Forum Replies Created

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  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 11:04 am in reply to: How to decrease effects of fragrance on viscosity of bodywash?

    None of those suggestions from @Formula73 will work here. Those Aecosolves are sodium lipid soaps and to add that much - especially in concert with the pricey Sepimax ZEN or any other acrylic (Sepimax being one of those) - will crash your viscosity down to the soup you are straining to avoid. The key problem here is viscosity build not so much fragrance solubilization, correct? Go with the W600 and add a nonionic such as PolySugaMulse D9 if fragrance clarity is a goal.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 7:50 am in reply to: About time in Incubator, or how to test expired of product?

    @oldman20 That is the parameter for subjecting pharmaceutical products to stability analysis of the active API. Too often mistaken for same parameters for thermodynamic formulations such as ours. I suggest 42C maximum or 40C. Many personal care formulations will liquify at 45C, which negates the validity! Check samples every 30 days for physical integrity, appearance, pH, viscosity changes. Yes, 3 months accelerated stability roughly equates to 12 months at RT if not longer. Interpret results with objectivity: I have seen samples fail at 42C/60 days but were still intact six years later in their trade package.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2023 at 12:55 pm in reply to: Tocopherol vs Tocopheryl Acetate

    Well said @MarkBroussard. It should be universal knowledge by now regarding the antioxidant non-activity of the acetate but weirdly it is not. Even some of the suppliers don’t mention it. Go figure.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2023 at 12:52 pm in reply to: hair serum

    @Shaghayegh the product benchmark you are looking to emulate is thickened by using the silioxane crosspolymer gum dispersions in D5 cyclomethicone produced by Dow, Shin-Etsu, Wacker…all. These gum blends start out at 4000 - 6000 cps then you dilute them with D5 and/or 200pf ethanol. You can research these and select one with a high viscosity range then go from there. In other words you do not thicken the serum, but you thin it down to get that result.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2023 at 12:40 pm in reply to: How to decrease effects of fragrance on viscosity of bodywash?

    Once again @ketchito is on the ball. Not all acrylate copolymers are same. You are using a LOT there at 12% (all are 30% solutions) so the pH is a factor. We recommend using the range pH 6.0 - 6.5 with Synthalen W600. DO NOT add any extra salt since the CAPB carries 5% NaCl itself. You should only need half that level of acrylate thickener and it will accommodate the fragrance oil too, even though that much oil - and the fixative with it - are a challenge for all thickening motifs not to mention foaming. Yeesh!

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2023 at 12:30 pm in reply to: Silica dimethyl silylate

    Not a valid response from that Chinese supplier. This sounds like a scam.

  • You will first need to DEL that EDTA since it will be useless there with all that Mg++, Al+++ ions from the bentonite dispersion. As has been stated in this blog many times before: always add your preservative first before adding any clays since most will adsorb the preservative when added post. I’ll also suggest adding more fungi-fighter to this, such as IPBC or the “dreaded” methylparaben. I hope @PhilGeis can weigh in here too. He is the expert.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 20, 2023 at 12:20 pm in reply to: Gum / hydrocolloid expert?

    I have to echo @ketchito here: as always that choice depends on the chemistry of the delivery vehicle and other formula constraints. I should add that if you share that TDS with a supplier while asking for viable gum substitutes, they may remain mute should they not recognize a solution. At our company we are transparent with customers if we cannot offer them a fit. Best to help them move on and not waste their time.

  • You are going to use an additional rheology gum resin with the xanthan gum already established? OR, are you to substitute each for the xanthan? I don’t think your wax will affect these at all, so leave it there if you wish. The rest appears sound to me. As for resin dispersion, I always disperse directly into as much water - and only water - as you can muster and mix/heat until fully hydrated. That Step A1 is totally unnecessary in my opinion. In the case of Veegum (Mg Al silicate) you’ll need to add to water only and apply a lot of shear for a long time before adding anything else. You won’t know how completely you hydrated that Veegum until you begin adding the oil phase.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 12, 2023 at 10:18 am in reply to: Ecomulse emulsifier (aka Ritamulse SCG, CreamMaker Mix)

    @formulatorterminator Yes, I’ve worked with RITA emulsifier blends including this one. It works quite well and is already built with fatty alcohol & GMS flaked. It is anionic so is compatible with carbomers, polysaccharide gums, but not so much with cationics and some amino acids. That pH range is only a guideline, you can take it higher to pH9 if needed.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 12, 2023 at 7:57 am in reply to: HELP: Panthenol (B5) turning pink

    Whenever I hear of a drastic color change in something like this I look for the possible chromophore that would create that. In this case the aromatic benzoic acid comes to mind, otherwise…almost hate to suggest it…a nitrosamine (dangerous but colorful!) formed in combination with the amino functional group on panthenol? Hope not, but DEL the benzoate and see what happens.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 7, 2023 at 9:28 am in reply to: weight loss - drying out

    @Zoya We cannot offer much help without knowing the other ingredients, especially anything remotely volatile - such as water. If you stored inside a HDPE single-wall bottle during the ACC stability phase, you definitely lost some water.

  • You already solved most of the problem: DEL soda ash and salt, then stick with citric acid only. You should not need EDTA with all that citric acid, if anything a little phosphoric acid would help much more. Otherwise why not up the Surf 900 anti-redeposition product? At only 1.0% you are undermining the effort just a bit.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 7, 2023 at 9:17 am in reply to: Surface treated pigment suppliers for small formulators

    I suggest perusing the surplus chemicals listing at Universal Preserv a Chem [www.upichem.com] and see what you can find.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 7, 2023 at 9:11 am in reply to: cracking in foundation

    I’ll take a “crack” at this dilemma @ina_ivat_ko Your table adds up to 33% if my addition is correct. If the remaining components are mainly pigments as you suggest, that is a LOT OF PIGMENT having very little carrier-dispersant involved in your grind; plus I do not see any free surfactant employed to aid in that task. Expect cracking on application.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 1, 2023 at 1:59 pm in reply to: Liquid shampoo question

    @Margaret the answer is yes, depending on the surfactant blend used you would end up with a water-thin lotion having low foaming and reduced cleansing power. This may not be stable for very long depending on how much oil you added. Same outcome (not the thinning part) holds true for solid soaps. Too much oil added to a syndet bar will compromise foaming and cleansing.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 29, 2023 at 3:01 pm in reply to: Mineral Oil replacement

    @BUNSEN87 When you ask for “equal properties” that needs broader interpretation. If sensory haptics is the goal then some of those esters will do. But for polarity, an important property if you are to use in emulsions and solvent systems, the polyisobutene mentioned by @fareloz is the better choice. Mineral oil is about as non-polar as it gets.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 29, 2023 at 2:54 pm in reply to: MCT oil temperature tolerance

    @BathroomChemist no worries, MCT is stable to well over 100C.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 29, 2023 at 2:47 pm in reply to: Problem with PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate

    Hard to help without knowing the other components: the oil load and relative polarities involved, water activity, salts, glycols. I will say the two low HLB emulsifiers you cite are not related to one another. One is a PEFA the other a PEGylated fatty ester. If I read correctly you are using 0.25% DPHS? If so that is not nearly adequate. I would use more of that and less of the PEFA starting with a 2:1 ratio.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 28, 2023 at 3:24 pm in reply to: Thickener for amino acid based surfactant system

    Have you tried acrylic copolymers yet? Try Synthalen W600 at 5.0% or so. That works well with the glutamates, glycinates, other amino acid anionics.

  • @Samirah you are correct, isoamyl laurate is virtually same as the cocoate ester. All the suggestions given here are on point. However, I’ll suggest a much heavier lipid (ester or oil) for this formula to get the result you are looking for. Ketchito mentioned mineral oil - a good idea especially for multicultural curly hair. Castor oil also comes to mind as does shea butter, and builder waxes along with the esters.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 22, 2023 at 9:29 am in reply to: Insights on formulation and silicone-free oil for hair

    @Pavalosk this brand is selling a bogus INCI label to the buying public. Anyone who states “vegetable derived” glycerin is either a moron or a scoundrel - my opinion only - and should be forced to devour their “vegetable derived” product while I watch. If you perceived a silky sensorial effect using it, they likely have a lot more isoamyl cocoate and coco caprylate caprate [they miscue this as “hydrogenated coco-glycerides”] than they claim and much less of everything else. Those two esters grant a light D5-similar sensation when used at concentration. There is evidence of morons at work there also: why place a preservative into an anhydrous product, I ask?

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 22, 2023 at 9:16 am in reply to: Help with balm cracking

    Yes,there is…or perhaps I should say there are (many). Add ceresine wax at 1.0% , that will firm this up enough to stop the cracking. To aid in lubricity and stop the sticking: without knowing your “oils” identity I’d add an alkanolamide or polyglyceryl ester and either should do the trick there.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 22, 2023 at 7:42 am in reply to: MSDS interpretation

    @Margaret You are correct in that “it depends” assumption. You can be relatively confident the true concentration is somewhere between the lower and middle of the stated range. Since nobody actually checks or verifies the values given, drafting SDS lends itself a lot of literary freedom. In the early days of drafting composition statements for export docs I used to place ranges very close to truth, then I quickly realized there is zero analytical work being done over in the E.U. to determine accuracy of my statement; not enough chemists on this planet to carry that out. A classic “no duh!” moment. Now I put down nearly any number that comes to mind as long as they add up to 100.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    November 17, 2023 at 3:01 pm in reply to: How to stop crystals forming in hair salt spray formula

    @OB_Ben Those crystals must be sodium chloride since it has a lower saturation point in water than has magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. Neither solvate in ethanol well so reduce the NaCl and ethanol and keep this spray out of your eyes. Consider also adding a smidge of propylene glycol to this. Retards the flash point and keeps the plumbing free in that dipstick.

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