[chemicalmatt]

Ahh, there it is, @akrep the rheology stabilizer I was looking for in the first place in your initial post: Aerosil R972 silica.  

[chemicalmatt]

Agreed with all: still good to use but neither vegan nor Halal. An aside: should you ever want to buy tallow-based glycerin USP, Kosher or non, you’ll pay twice the price for a special order with a two-week lead time, and then only through select distributors such as Rierden Chemical in Chicago (hometown of commodity tallow). This is why I start to steam every time I see greenies mention “vegetable glycerin” in their label copy and marketing blurbs. Listen up homeys: it is ALL Vegetable Glycerin!! Byproduct of biodiesel and palm & coconut oil fatty acid fractionation. ALL of it. So much veggie glycerin around they need inventive ways to use it up faster.

[chemicalmatt]

For making soaps with alkali metal hydroxides you do not need deionized water. That RO filter will be plenty adequate for making cleansing products too, just add more chelating agent to your formulas.

[chemicalmatt]

True, Mark. Can do, will do. 

[chemicalmatt]

@GeorgeBenson, it would take an entire seminar here to explain the utility of butylene glycol in cosmetic formulation. A short answer: aside from freeze-point depression, anything propylene glycol can do, butylene glycol does better the only drawback is it costs 3X more than PG. Also, humectant and preservative booster are the two least important characteristics of BG; in fact it does not perform either very well at all.

[chemicalmatt]

Be advised not all Polyquaterniums behave the same. PQ-39 is a copolymer specifically designed to accommodate surfactant cleansers with anionics, as long as you also employ amphoterics too. The idea you have is a good one, but you need to use Polyquaternium-37 or 32, the 37 being the better one. You can load it up with butters and oils - but NO electrolytes or anionics - and get a nice body butter.  These are associative thickeners so adding just a smidgen of cetyl alcohol or GMS will pump up viscosity big time, much like the anionic HASE polyacrylics do.

[chemicalmatt]

Thanks for the 411 Phil.

[chemicalmatt]

I use my own deodorant stick formulation, SPF30 sunscreen oil spray, analgesic lotion (for sore muscles) but that’s about it. I buy the basics at the store just like Perry and others. I’ve formulated & compounded high-end ceramide/polypeptide cream for my wife because I had free ingredient samples sitting around just aging away and decided to gift her something special.

[chemicalmatt]

Correct you are.

[chemicalmatt]

@Nahlllailatul, yours is one of those cases where without knowing the other ingredients present in your formula, we cannot be of much assistance. I will add that HEC is not a good first choice for thickening “soap” formulations. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose is preferred. Look into the Methocel line from DuPont-Dow.

[chemicalmatt]

One of my favorite amphoterics! No need to combine with CAPB either since it has superior performance as a detergent builder, hydrotrope, coacervating agent with polyquats, alkali-stable oil remover…I could go on. This is one of the few Gemini surfactants used in personal care. Most are used in HI&I formulation, where they are the best couplers around for cleaning products, especially high alkaline and high electrolyte kind. Gemini (called gem surfactants in some places) description fits the molecular structure like the Zodiac icon: a twin. Two twin hydrophiles on opposite ends of a shared lipophile.  

[chemicalmatt]

Affirmative, they include some numbers near the end. A few million this year, a few million more the year after, etc., Etc.

[chemicalmatt]

@Abdullah the answer to that question would entail a multi-hour seminar on the topic, one going into the weeds in physical chemistry. No short answer here.

[chemicalmatt]

Yo @enam you are combining an alkyl quat (Varisoft 100) into an anionic shampoo, a no-go. I’ll also add this is waayyyy over-formulated. Whassup with the PEG-7, glycerin (again: why, friends, why?), betaine, dermosoft eco (OK for skin, but for hair: Nah!) and dl-Panthenol at 2.0%? I’d dial this back. Increase the CAPB, decrease the AOS and DEL the glycerine, PEG, Varisoft, dermosoft and you won’t be needing that Crothix anymore, saving some coin there.  

[chemicalmatt]

Affirmative. This combo of  Sorbitan Stearate/Polysorbate 60 was taken directly from the original HLB Handbook authored by Bill Griffith for Atlas Chemical Company in 1957. Still works today! I know this annoys one of our esteemed colleagues here, who has been adamant about dissing the HLB system all along (and you know who you are.) The sulfite is in there as an antioxidant for ketoconazole stability. The TWEEN 80 seems totally unnecessary to me.

[chemicalmatt]

I read through the entire magilla last week and reckoned same. Made me think I may earn more compliance consulting gigs in my post-retirement years. BTW, the following mammoth section of the same bill deals with holding human clinical trial managers responsible for inclusivity/diversity protocols being met in their trials. Why? No science involved there, just politics.

[chemicalmatt]

Same to you @Perry. I seem to remember you and I discussing many years ago in Chicago (our hometown for all those in ChemCornerWorld) the concept of an IDEA BANK. How to create and structure this database and allow access I cannot fathom. The idea would be a home for all of us veterans to dump our learned knowledge - our many “hacks” if you will - into a digital reservoir for future generations to access. I’ve even mentioned this to some of the acknowledged award-winning sages in the cosmetic chemistry business here in the USA and they liked this too.  Most mentioned going through the SCC however, a bureaucratic exersize I’d rather avoid. Just food for thought!  

[chemicalmatt]

@Pharma, thanks for your insights. This helps me understand why the material never found mass appeal. Perhaps galactoarabinan works best when used in synergy with another polymer like so many do? I’ll check it out. 

[chemicalmatt]

@MarkBroussard, thanks for the feedback. I’ll keep that constraint in mind. It is electrolyte tolerant then if compatible with AHA. Good to know.

[chemicalmatt]

@Abdullah this might be allantoin too. It has a water solubility threshold of 0.50%, lower than even salicylic acid. They both solvate better in presence of urea, or as @majbo points out, a lot of glycols, not glycerin, or ethanol if you can handle it. 

[chemicalmatt]

@ketchito, nice thread! And merry, happy Christmas New Year back at you. How about taking that papaya with papain and starting an “Enzyme Revolution” in skin care? As for “free of”, I like “free of insects”.  I’ve always wanted to add to a brand label copy “Do not use this product for evil.”  

[chemicalmatt]

@JonahRay, howzabout PCMX, aka chlorxylenol? Lipid-soluble and controls molds, fungi, most bacteria. Works for me.

[chemicalmatt]

@Pharma, have you tried the modified cellulose rheologicals? Most are a bear to hydrate, I’ve had to beat on them with a Cowles at 600rpm @ 65C for four hours to get there. However, the ones mixed with cellulose gum hydrate easier and work well. Electrolyte tolerant too! And then there’s that renewable/sustainable thingy.

[chemicalmatt]

Add the Euxyl PE9010 into the formula while cooling, after phases are combined and blended well. However, even then you may encounter the infamous “phenoxyethanol crash” that haunts us all.

[chemicalmatt]

@GeorgeBenson, I misunderstood, assumed you meant retarding creaming in an o/w emulsion system as @Graillotion mentions. Fatty alcohols do little to improve foam in surfactant cleansing products. They only work to opacify these formulas, a job they do well. SO MANY other materials enhance foam (not, repeat NOT, glycerin or any other polyol). This thread could take many hours to read were I to list them all.