[chemicalmatt]

I’ve used lactic acid for most of these emulsions, no problem with heating at 80C, which is where it needs to be - and always in the water phase. This way you form the quaternary salt at high temperature to completion; reaction chemistry going on there. Never use citric acid as it produces the lowest viscosity response. Glutamic works great but is quite expensive compared to lactic.

[chemicalmatt]

Yow! This is a tough one, especially without ethanol. In that case you’d add Amphomer acrylic terpolymer and under-neutralize it so it would flake of when dry (crackle maybe?) I cannot understand why this would be attractive to any personal care product consumer either. Good luck my friend.

[chemicalmatt]

The SCCS did conclude insufficient evidence to counter genotoxicity, therefrore laws prohibiting it are soon to follow. That’s the “slow walk” of regulators everywhere - except China where they seem to move fast. Those SPF products in the E.U. are legacy formulations, no doubt. They will be given a window to reformulate when the time comes. See: cyclopentasiloxane dismissal schedule per ECHA.

[chemicalmatt]

Just FYI, that article - and your formula vector - has it all wrong. The author defines beeswax as a “stiffening agent” (insert Viagra joke here) when it is actually the primary emulsifying agent in tandem with borax in the Old School cold creams. The classic beeswax-borax ratio is ~ 12:1 using sodium borate decahydrate. We Old School formulators refer to that last one as “10 molar borax”. Peace.

[chemicalmatt]

Hard to believe that polyurethane would behave like that. The others, yes, especlaly xanthan and a celluosic. Try Veegum with a very little amount of carbomer. This will give a cream-gel rheology with a fast break on your skin. Adding some cetyl alcohol will help “de-slime” also.

[chemicalmatt]

You do not need three chelants there, especially at those levels. Tetrasodium EDTA whas the highest formation constant with those metal valences compared to the other two, so just stick with that. Unless your copper levels are WAY HIGH, to where the water is orange, 1.0% solid state Na4 EDTA will suffice. As for the other questions, be sure to dissolve the chelant into water first before you add the other materials.

[chemicalmatt]

“Bovine colostrum”? Isn’t that just a fancy name for milk? I’m betting it is. Pilling arises from polymer oversaturation and this formula hosts two acrylics. I would guess the glycerinacrylate terpolymer is the sourc here, as you suspect. DEL that and see what happens.

[chemicalmatt]

Yes, use acrylates copolymer with that surfactant combo. Synthalen W600 from 3V Sigma works well and is inexpensive too.

[chemicalmatt]

The short simple answer is: yes, of course. Start with oryza sativa bran extract or ferment, then proceed from there. The longer answer lies in the other two comments.

[chemicalmatt]

You are WAY over the saturation point for urea there, which is right around 45%. IF all you had in this was water and 45% urea you would still be in danger of precipitation as soon as it cooled below 15C. Your sources are flatly mistaken in calling for that amount. The product medical doctors use to dissolve nails (overnight) is only 40% urea in water stabilized with a lactate buffer, just to give you reference. And, what’s with all that triacetin?

[chemicalmatt]

You had this stored in a warm place for a significant time perhaps? This compound will readily hydrolyze releasing the amine functional group rendering the amino (“ammonia”) odor you experience. Remember that amodimethicone is a reactive compound when formulating with it.

[chemicalmatt]

You will want to add a foam stabilizer else it will collapse very quickly. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose at 0.10% does the job as will hydrolyzed corn starch.

[chemicalmatt]

Critical to maintain an acidic pH but not THAT acidic, pH 4.0 - 5.0 sounds more like it. Use a phosphate or citrate buffer system since those also chelate metal ions, the enemy of peroxides. Do not accelerate aging at 45C. The old way was to reflux the solution for an hour then re-assay and report.

[chemicalmatt]

Do we assume “SI” is sodium isethionate? If so, that has been a standard component of syndet bar soaps for many decades. Should be good to go, although sodium cocoyl isethionate will be even milder.

[chemicalmatt]

Are you referring to a “developer” carrying hydrogen peroxide at that concentration? This intel would help. This sounds like a 10 Volume hair colorant developer.

[chemicalmatt]

Hello @abdullah. I’ll add to the always observant @ketchito that besides pH to 8.0-plus, this formula of yours really calls for a hydrotrope. CAPB or other amphoteric is not the best but can work. Sodium xylene sulfonate works better and at low use, is good with SLS, and is inexpensive. Eid Mubarak to you and yours.

[chemicalmatt]

Rice starch (aka “rice powder”) will not add much exfoliation and minimal bulking but is very adept at absorbing sebum, plus it lends a silky sensorial finish on rinse-off. In dry shampoos it may be most of the formula for just those reasons. I like it best in solid deodorant sticks for this.

[chemicalmatt]

Negative

[chemicalmatt]

I just had to remark on a guy named “mattthechemist”. Are you my alter ego? Just kidding there. As @evchem2 (No longer just “EVchem?) remarked the saccharide resins are most tolerant, including xanthan, tara, sclerotium, starches, etc., also the cellulosics. Seppimax ZEN - not tolerant, and acrylates copolymers work with surfactants (organic salts) but will crash if divalent or trivalent strong electrolytes are added as with all acrylic polymers, including Seppimax ZEN.

[chemicalmatt]

The carbomer that gives clearest gel is Polygel HG (3V Sigma USA) and costs MUCH less than Carbopol 940. I would neutralize that with TEA 99% (not 85% as it has DEA) at 1.2:1.0 ratio. Your freeze-dried aloe vera is acidic so you may disperse it with the carbomer. That is the easy part. The more difficult part will be solubilizing all those oils especially the terpenes. Use Polysugamulse D9 (Colonial Chemical) at 5:1 ratio to start and see what happens. If those oils total < 0.50% you may get clarity, but likely not. Finally add preservative and there are many to choose from. Xanthan gum sucks at making gels and sodium hyaluronate doesn’t gel at all. The former is a good emulsion stabilizer, the latter a good skin-care osmotic agent.

[chemicalmatt]

Err…shave it off then grow it all back hoping your follicles’ telogen phase DNA remembers the correct original melanogenesis sequence? Surely you weren’t thinking a topical-applied chemical was going to perform this miracle, right?

[chemicalmatt]

I cannot help but laugh every time I see ingredient “judgement” from self-proclaimed Information Agencies like indie decoder. Yeesh, when will this chicanery ever end? Rant over. This looks like an intelligent formula to me, basically a classic syndet soap bar with some cocoa butter used as a refatting agent (not a bulking agent) and mica thrown in. I would not use this on my hair however, that is just plain idiocy. The stearic acid bulking agent is classic modelling though it would be even better to see sodium hydroxide there along with it. @ketchito I am pretty sure they mean simple betaine (trimethylammonium acetate) which offers no detergency but some type of scalp-care benefit perhaps. All said I doubt many “hobbyists” could do any better.

[chemicalmatt]

First thing: DEL any carbomer in your formula as that was your first error. Carbomers crash in presence of electrolytes and shampoos such as yours are chock full of them, so the carbomer never had a chance. Second problem: all acrylic polymers are anionic and you have THREE cationic polymers in this - another reason for your carbomer failure. The only one compatible is the polyquaternium-7, so you’d lose the other two and increase that one. Use instead acrylates copolymer (Synthalen W600 from 3V Sigma is best) to build viscosity and stabilize & suspend pearlescence - or even rocks, as its yield point is that high. Fortunately PQ-7 also provides the best wet-comb/dry-comb, so you end up with a better formula. I cannot understand your wet-comb problem while PQ-7 is involved. Finally DEL propanediol (???) and revise order of addition: cationic first / amphoteric / anionic / builders / other stuff. Read Des Goddard’s book if you can find it.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  chemicalmatt.

[chemicalmatt]

That should be fine as long as your oil load is not too heavy. If results are inconclusive, experiment with ratios and always add some cetyl/stearyl alcohol for LLC formation and stabilization.

[chemicalmatt]

Increases micelle formation.