Bobzchemist
Forum Replies Created
-
Finsolv TN
-
1) TEA Stearate, made from reacting TEA with Stearic Acid, is an emulsifier, (not a very good one) but it only forms/reacts at temperatures above 70-75C. Are you are processing at that temperature? How have you determined how much TEA to use?
2) TEA Stearate is a soap, just like sodium, magnesium and potassium stearates are soaps. They are formed through an acid-base reaction. The reaction reverses/falls apart at pH’s below about 8. There is no way around this.
3) It is not chemically possible for your lotion to exist in a stable form below pH 7. Therefore, your preservative mix – sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and benzyl alcohol - is completely unsuitable for your product. You will either have to use a different preservative mix, or a different emulsifier. Sorry, but there’s no other way to fix this. -
There are some things you’re not considering, also.
It’s doubtful that you’re getting benefits through your contract employer. If a company offers you less in cash, but substantially more in benefits, from their point of view you’re getting a lot more. You need to acknowledge what they’re offering, even though you might need to say “I can’t possibly take less in salary than what I’m making now.”
When talking about salary in an interview, the person who mentions a salary number first loses a little in the negotiation. Your interviewer is trying to do at least three things with this question. First, they want to rule out anyone who has unrealistic ideas about how much they’ll earn. Second, they want to see if your opening bid is lower than what they are willing to offer. That would be a win-win for them - they get a bargain, and you get what you asked for. Third, they want to see if you have an idea of how much other people are making in this position. It’s better to throw the question back on them at least once.
If/when they ask how much you’re looking to make, your answer should be something like “I’d like to get a fair salary and benefits package for the position I’m applying for. What would you consider to be fair for someone with my experience in this position?”
If they don’t come across with a number, then this might be a good time to bring up what you make now, mixed with a little humor. Be honest. Say something like this - “Well, I’m making less now than I feel I’m worth, but I’m also in a contract position, which has no job security. So I’m kind of in a bind about what to tell you. I’d like to make the industry average for this position, but to tell the truth, I’d like to make a million dollars a year, too. And I know that you want to find a great person for this job, but you also want to pay as little as possible. I know I’m that person. But… maybe we’re asking the wrong question. How much did the last person who had this job start off with?”
If they still don’t answer with a number, then you can say something like “well, the industry average for this position is x, and I’m making y, so I think somewhere in between would be appropriate.”
-
Finding a good recruiter has actually gotten a bit more complicated these days.
Are you on LinkedIn? If you can add me as a contact, I will send you some links.
Otherwise, the SCC website has recruiters listed:
http://www.scconline.org/referrals/cat/recruiters/I can personally recommend Rob Snyder and Dean Patsavas.
I can also tell you (speaking as both a hiring manager and as a prior job candidate) that it is very exceedingly rare for a company to bring someone on with a salary offer greater than 10% over what they are making currently. Even more than 5% is unusual, these days. Exaggerating your current salary is also a bad idea - the company will check with your current employer.
The only exception to this is if you are being hired by a large company with an established entry-level salary. In that case, you will be brought on at that level, even if you’re being paid considerably less now. If you are expecting more, you will likely be disappointed - frequently.
You need to remember that you are competing for each job against all the other candidates, and also with all the contract services available. Asking for a salary well over what your competition is charging is going to put you at the bottom of the list - if you even make the list at all.
One way to get around this is to do as Belassi suggests, look for a job in another area of the US where there’s less competition (and/or a lower cost of living).
-
Limonene on skin is a massively bad idea.
http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/cicad/en/cicad05.pdf -
I know I have been brusque in the past, especially when someone doesn’t explain why they’re asking basic questions, or who they are. This is mostly a reaction to people who seem to assume that they can insist on/demand answers to questions that would take some effort in answering - and are rarely polite about it. I know I’d certainly be far more willing to answer questions from students than I am willing to answer questions/demands like “Give me formula and procedure to manufacture laundry soap.”
As far as preventing this, if your students (or anyone’s students, for that matter) were to start their questions by saying “I’m a student and I need help with…” that would go a long way towards getting me to help a whole lot more than I would for a random person asking a too-basic question that could be answered with a 5-second search of Google and/or Wikipedia.
Mostly, I really enjoy teaching and explaining things - but that can easily be wiped out. The discussion on how to ask a question explains why fairly well, I think.
I am also not always as nice as I could/should be. Sometimes, I’m just having a bad day, and my sarcasm escapes its chains. A gentle reminder that my attitude isn’t helpful will almost always correct that.
And again, I have a lot more patience with students asking legitimate questions than I do with chemists/formulators asking a question because they just can’t be bothered looking up the answer themselves.
The recent bickering over Vitamin C was, sadly, an inevitable disagreement between established science and (to put it nicely) homeopathic/naturopathic pseudo-scientific beliefs. But a little more civility would have been useful.
It might be helpful at this point to establish a few people as moderators, who could step in before something like that gets too nasty.
-
That sort of information would be considered highly proprietary, trade-secret-level information by the lipstick manufacturers. In other words, if anyone were to publish such information, they would most certainly be sued, and very likely be prosecuted for theft.
However, that being said - there is a fair amount of information floating about in various places on the web that lists formulations for lipsticks. I’d say it’s about 60/40 suppliers info to patent info, so it’s not proprietary.
No one has ever compiled that info into one place, though - maybe you could do it? (Think about it - if you spent several months on it, would you hand it over to your competitors for free?)
-
1) Industry recruiters still perform a valuable function, especially at your level. Get in touch with a few, you’ll probably be surprised at how much they can help.
2) Discuss salary with your recruiter(s) first, but you might need to be more flexible in your salary demands than you have been. You need to decide how much being a permanent employee is worth to you.
3) Interviewing is a skill, and needs to be practiced. You need to plan, and rehearse, along the lines that Mark laid out for you.
4) Networking is very important. Are you going to SCC meetings? You might even consider getting involved with your local chapter as a volunteer.
-
The only way I’ve found to eliminate bacteria when something is already packaged is to irradiate. In most cases, you just won’t be able to get your product hot enough to kill the bacteria and still keep the package intact.
-
Can you make an anhydrous hair gel for your purposes? That would solve quite a few preservation/stability problems.
-
With a robust enough preservative system, and taking great care to make sure that you were making a sterile product that was packaged into well-sealed, sterile containers, you might possibly be able to get a five-year shelf life. But, it would be extremely costly, and you would likely need to use so much preservative that it would irritate the scalp.
Why would you want to do this?
-
This is a very specialized field, and you are asking a very, very specialized question. The people who know the answer to your question have likely spent hundreds, if not thousands, of man-hours coming up with the answer.
This is not something you will ever get for free. If you can’t afford to pay a nail polish contract manufacturer or a consultant for the answer, you will have to do the years of research yourself.
-
In my opinion, this is something you’re going to need to hire a consultant for.
-
I’m going to suggest that whenever someone posts a request like this, that they include the amount of money they have to spend. Our recommendations will be very different for someone who wants to spend $100 versus someone who’s willing to spend $10,000, or even more, or somewhere in-between.
It would be a waste of time to suggest one of these $6,000 fillers to someone who can only afford one of these at $600 or one of these or these at about $400, or even only one of these manual fillers at $125.
-
Try contacting the Australian SCC - https://ascc.com.au/
-
The legal theory behind these lawsuits is that, in the mind/perception of the consumer, “natural” = “100% natural”.
Prior to this, there was a court-established distinction between “natural”, which if I remember right, could have up to 0.99% synthetic ingredients, and “100% natural”, which could not have any at all.
The fact that there is not a legal definition for “natural” is now a double-edged sword.
-
Under what criteria are you considering the Magnesium Stearate “natural”?
What grade of Magnesium Stearate are you using?
What temperature are you heating your batch to?
-
The blade assortments available look like this would be a worthwhile investment if you are going to make larger batches.
-
On your scale, make batch as usual. When batch is between 30C and room temperature, put beaker containing batch into vacuum chamber and apply vacuum. Entrapped air bubbles will slowly expand and burst. Release vacuum. Repeat cycle until all air is out.
-
I’m still a believer in using vacuum to remove bubbles. There are inexpensive hand-held manual pumps that work on a small scale.
An inexpensive electric drill can sometimes substitute for a mixer also.
-
I also have to point out that it’s frequently a bad idea to give too much credence to published theories of how much of an ingredient to use. (Unless it’s safety levels - pay close attention to those)
One source says 5% and the other says 15%? That shouldn’t be confusing, it should be a good excuse for experimenting! Try your formula at 5, 10, 15, even 20% and see what happens.
Way too many chemists and formulators recently seem to be hung-up by “the expert says x” or “the literature says y”, so this is what I must slavishly adhere to. I call Bogus. Try it yourself at a range of values and see what happens! This is the ONLY way you move from being a recipe-follower to being an actual chemist
(Please insert the appropriate safety precautions here. Know your materials, actually read the MSDS, kids don’t try this at home, keep away from open flame, etc.) -
Back in the dim recesses of my mind, I seem to recall Polymer JR being promoted for shaving cream.
-
The INCI name “Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer” can be any number of materials. If it is actually one of the Pemulens, the use of Sodium Stearate and self-emulsifying Glyceryl Stearate might be enough to stabilize the emulsion - or it could be an incorrect ingredient label. There’s no telling, really. Read the literature, it’s very useful:
-
Please explain to us why it is that you cannot do this basic research yourself?