[Bobzchemist]

Determine your quantities needed and start looking around. Don’t trust a private label manufacturer who won’t let you tour his facility.

[Bobzchemist]

Elise, you have to do this old-school, I’m afraid. Make a list of all cosmetic-grade kaolin suppliers, and start making phone calls or sending emails. Ingredients to Die For has to be getting their bulk supplies from somewhere…

[Bobzchemist]

The first question would be if the paper is reactive to visible light at all or just UV radiation? And then to determine which part of the UV spectrum it reacts to, A, B, or C?

Sunscreens are designed to block UV A&B radiation because that’s what causes damage. Most sunscreens try very hard to be transparent to visible light, and UV-C is harmless, if I remember correctly.

If you have something UV-reactive, but not visible-light reactive, and you can put an even film of sunscreen over it, and you can use a reproducible/constant source of UV, I think it would probably be a good first-pass filter of sunscreen products - certainly enough to write a paper on, at least. Determining whether or not it’s predictive of actual SPF results would take lots of work.

[Bobzchemist]

There are a number of ways to make a flexible, permanent pigmented coating - but the catch is that it will be truly permanent - there will be no way to take it off at all. I would proceed with extreme caution on this project.

[Bobzchemist]

I think Private Label will be your only choice. 

First, you need to figure out finances, projected sales, and number of products (SKU’s). 

I strongly doubt that you’ll be in a position to have time to re-order/re-stock, so you’re going to have to be able to finance the entire inventory amount yourself. Unless you or your company has stellar credit, most if not all private label manufacturers will require payment up-front for everything.

Good Luck!

[Bobzchemist]

I’m also unaware of anything that could be considered a white dye. Since white is the absence of color as far as dyes are concerned, if you can’t do this with bleach, you’re stuck with using pigments.

[Bobzchemist]

As far as I know, there is no pigment that can be absorbed by hair. The best you can do is create a water-resistant/waterproof film with well dispersed pigments to adhere to the hair shaft - essentially, makeup for hair.

Be careful about waterproof formulas, though - it’s important that they also come back off without too much trouble.

[Bobzchemist]

There is a technique that doesn’t require oil in silicone surfactants (essentially making a waterless emulsion) that involves using coupling agents.

Basically, (natural oil mix) + (mostly oil-soluble organo-silicone) + (mostly silicone-soluble organo-silicone) + (silicone)

Order of addition is sometimes critical.

[Bobzchemist]

If you’re just making products for yourself, the safest thing to do is go to a reputable site, like Susan’s Point of Interest! (http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/ ) and follow the formulas exactly.

If you’re planning on selling things? Hire a consultant.

[Bobzchemist]

One of the big reasons I volunteer to answer questions on this forum is to pass on some of the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the past 20 years or so I’ve spent as a chemist. I don’t get any money or recognition for doing this, so I expect that my answers to questions (and the questions themselves) to be freely available to anyone.

I don’t particularly enjoy being a consultant (although I like consulting) mostly because I think that the clients that I’ve had did not value my expertise or my time nearly as much as I do, and I’m almost always feeling taken advantage of. The best answer I’ve come up with is that I charge a certain amount of money an hour for a phone or an internet consultation, and that’s all. I don’t guarantee anything, or offer any other services.

So, this is my long-winded explanation of why I won’t answer questions privately. 

I will happily suggest other consultants for you to use. I will suggest experiments for you (or anyone else) to try. But I won’t work with you privately, unless you want to pay for a consultation. In advance.

[Bobzchemist]

This is why cosmetic chemistry isn’t just chemistry.

First - when you mix a dry pigment with any fluid, it gets darker/more intense. This is due to the liquid displacing the air on the surface of the pigment particle, which changes the optical properties.

This process/phenomenon is called “wetting out” (even if there’s no water involved - I know it’s confusing) and a pigment that is completely covered with fluid is referred to as “wetted out”, or just “wetted”.

This is not always an instant process - it can take quite some time. Ingredients that can speed up this process are called “wetting agents”.

Now to your problem. When a pigmented product is applied to the skin, there are four directions the liquid components can go - into the air, into the skin, into the pigments, or remain on the skin with the pigments. 

From your description, it is clear that not enough liquid is remaining on the skin to keep the pigments wetted, so their color changes back to what it was before you added liquid. Without knowing your formula, I can’t say what your problem ingredient/ingredients will be.

[Bobzchemist]

Great point, Matt.

To use this as a teachable cosmetic lab moment, take a basic o/w lotion that relies on saponifying a fatty acid (typically stearic) for emulsification, and make 4 batches, using TEA, NaOH, KOH, and AMP as saponifying agents, holding all other components the same (qs water as needed). (Extra credit if you can find other saponifying agents to try - I know of at least three more)

Evaluate the texture, skin feel and viscosity of each cream. Maybe even do some basic stability testing. Give a sample of each to other people to try and get their impressions.

[Bobzchemist]

I’d appreciate it, thanks.

[Bobzchemist]

Belassi, who makes the white kaolin?

[Bobzchemist]

I did about 1/2 my growing up in Livingston,in Essex County. You are in a very beautiful, mostly unspoiled area, but making fun of folks from the NJ boonies is an old habit, sorry.

[Bobzchemist]

Wow, Bloomsbury, NJ - you’re not in the middle of nowhere, but I bet you can see it from there…

[Bobzchemist]

Go to the pcpc buyers guide, search for protein, and then contact the manufacturers. Or buy a marketing report.

[Bobzchemist]

Nepheline Syenite is very important to making glaze for pottery, so that’s a possibility if you need to get rid of it.

The stuff we use, Minex from Unimin, is abrasive enough to work well as a metal polish, so I think using your 1 micron powder as an exfoliant in a cleansing product, or as a main component in a microdermabrasion scrub would work well.

[Bobzchemist]

We use it in metal polish…

[Bobzchemist]

Just start trying things. Doing internet research without trying out the various materials and making batches for yourself can be paralyzing, as well as a massive waste of time. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good - if you search and search for the ideal ingredient to use, you’l be passing up  on many perfectly good ingredients that would work well in your formula.

[Bobzchemist]

There are one or two people/companies who specialize in small/pilot batches. What is your estimated fill weight/volume?

[Bobzchemist]

One of the nice things about making a 1 kilogram batch is that the math is so easy when your formulation is in % - just move the decimal point one place to the right, and you have the amount in grams that you need to add.

I wonder if I’m dating myself with this approach to formulating? I’d be interested to know how many of you get why this used to be so much more important than it is now.

[Bobzchemist]

Personally, I’d add a chelating agent to boost the preservative efficacy. Sodium Phytate is a natural chelant.

[Bobzchemist]

Another way of looking at it is that bentonite is a chemically modified form of volcanic ash. They are not interchangeable ingredients.

[Bobzchemist]

Bentonite is a clay that is derived when volcanic ash decays/breaks down naturally, over decades. Volcanic ash is the raw material.