Forum Replies Created

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  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 2, 2024 at 9:32 am in reply to: Eyebrow Developer peroxides

    There is only one hydrogen peroxide, none other. You do not describe the conveyance method for the peroxide, so this is a blind alley for us.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 2, 2024 at 9:29 am in reply to: Shampoo separation problem

    @rizi this is attributed to the often depicted anionic/cationic incompatibility seen so many times. You have all that amino-functional conditioning material mixed in with your primary anionic isethionate. Then there are the sodium salts to add to the maelstrom. This electrolytic chaos is kicking out EGDS and fatty amides. The guar HPTC isn’t nearly enough to stabilize this either. Also, as everyone in this blog knows my M.O. well by now: WHY add all that glycerin to a shampoo???? I am astonished this foams, builds or remains stable at all.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 2, 2024 at 9:21 am in reply to: Shower Gel thinning out

    @Cherma The problem you describe is viscosity crash, not fragrance incompatibility. Premixing your fragrance will not resolve this. Your customer may be overwhelming the spatial stability with too much fragrance or uses one with a lot of phenoxyethanol or ethylhexylglycerin as fixatives, both which will crash viscosity if salt is the only builder. For this application you need to maintain viscosity with a polymer or gum resin rheology stabilizer. Acrylates copolymer, hydroxymethylcellulose, another cellulosic, the overused xanthan gum - even better a combination of one or more. This will allow your customer to add any fragrance at nearly any concentration without viscosity crash.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    February 2, 2024 at 8:00 am in reply to: Condensation on the lid

    @Kristina Do you mean inside the lid of the jar, not on the lid itself, meaning atop of it? I would have no explanation for moisture vapor atop the jar lid. Inside the jar happens whenever you cap it while still hot. This low temperature condensation may be somewhat mitigated by adding to your formula more glycol or glycerin or xylitol, sorbitol, any polyol that forms a eutectic mixture with water.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 30, 2024 at 10:06 am in reply to: Peptide formulation

    IF this is for in vivo delivery sub-dermally you may be asking the wrong crowd. (cosmetic chemists call that “the short cut”). Having said that, do research on these delivery systems for your peptide: niosomes, liposomes (PEGylated preferred), multilamellar lipid vesicles.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 19, 2024 at 11:51 am in reply to: advice regarding the formulation of a liquid foundation

    @ruru this is not an endeavour you will do on your own. Color cosmetics are more difficult than you think. Message me and I’ll point you to a consultant chemist who is a master at this (and it is NOT me). She is widely known in our sphere assuming you are in North America.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 19, 2024 at 11:41 am in reply to: FOAMING SHAVING GEL (Like Gillette)

    As I usually do I agree with @ketchito : revise the ratio of ampho to anionic closer to 1:1 solid state and as I so very often shout into the formulator wilderness DO NOT PUT GLYCERIN INTO FOAMING/CLEANSING PRODUCTS!! Kills foam, viscosity, then goes right down the sewer. You are also guilty of addiction to Ultrez, and your surfactants are winning that battle. Switch to acrylates copolymer like Synthalen W600 and you’ll see a clear gel - that is once you’ve replaced that preservative that is giving you all the opacity.

  • I’ll agree with @Microformulation that noviconnect has come a long way from their starter point. I can say the same for Knowde; I use it more often now and it conveys a lot of intel without having to go into supplier websites and other avenues. Covalo is quite good if you are in the E.U. or elsewhere but North America. SpecialChem is simply annoying with all those pop-ups even though it draws from the most sources. The winner: UL Prospector - for the reasons Perry and Mark state. (That is until the A.I. bots come along and order me to their Formulator Re-education Camp.)

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 19, 2024 at 11:27 am in reply to: 0.5% thickener is very watery

    As @chem.ist explains: always disperse gum resins directly into room temp water first before adding any other component, then begin heating while mixing. “That’s a fact Jack.” As for your “watery” outcome, this is no surprise and you did nothing in error that I can tell. Both xanthan and tragacanth are piss-poor at thickening. A 0.50% mucilage of either will not generate more than 300 cps or so. Both gums ARE good however at contributing yield value to your formula (suspension in 3 dimensions) which is why both are primarily only used as stabilizers not thickeners.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 12, 2024 at 2:35 pm in reply to: How to prevent gel evaporating too quickly?

    @Creamycreamygel That is a lot of ethoxydiglycol there (Transcutol) which combined with all the propylene glycol may well be reducing the solubility of pentoxyfylline leading to the precipitate. I do not think it can be anything else. You should not need any more than 5.0% ethoxydiglycol to work for skin permeation. You may want to consider reducing the propylene glycol down too. Less is more here.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 10, 2024 at 12:39 pm in reply to: Cleaning detergent solution

    @DoreenSarvan that will turn out to be one mean hand soap (not “soup” right?) with those ingredients. Must have some very dirty hands there. Nonylphenol ethoxylates such as NP9 are no longer tolerated here in the USA but you will be able to clean many things with this stuff. I take it potassium “netroxide” is actually potassium hydroxide (KOH)? If so, solid state or the standard 38% solution? If it is the solid use approximately 1 part KOH (pre-dissolved and heated to 80 - 90C) to 3.25 parts coconut oil being sure to end up on the alkaline side like pH9.0. After that step is complete add the N9 then the others while cooling. Glycerine does nothing for this formula so feed that to the pigeons where you live. You will still need a preservative so I’d suggest getting some DMDMH & methylparaben or good ‘ol methylisothiazolinone. Peace.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 10, 2024 at 12:20 pm in reply to: Help with creamy oil formulation?

    @Shoogiegirl have you never heard of “The Seven Percent Solution”? It is the title of a Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes novel but based on a true rule of drug chemistry: when unsure of the starting point use 7.0% and see what happens. Based on that result you’ll know whether to increase or decrease the GMS. You may also consider using GMS-S.E. since it is an emulsifier whereas GMS alone is not (it is a builder.)

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 10, 2024 at 12:12 pm in reply to: Sample sourcing for DSM Firmanech and Clariant

    I’ll suggest two strategies, albeit weak ones. Contact the Clariant or DSM distributor in your part of the USA (Univar I suspect) and ask about obtaining a pail quantity and expect to pay a premium for it. If it is a particularly esoteric item (like Fiflows) they will often have a partial drum in the warehouse or lab being used for samples and pilot quantities. This normally will not work for commodity items. The other is to ask that same distributor if they - or you - can contact another customer purchasing the same item regularly and if they - or you - can ask them to sell you some. That worked for me in the past where I had a tight business relationship with the distributor and a cordial one with the other party. That party was happy to part with unused inventory at a nice profit. I streamlined the process by taking care of shipping costs and pick-up, even sending them the BOL to use. The less work for them the easier to help you.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 4, 2024 at 2:48 pm in reply to: help with procedure

    I would not make a paste but dissolve the SCI into water FIRST before any other material is added since that may serve as a primary emulsifier. Saves a big step there, right? Now, for the CAPB, that is trickier, you may want to add that slowly during the cool-down thermocline. CAPB is not an emulsifier but does carry free salt so don’t be too surprised if this separates then.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 3, 2024 at 1:30 pm in reply to: undesired feeling

    @ayat Lose that glycerin. All better now.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 3, 2024 at 8:58 am in reply to: Need help regarding chemical

    @Makoto That ingredient is supplying virtually all the yield value (suspension) to your formula and few lipid dispersible materials can match its yield value. However silica or more specifically silica dimethyl silylate offers similar but not same suspension. Processing is a bear: heating and high shear mixing for 90 minutes before adding any pigments or minerals. That is the great value of those Bentone Gels, Elementis already did the difficult job for us!

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 29, 2023 at 8:44 am in reply to: Powder press laboratory scale

    I’ve learned that some folks are using those same home presses for making bath bombs. Not expensive and very available (most are made in Turkey) though I have to think some modifications are needed to conform to each powder mold.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2023 at 12:07 pm in reply to: Is surfactant necessary for my formulation?

    Nope! Transcutol (ethoxydiglycol) is there as a glycol ether penetrating agent, also a nifty solvent, but has no surfactant properties. You will need either an alkali hydroxide to combine with all that oleic acid to form a soap or get rid of it altogether. Ethoxydiglycol is a nifty solvent as stated before plus the ethanol should help. Add a little water-soluble acid (lactic acid) to aid solvation with all those amino groups. This may not be creamy but will be a jelly.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2023 at 9:58 am in reply to: mixed acid phosphoric and oxalic, and “common ionic effect”?

    @oldman20 Are you attempting to make a stainless steel surface cleaner here? Sounds like it. Forget the NaCl vector, it will not help. Oxalic acid alone works well; beefed up with phosphoric even better.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2023 at 9:52 am in reply to: Zinc Stearate vs Magnesium Stearate

    @iEngineerG Both of these metal stearates are often used to thicken oil mixtures, why we call them “oil soaps” sometimes. In pressed powders I believe their function is to act as binders, keeping those powders together. The sensorial aspect you perceive may be related to other components in the formulations but is still worthy of further discussion. If I knew more about color cosmetics I would start a thread here but that is one of my weak spots. #colorcosmetics

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 27, 2023 at 9:44 am in reply to: Improving Cosmetic Education

    <div>@cosscin Sometimes you can get these “starter workshops” for free if you know where to look. Peruse LinkedIn under hashtags like #cosmeticscience and you will find a wealth of tutorials. Here is one of mine recently re-edited and reposted as example. </div>

    Formulation Chemistry: Crafting the Perfect Styling Gel with Great Curl Retention - 3V Sigma USA

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 1:07 pm in reply to: monopropylene glycol

    @Shaghayegh Rapidgel EZ1 will thicken glycol systems but you will need a very small amount of water (2.0%) to activate it and achieve a clear gel otherwise you’ll need to mix all day.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 1:02 pm in reply to: Addition of Sunspheres PGL polymer

    @Sapphire That Sunspheres product will not have any effect on viscosity. I’m unsure where you learned this but it is incorrect.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 12:56 pm in reply to: critique my moisturizer

    @BeautyScience Critique? No comedogenicity seen, hydration adequate as is. Now about that preservation….no acidulant cited for activating the sodium benzoate, but use of parabens greatly admired. Also must note your order of addition appears to be, shall I say, odd.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 12:50 pm in reply to: How to decrease effects of fragrance on viscosity of bodywash?

    The issue you are having was mistaken by contributors to be that of incorporating your fragrance into a clear body wash system without clouding or opacifying that system. That discussion referred to formulation clarity (opposite of opaque) not “fragrance clarity.” Your viscosity problem will be best solved using Synthalen W600 acrylic polymer which should not be affected by 2.00% fragrance oil, but as I said: your foam sure will be. Oils crash foam. Always.

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