Forum Replies Created

Page 45 of 57
  • Better yet: add more stearic acid and GMS as Mark suggests, adjust the TEA  incrementally higher, then don’t add any citric acid at all, ever. Citric acid is an electrolyte and those crash carbomer gels. That’s why your viscosity sank. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 15, 2019 at 8:37 pm in reply to: Natural film former for color cosmetic

    Film former, not oil layer, right? Use hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (Klucel), though good luck hydrating it in a lipstick oil base system. This is likely a non-starter, just like the others mentioned. 

  • Option B would be my educated guess. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 15, 2019 at 8:27 pm in reply to: Formation of a water in silicone oil emulsion

    NeilL, I’ve made a lot of these and you will have little success with a LOW internal phase w/Si inverse phase emulsion. These are stabilized by having HIGH internal phases as you’ve discovered, plus other factors. You may be better off transitioning to an alkyl modified W/Si emulsifier such as those supplied by Evonik (Abil EM-series). Those accommodate lower internal phases better. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:40 pm in reply to: Polawax . . grrrrr

    This thread began as “what comprises Polawax?” then morphed into “why use Leucidal?”. Perry must have stepped out for a sandwich.  For the record Victoria, Polawax comprises Cetearyl Alcohol ~ 65 - 70% and Polysorbate 60 (“Tween 60”) ~   30 - 35%. Add a little Ceteareth-20 for good measure and go ahead and call it “natural” since nobody in authority seems to care.  You can make your own using those components. At $18/lb. MakingCosmetics ought to be ashamed. I pay $2.25/lb. for it at commercial buy levels like they do, and it is NF grade to boot. (And here I thought Croda was ripping people off!) Finally, I agree with Mark: friends, don’t let friends use Leucidal to preserve products unless there is a gun to their head.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:24 pm in reply to: help with dishwash formulation

    Citric acid and caustic soda?
    LABS and SLES?
    HPMC and NaCl?
    No preservative other than high pH?
    No amphoteric hydrotrope?
    You got problems there, my friend.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:19 pm in reply to: Essential Oils in Natural Deodorant

    “They” use fixatives for this purpose. “They” being perfumers.  Read up on the topic of fixatives and you’ll figure it out.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:17 pm in reply to: ‘Grime’ appeared on cream

    Agree with gld010: xanthan is “pilling” upon rubdown on the skin. Get rid of it, you don’t need it. You DO need a preservative, though. Phenoxyethanol is NOT a preservative by itself. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:10 pm in reply to: Parabens and Anionic nonionic Surfactants

    chirag: Na2 EDTA does fine at 0.10% unless you have REALLY hard water. Do not use either SalAc or triclosan, but do use p-chloro-m-xylenol (PCMX) at 0.50%, then you will not only have an anti-bactierial soap but you won’t need another preservative. If using PCMX, optimum pH should be in the range of 8.0 - 8.5. Also, drop the glycerin. Completely. Why formulators continue to place glycerin into surfactant cleansing products is beyond me. All it does is decrease foam, viscosity and body and does nothing else. I guess they think it remoisturizes or something? Not while it is flowing down the shower drain. Remoisturizes sewer cockroaches, then?

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 7:11 pm in reply to: What is good Natural ingrediants for Hair removal

    Belassi! Very funny.
    Now why would anyone want to make hair removal wax “creamy”? 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 7:04 pm in reply to: Clothe conditioner

    Shelly, delete the EDTA from your formula!  That is used as an anti-deposition aid in laundry detergents, and you want the opposite effect in your fabric softener. Same for the IPA. If you are going to add colorant make it blue since that will brighten whites. ozgirl is right about Stepan too; my fave is Stepantex VT90 ester-quat. Best bang for the buck.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 6:57 pm in reply to: Batch Quality Control

    Shelly, you did nothing wrong except suggest a bland topic, that’s all. To answer: purchase a moisture balance and program it to heat 3.00g sample in aluminum weigh dish @ 110C @ 30 minutes. That will be a reliable test, but you may still want to keep your release spec very broad (+/- 2.0%) since the error propagation can be high.  A less reliable method is to purchase a lab oven, set it to 110C and use your analytical balance. As for viscosity there is no sub for a viscometer, at least not an accurate one.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 4:49 pm in reply to: How to work with Palmitoylethanolamide?

    You are going to need a surfactant to keep that amide from recrystallizing even though PEA is a polar molecule. Without knowing your formula application or parameters, a little lecithin should prevent that from happening, but after that…..????

  • Gunther, linear alcohol ethoxylates are used primarily in HI&I surface cleaners where we have used them forever, not in HBA products, because hey have a higher irritation potential. Otherwise these would be used because they are cheap, effective hydrotrope-surfactants, and they have little or no residual 1,4, dioxane.. I’ve been saying the same for years regarding gemini surfactants, which are safer & better: why haven’t cosmetic chemists used these more? They just don’t know I guess. Look into Colonial Chemical’s surfactant array for some.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 4:28 pm in reply to: Contract Issues

    IP will often be  sticking point - what DAS refers to is accounts payable, an entirely different matter, and one which DAS is correct: you will get screwed at some point, count on it. Back to the topic: spell out the route to ownership clearly and you cannot go wrong. There are many means of doing so of course, and you, Mark, no doubt have used them all. My own favorite is the sales threshold: hit $$XXX in annual sales and we GIVE you the formula. Everybody wins there. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2019 at 4:22 pm in reply to: Working for a contract manufacturer

    Speaking from experience Ultrez there is no better “farm system” for a junior formulator than working at a contract manufacturer for a few years.  You will work with an array of formulation challenges that chemists in the “Bigs” never will. Once you’ve gained 2 - 4 years experience at a contract manufacturer you will be able to work for a Big and blow them away with your skill set. Expect success.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2018 at 8:47 pm in reply to: SLS + SLES dishwash irritancy ?

    SLES-2 or SLES-3 both have milder irritancy profiles than SLS. Reverse the ratio. Adding CAPB will help mollify too: good idea. Should thicken up your solution also, if that is OK.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2018 at 8:42 pm in reply to: Shampoo is turning hazy

    OR just adjust the ratio of CAPB to SCI to a higher level of CAPB. CAPB is a mild hydrotrope while SCI is not, especially if your pH is below 7.0.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2018 at 8:34 pm in reply to: Hydrated Silica

    Evonik’s Aerosil line. Should be UK distributors aplenty.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2018 at 8:33 pm in reply to: Neutralize Fatty Acids Without TEA

    Ziv, try using AMP-95 (aminomethylpropanediol). While it won’t give the pearl that TEA soap had, it will do the job.  Both Fekher & Gunther are right in recommending KOH though if it is a shave cream texture you are looking for. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2018 at 5:10 pm in reply to: Fizzy emulsion - ways to avoid fizz

    Negative, Gunther. Henkel did scoop other chemists on that function though. It was used in textiles before, just like the alkaline relaxers were before somebody got the notion to use on human keratin. Makes a good case for cross-pollination of industries and ideas.

  • Parabens are soluble in propylene glycol and other diols. See Germaben II or other preservative combos using this attribute.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2018 at 5:04 pm in reply to: Is there any chance the LOI is correct?

    Not an emulsion at all, but an oil suspension utilizing alumina and aluminum salts. I’ll bet the water content there is<1.0%.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2018 at 5:00 pm in reply to: Brainstorm “The best natural emulsifiers”

    ….or one could use any coco or palm oil based surfactant - say, glyceryl stearate - and just call it “natural” on the label without any credibility whatsoever, just like every brand in the USA is doing, right?
    BTW, I found Imulsify to be pretty cost effective ~ $8/lb. and carried an oil load ~ 25% with only one stabilizer used with 1.5% Imulsify. Pretty nifty stuff, I thought, but never made a sale with it. Go figure.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 19, 2018 at 10:18 pm in reply to: Brainstorm “The best natural emulsifiers”

    There are others besides lecithin: cholesterol, Imulsify (orange peel polymer), both of which accommodate a high oil load. 

Page 45 of 57