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  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 6, 2017 at 8:46 pm in reply to: Nail polish sample prep for GCMS and LCMS analysis

    If you are to use HPLC, I would suggest normal phase instead of reverse phase chromatography.  The best carrier solvent will be acetone (like the shop uses!) or toluene (never methanol in normal phase), though acetonitrile may be included in a programmed mobile phase addition if that is available, to vary the polarity and get better peak separation. GC will be much more forgiving, if flame ionization were the detector. With MS detection, I can’t say whether or not you will “gum up the works” inside that interferometer. Worst case, you have to take it apart and clean it out with polar solvent. In any event, good luck with your experiment and do share your results with us if successful.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 3, 2017 at 10:46 pm in reply to: What are the standard books about formulating for HI&I?
    Good question. Besides Henry’s Formulas, which is a bit dated, I don’t know of one.  I’ve always used the tech lit/website for Stepan, Pilot, Lubrizol, Huntsman, et.al. Here in Chicago, TAB Chemical, now Brenntag Great Lakes, used to have the most exhaustive compendium of HI&I and automotive formulae anywhere. Having formulated these products for so many years I always tell cosmetic chemists: when it comes to HI&I, if you got more than six ingredients in there, you are probably over-thinking the job. Cheers! 
  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 3, 2017 at 10:40 pm in reply to: potassium cocoate

    Why bother when you can purchase it for only $0.65/lb. by the drum. Just sayin’.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 3, 2017 at 10:38 pm in reply to: Polyglyceryl ester emulsifier preferences

    Jane, I know where to buy these surfactants. That is not the issue.  As I stated, I am an industrial user, and know Evonik, Protameen, Gattefosse, Lubrizol, Croda, etc., etc. very well. My query regarded anyone’s real-time results from their use in o/w emulsions where the main oil load is polar, e.g. jojoba oil, olive oil, branched esters…so, do you have any experience in this regard that you can share?

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 31, 2017 at 4:04 pm in reply to: Zinc Pyrithione Supplier?

    I’ll second chemist77’s suggestion. Salicylates (India) sells Salidruff, which is suspension grade zinc pyrithione.  If you are in the U.S. (or NAFTA, for now) you may purchase the standard 49% suspension from Kraft Chemical Company in Melrose Park, Illinois.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 11, 2017 at 4:44 pm in reply to: Anhydrous Body Butter & Sugar Scrub- Adding Heat stability?

    Add ceresine to these at 0.50% and you should be good to go up to 45C.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 11, 2017 at 4:37 pm in reply to: Adding Essential Oils as an Active Ingredient Correctly

    Either way, incorporating that much oil you should add this to your oil phase, assuming you have an o/w emulsion at work here. You only need to have it heated to 75C for an hour or less, and most EO are not as thermally sensitive as literature (or even $&#! google, for that matter) would lead you to believe.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 15, 2016 at 6:03 pm in reply to: Moisturizing babies daily

    Petrolatum and mineral oil (aka “baby oil”) were safe mainstays for baby care for decades.  I hope this article finds some traction among all the “chemical-free” and ” all natural” marketers out there.  It kind of punks their entire ethos, if you look at it. Merry Christmas to you, Bob.  

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 8, 2016 at 7:07 pm in reply to: Single use pod packaging

    Elise, these 2 oz. induction-sealed pods require very specialized equipment, especially should you want to embed them in the mailer. (We call that “card tipping” in the biz.)  Most of the available machines run 5 oz. and higher, and those can be had on the aftermarket at a bargain; think cream cheese containers in the U.S. dairy case. These smaller-die machines are used to fill single-use ketchup pods that you see in fast-food joints. We do not have one, and I’m unsure who does in the cosmetics realm.  I have to think the MOQ will be 250,000 plus should you find someone.  Single-use pouches are more economical, just not as groovy looking.

  • Propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, ethoxydiglycol, sorbitol, glycerine, PEG-ethers, etc., etc.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 21, 2016 at 3:45 pm in reply to: Our current range

    Best of luck to you Belassi. I know you worked hard on this.  Let’s hope mucho trabajo leads to mas dinero.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 21, 2016 at 3:40 pm in reply to: Foundation with my formula, need a company who can produce!
    For a short run like the one you propose, Lady Burd Cosmetics or Colorlab (Rockford, IL, USA) are just about the only ones viable.
  • We’ve filled henna into pouches at our facility - we are the pouch kings of North America - and I always ask the question Bill Toge alludes to: is there any p-phenylenediamine in your product? Some exporters are adding it to turbocharge their henna product, and not always divulging this. As for your paste idea, what about making a paste with polyols instead of water? You won’t need a preservative either.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 18, 2016 at 3:28 pm in reply to: Why do we actually need chelating agents?

    They improve the activity of preservatives like Perry said, plus they are essential in shampoos and body washes in retarding redeposition.  Most of the world uses hard water and you never feel like the body wash rinses off right?  Add some EDTA to your formula and you become part of the solution, not the problem. (Yes, pun was intended.)

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 18, 2016 at 3:22 pm in reply to: Sodium Metabisulfite or sodium sulfite as antioxidant

    What’s wrong with using BHT, Georgi? Those sulfites can retard the oxidation effect of HQ to some degree. Also, HQ is “more active” just above pH 7.0, where it is less tautomerized, so you can use metabisulfite and adjust your pH to 7.0 - 7.5.  

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 18, 2016 at 3:18 pm in reply to: Fixing a cloudy body wash

    You might want to reconsider increasing the Polysorbate 60 here: that will kill your viscosity just as the PGC did.  Instead change the order of addition and use the fact that CAPB is a mighty fair hydrotrope.  Add fragrance & oil into the TWEEN 60 then into the CAPB.  Better yet, switch out the TWEEN 60 with PGC altogether.  The former does nothing for this formula, while the latter is a decent refatting agent. No chelating agent either, huh? Whassup with that? BTW I like Belassi’s idea - now that’s good critical thinking.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    October 20, 2016 at 7:02 pm in reply to: Overhead stirrer

    I usually affix a lab spatula into a 3-prong clasp mounted on my mixer stand and lower it inside the beaker as a tank baffle.  Works like a charm and is quite cheap.  Cheap is good, right?

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    October 20, 2016 at 6:58 pm in reply to: Contract manufacturer directory

    I might also engage the interested parties in an organization I am proud to be part of: http://www.contractpackaging.org, the official site of the Contract Packagers Association (of America.) When you visit the site, you see the RFQ (request for quote) window, which you enter your search criteria, which is then distributed to the likely match of manufacturers via a database algorithm. Could not be easier. Remember, pouches ARE the future. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    October 20, 2016 at 3:40 pm in reply to: Toxicity of Soyethyl morpholinium ethosulfate vs ColaQuat

    Forestall (SME) has been used for over 25 years by me and others in this forum.  It is innocuous - don’t be scared.  Weirdly, I recall that quat being one of the few “approved” for use in the Whole Foods listing.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    October 20, 2016 at 3:36 pm in reply to: how to prevent cream from emulsifying on the skin

    Add a fatty alcohol to your emulsion - cetyl or stearyl - and that should be the end of that; unless of course you have a foaming surfactant in there you aren’t divulging. e.g. a betaine or a glucoside. If so, then rename it a “foaming lotion”. Marketing can solve these problems when chemistry cannot. 

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    September 23, 2016 at 8:07 pm in reply to: Arnica motana - whuddya know?

    In other words, if I may sum up here: you guys don’t know and can’t help, right?  OK, that was meant to be funny, so you should be laughing now. As it happens, I just learned the oil of arnica is used preferentially. Zero science behind it (go figure); its just customary to use it in lipophilic systems.  Bummer is it is a LOT more expensive than the alcohol extract.  Poor me!

  • Actually Azeez, your primary problem is the glycerin.  An infamous killer of viscosity and foam.  TAKE IT OUT and you’ll be fine.  All the salt in the mine won’t build your viscosity with that in there.  It tickles me to no end that everybody puts glycerin in their liquid soaps and shampoos.  It does not and will not deposit on the skin or hair. Glycerin is not a re-fatting agent like PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate or Sorbitan Oleate, etc., etc.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    September 22, 2016 at 9:36 pm in reply to: Recommended Water for cold process soap

    I’ll disagree here.  I never saw the sense in taking out electrolytes via deionization when you plan on putting some right back in - especially one as strong as NaOH. I’ve manufactured hundreds of metric tons of alkali cream hair relaxer using cold tap - never a problem.  That said, your soap formula does need help in keeping out Fe, Al and other multivalent ions. Use tap water and a fair amount of chelating agent (0.10 - 0.30% Na4 EDTA), then get on with your saponification.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    September 13, 2016 at 5:20 pm in reply to: How do I thicken and mix essential oils

    D-Limonene is a terpene, canola, et.al are unsaturated triglyceride polar oils.  Try the wonderful Finsolv TN (C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate) to be miscible with the terpene FIRST, then add this cocktail to the canola oil. How many times must I ask it: what CAN’T Finsolv TN do?  If it doesn’t work here, then you are off to the miscible co-solvent land: dipropylene glycol, sorbitan oleate, etc., etc.  

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    September 12, 2016 at 7:02 pm in reply to: Stick Deodorant slip issues

    Hola’, Luis.  Try using 0.50% Cocamide DEA in there. That ought to do the trick. Kudos to you for getting this to hang together without cyclomethicone as the primary solvent. I’m still not sure how it is working, but there it is. Another trick is to limit your fatty alcohol to stearyl alcohol only - no cetyl or lauryl (often part of cetyl.)

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