[Bobzchemist]

@Rencelj,

If you saponify stearic acid with KOH, you get potassium stearate. This material is available pre-reacted, and there’s a fair bit of information about it on the web. Start here: http://www.hallstar.com/pis.php?product=10277

Stearic acid, unsaponified, is a thickener/bodying agent, but not a very good one, although opinions differ. @Belassi is right, though - you will need more of it. 

In your formula, the potassium stearate is the ONLY emulsifier. This is not a good idea.

My suggestion is to use Pemulen TR-1 instead of carbopol. https://www.lubrizol.com/PersonalCare/Products/Pemulen/TDS.html

You might also consider using NaOH for neutralizing.

[Bobzchemist]

@nasrins, betain and NaCl thicken just fine in most surfactant/synthetic detergent solutions. But…soaps are different, and also react badly to salt. (look up “salting out” in soap manufacturing)

@Kfox, can you add Stearic or Oleic Acid? After neutralization, the Potassium Stearate and/or Potassium Oleate should thicken your soap up easily.

[Bobzchemist]

The core of cosmetic chemistry is (and needs to remain) experimentation. If you really want to know, TRY IT YOURSELF.

[Bobzchemist]

Post the formula, please

[Bobzchemist]

It is a very, very bad idea to enhance essential oil absorption. From a personal, professional, and legal point of view, I am urging as strongly as possible that you not attempt to do this.

[Bobzchemist]

The coconut oil is being saponified, as is the shea butter, so the soap will be a thickener, Check the sap values.

[Bobzchemist]

It’s not enough to just have a lab that uses organic raw materials - you need to find a manufacturer that’s certified organic and can guide you through the certification process. It won’t be cheap.

[Bobzchemist]

This will require the services of a consultant.

[Bobzchemist]

I think you’ll need to talk to the manufacturer.

[Bobzchemist]

OK, so here goes. 

Nylon 12, as a micro-spherical powder, is used as a feel enhancer and as a release aid for pressed powders (You do want to get the powder back out of the pan after you press it in, right?). The feel enhancement is 80-90% derived from the shape, and about 10-20% from the resiliency and oil absorption of the beads. Micro-spherical powders can be made from a number of different materials - PMMA, Silica, Polyethylene, Polyurethane, Teflon, Ceramic, etc. They all do essentially the same thing. Look up “cosmetic microspheres” and you should get a bunch of information. Also look into hybrid particles.

One of my favorite alternatives to using regular microspheres is using mica coated with a layer of ultra-small silica microspheres. It used to be called “Micronasphere M” but it’s now called Ronaflair M-Sphere - amazing stuff. (Interesting note from my silica days - it’s actually physically impossible to have non-agglomerated silica microspheres as small as the ones used in the M-Sphere exist on their own without a substrate.)

[Bobzchemist]

Private Label has a specific meaning in the cosmetic/personal care industry - it means taking an already developed and tested product, and putting your own (private) label on it. Typically, no customization is allowed, and there is no exclusivity. The company I work for, Beaumont Products, does a fair amount of this type of work.

It sounds like you are looking for a service called Contract Manufacturing, which is where you give your own formula to a manufacturer, and they make it for you.

[Bobzchemist]

Anything that is used on skin needs a preservative system, just to be safe. The stupidity of consumers should never be underestimated (spit in mascara? Really?).

I would say that the only way to make a completely safe cosmetic without preservation would be to make it sterile, and then package it aseptically in refrigerated single-use containers - but guaranteed, someone would try to stretch it out, and put a half-empty open container back into the refrigerator.

The difference between food and cosmetics is that the human digestive system is designed to cope with a wide variety of micro-organisms, so food can be a bit contaminated, and still safe to eat - but the human eye is not designed that way, and a little contamination can be disastrous.

Then, we must also consider legal liability and consumer lawsuits - if a consumer claims injury from a product, and it tests positive for bacteria? The company that made it, and everyone who had a hand in formulation and QC, may be in big trouble.

[Bobzchemist]

This might be an alternative option worth considering:

*(I know nothing about this company)

http://www.radicalcosmetics.com/private-label/cosmetics/eyes/mascara/

[Bobzchemist]

http://www.cosmeticindex.com/contract-filling-color-cosmetics_copy.php

[Bobzchemist]

http://www.beautypackaging.com/buyersguide/general-services/

[Bobzchemist]

I get a bit of what you are trying to achieve, but you have not explained it all that well.

For example, it is NEVER needed to actually boil any ingredients in order to make any kind of emulsion.

[Bobzchemist]

Lauryl and Decyl Glucoside are emulsifiers.

Please don’t waste our time without researching your ingredients first.

[Bobzchemist]

This information is widely available on the web. Google is your friend…

[Bobzchemist]

Try the standard vegetable waxes - carnauba, candelilla, palm wax, and hydrogenated castor oil

[Bobzchemist]

First, nail down a definition of “natural” with your client. This is critically important - there are some definitions of “natural” that would make it impossible to formulate a mascara.

Next, identify components. Mascara performance is highly dependent on the components used, more so than any other cosmetic product. It is much faster to adjust a formula to a specific set of components than it is to identify the best-performing components for a finished formula.

Lastly, start calling/researching contract manufacturers. Mascara is a bear to make, and 10,000 units is actually a very small run - you won’t find many manufacturers willing to do this, so your choice should be easy.

[Bobzchemist]

Ice bath/crash cooling will make your product thinner, not thicker.

Please post your formula

[Bobzchemist]

@DavidW,

I know that I’ve seen companies doing this at the NYSCC Suppliers Day, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen ads in D&CI and/or HAPPI. 

I don’t have time to check for you, but I’d bet if you look at the suppliers day vendor list for this year and last year you’ll find someone.

[Bobzchemist]

I don’t think I can do this - ionic: anionic, cationic, nonionic are all chemistry terms, as is the difference between alcohols and acids. I am not even sure it’s possible to explain chemistry in non-chemical terms.

Can anyone else take a stab at this?

[Bobzchemist]

There is a bit of a loophole, however. 

You are allowed to rely on a statement from your supplier, without having to confirm it any further. So, if your supplier sells you something that he calls “Parsley Extract”, and he gives you a statement or CofA that his product is 100% Parsley Extract, then you can use it as such. You can list it at 100% without your having to analyze the water content yourself, even if it turns out that the “extract” is made by boiling a single parsley leaf in 1,000 gallons of water.

Whenever we have an ingredient that lists more than a single component on its MSDS/SDS, we always ask for a statement of composition, with percentages or ranges that will let us calculate % for ingredient labels.

[Bobzchemist]

Just because everyone’s doing it doesn’t mean you have to.

So, my suggestion is to make a base mixture with petrolatum and all of the EO’s you want to use, leaving about a 5% hole. Then, split the base into a number of small batches, and add different waxes to each batch, and evaluate your results.

Leave out the IPA completely.