise, you can’t make a flowable blend much above 30% SLS.
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@becsmith, think of the two phase names this way: The “continuous” phase, also called the “external” phase, is called continuous because it’s unbroken - there’s at least a continuous film around each of the individual droplets of the “internal” phase. The relative volume of the two phases is not considered at all.
In a O/W (oil in water) emulsion, the continuous/external phase is always the water, and the internal/droplet phase is the oil. In a W/O (water in oil) emulsion, the continuous/external phase is always the oil, and the internal/droplet phase is the water.
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I heard from someone at Whole Foods (not mentioning names) that a good chunk of their list was determined by a group of people in a conference room examining a selection of products they didn’t want in their stores. The ingredients used in those products went directly on their list. That’s why there are a number of ingredients on their list with incorrect INCI names - they came directly off product labels.
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Yes, pen is a requirement in the US, black or blue colors. Permanent ink is preferred, but not required. Using permanent ink also gets rid of the durability/chemical resistance problem.
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1) It all depends on how you define “Oil”.
2) No.