Bobzchemist
Forum Replies Created
-
When I was developing powders for Estee Lauder, among others, we used Osterizer blenders and their mini-containers very successfully - but it’s a 3 or 4 step process.
Blend base powders and pigments at high speed until color stops changing. Add micas gently. Add 1/2 your liquid binder dropwise, mix. Stop and scrape binder off walls and blade. Mix again. Add remainder of binder, mix until uniform.
KOBO has some good starting formulas.
-
Try looking at some of the info Dow Corning puts out. Silicones have improved a lot, especially silicone waxes.
-
I’m going to agree with Bill also - the chances for variability in phase volume when trying to fill a 2-phase product all at once are high. Fill each phase separately, and you won’t need special equipment either.
-
You might also want to look into using fumed silica.
-
Another possibility is that they are using an unusually high or low pH to “self-preserve” their products.
-
Have you tried passivating the tank after a very complete cleaning?
Also, do you see the same problem with making the formula in a glass beaker?
-
Try it and see. Also check with Cabot for their fumed silica products.
-
I have to agree with Mark. If you can’t figure this out on your own, you should really stay far away from dangerous chemicals like this.
But…honestly, why aren’t you figuring this out experimentally? Start with 1 gram of SA and 2 grams of PG, and keep adding PG until soluble. The fact that you didn’t realize this was the fastest way to get your answer is yet another reason you shouldn’t be doing this yourself.
-
Properly prepared and deodorized, lard is not hard to deal with.
This, for example. Most people don’t find it distasteful when they cook with it, or eat it, but cosmetic use is now taboo. There are a lot of soaps still made with it worldwide, but there are extra steps needed to refine and deodorize it, so it’s easier all around to stick with vegetable oil. In a situation where labor is essentially free, however, it might work well. -
@Dilfre isn’t kidding about the almost free part. Under certain circumstances, some places will even pay you to take it away.
-
Orange thinner? Do you mean Limonene?
-
“Aerosol” has two or three definitions. There’s a legal definition, which requires a pressurized spray. Then there’s the chemists definition of aerosol, which means the same as spray/mist, no matter how it’s produced. And there’s the common definition of aerosol, which means anything that comes out of a spray can, but nothing else.
When you look at usage warnings, use the chemists definition.
-
And that’s exactly the argument I’ve had with some of our customers.
So, the question is: Are trained professionals - doctors, engineers, technicians, even mechanics - still considered consumers, or can they be treated differently?
-
My opinion would be no, but…since they are meant for professionals, a more detailed description would be ok.
I’ve got another, similar question. Are cleansing products intended for professionals covered by FDA labelling regulations? See ZOLEX, for example.
-
Have you tried searching for “Kathon CG use level”? It’s very clearly stated in the product literature.
-
@Zink brings up a good point about the regulatory issue. Sunscreens have to pass stability testing looking at the interaction of the formulation with the packaging. Like it or not, a number of ingredients interact with the plastics/plasticizers in tubes. Many cosmetic companies have concerns about the interactions with plastics for their products as well - and glass is the closest thing to inert packaging we have.
Also, as Belassi said, it’s relatively easy to take a stock set of glass components and embellish them to look really upscale. The weight of the glass component is then an advantage over similar plastic components. It’s tough to get a tube to look upscale, and the margin for error is very small - imperfections don’t look charmingly handmade, they look sloppy and unprofessional.
-
The trend lately has been towards unpaid internships, primarily due to the economy. This has some advantages, even though you don’t get paid. Most companies I’ve heard about (the one I work for included) will divide an interns time roughly in half, with half the time set aside for productive work (drudgery) and half the time for research/learning. This is done on the theory that if you’re working for free, you should be getting something in return.
If we’re paying you, however, things are different - at least here, anyway. 90-95% of your time will be productive work (drudgery) - the stuff that the chemists here would rather not do, but still needs to be done. You will have to push to get time to learn, and most of the time you spend learning will have to be off-the-clock. I suspect other companies are the same way. Teaching you anything beyond what’s needed to do your job will be a very low priority for the chemists.
Personally, I’d strongly suggest avoiding any internship that will give you the title “technician”. And “lab assistant” isn’t much better. Those two titles are still associated, in most chemists minds, with unskilled or low-skilled labor. They won’t help on a resume at all - and they might even hurt. “Intern” is what you should strive for - even if you are actually doing a technicians job.
I’ve got to point out, also, that most chemical engineers make significantly more money working as engineers than most cosmetic chemists do working as chemists. A chemical engineering degree won’t get you any more money in a cosmetic chemists job, though. Be really sure that formulating is the way you want to go - there are also chemical engineering jobs available in the cosmetic industry. They mostly involve translating lab-created formulas into something that can be produced in a large factory - different from formulating, but still interesting, at least in my opinion.
-
Actually, I see a couple of tricks in this formula. One is the use of Bisabolol and Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate. Remember that SPF is determined using the redness of the skin as a proxy for sun damage, right? Well, if you use anti-irritants/anti-inflammatories, you can suppress the reddening reaction, and get a higher SPF score for your product. Of course, you don’t prevent any of the actual sun damage, so this is not something I’d recommend to an ethical sunscreen manufacturer.
The second trick is the presence of Butyloctyl Salicylate (HALLBRITE BHB) which may (or may not) be a SPF booster.
-
I am very, very impressed by this. FSS handled this professionally, quickly and correctly.
-
Are you looking for a paid or unpaid internship? Are you trying for part-time during the school year, full time in the summer, or something else? Will you be able to relocate and pay for your living expenses during your internship, or do you need something local?
Are you hoping that your internship will lead to a job at that company (most times it doesn’t), or is it for experience to put on your resume?
Lastly, how far away are you from the larger cities?
I’m also going to very strongly suggest getting a Master’s degree in Cosmetic Chemistry/Science. These days, it is really invaluable for getting your foot in the door.
-
Where are you located?
-
Also, look into the SCS Diploma course.
-
Preservatives for Cosmetics, Third Edition
by David Steinberg (Author), Brian W. Budzynski (Editor) -
Thinking about this from a bacterial safety point of view, I’d be much more likely to make the lye solution/100% milk process, letting the heat go as high as it likes without boiling, and then cooling - raising the temp and pH of the milk that high will almost certainly kill all the microbes in it.