[chemicalmatt]

Have you tried ChatGPT?

[chemicalmatt]

Disperse directly into water at room temperature while mixing with a baffled turbine (Lightnin’) mixer or a paddle blade while heating. The thixotropic shear thinning nature of xanthan and other polysaccharide gums is such that if you only apply shear in the locus of the mixer blade, the surrounding solution never gets mixing motion so you need to move the entire solution to fully hydrate. This holds true for nearly all gum resins and polymers. Honestly in over 35 years I never understood nor have I needed that “pre-mix in oils or glycol” approach. Gums need water and shear to hydrate. Period.

[chemicalmatt]

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[chemicalmatt]

@Nasha52 lamellar liquid crystal formation is no marketing trick and depends more on formulation constituents than it does mixer configuration. The physical chemistry of MLE (LLC we call it) self-assembly is way too complex to get into here. The one process input that you should know about is the cooling gradient: slow cool with low shear. In the meantime: experiment in the lab and have fun doing it.

[chemicalmatt]

Adding to @ketchito here, all correct, but here is a bit of tribal knowledge to consider here (I just have to begin charging money for this): your viscosity problem is not related to GMS or Stearac at all but hydroxyethylcellulose. Disodium EDTA will impede hydration-gelation of HEC, especially the cationic type. I found this out one day when I added EDTA to water first then dispersed Ucare Polymer JR-30M. After two hours the polymer still had not hydrated and I knew that should have only taken 20 minutes. I retried only this time leaving out the EDTA until the cationic HEC was fully hydrated and no problem. Try altering order of addition and see what happens. You do need to add a small amount of alkali to fully hydrate HEC depending on the grade and I don’t see that mentioned in Part A - or anywhere else. How does stearic acid make any sense without TEA, AMP or TrisAmino to saponify with? Could be part of the problem too.

[chemicalmatt]

I will add that the primary polymer film-former Artistoflex is at a very low level especially considering that is only 30% active if memory serves. Also, glycerin works against alcohol evaporation so DEL that. Finally, Amphisol K is a very powerful emulsifier and 4.0% is twice what you need especially if reducing those oils as @Marsupilami suggests. Being a powerful surfactant, it also contributes to that “smudge factor” you are trying to omit.

[chemicalmatt]

That is the synonym for disodium cocoamphodipropionate which is supplied as a 40% aqueous solution by many surfactant manufacturers including Stepan, Solvay, Colonial. It is one of the best amphoteric surfactant-hydrotropes out there. As for propylene glycol: yes it is needed here but not that much. Reduce by half. PG makes all that glycerin less sticky-tacky but does little for curl activation, the goal of this spritz. Without PG this would have too much tackiness. You also may want to consider increasing the PEG-12 dimethicone much higher, at least to 1.0%. Likewise the PEG-75 lanolin.

[chemicalmatt]

@natiyo123 You asked and I will inform, though you may not have the coin but here goes: a steam-jacketed 316 SS kettle with full side-sweep agitator and offset turbine mixer, flush-fit valve. A low-pressure steam generator (15 - 25 psi) with a PLC-controlled steam valve solenoid and J-type thermocouple for temperature control. Transfer - when ready - through a recirculating, insulated 316 or 304 SS sanitary 2.0 inch pipeline traced with an element heat tape to a shrouded multi-head positive displacement filler having a top-mount plenum for product recirculation, preferably with vertically mounted pistons, then feeding into a reciprocating cooling tunnel with minimum 1 meter headspace for air make-up efficiency with the 15,000 btu air cooler. I’ve manufactured millions of hot-fill deodorants, antiperspirants and pomades this way with few production problems. Oh yeah…almost forgot: you will need a few capable employees on the payroll to do this too.

[chemicalmatt]

@trujfj As I have stated soooo many times before in this blogosphere: friends, don’t let friends place glycerin into surfactant cleansing products because it does so many terrible things and then all rinses off into the sewer to do more unpleasant things down there. DEL the glycerin and you will no longer need xanthan gum or salt. That 2.0% essential oil isn’t doing you any good either. Are you philosophically opposed to using fragrances? Doesn’t seem to be a problem using other synthetics, right? To answer your questions though: #1) no potential risk to users other than they won’t like it very much with all that essential oil. decrease that and increase the Polyquaternium-7 (10% active) to provide better wet comb. #2) Glucosides are not good foamers compared to most surfactants, increase the betaine or SCI instead.

[chemicalmatt]

Two insights to share here @MariaSibon . The polyglyceride ester is competing with polysorbate 20 here, so reduce the polysorbate 20 to 1.0% and increase the PG-3 diisostearate up to 2.0 - 3.0% and see what happens (not sure what polysorbate-20 is doing there in first place but I’ll leave that to you.) The other is that cocoa butter and coconut oil is the sole crystallization problem here, mango butter is actually composed chiefly of hydrogenated vegetable oil which is more stable. The only other aspect - a stretch here - is that the 6.0% or more of essential oils is “solvent stripping” beeswax of its unsaturated fatty acids which are then precipitating. That’s all I got.

[chemicalmatt]

With all due respect here @Emily2001 all esters are lipids, therefore by definition all are oils. Helping you with this project - obviously from scratch - will entail a professional consulting arrangement. There is way too much ground to cover with just helpful hints.

[chemicalmatt]

Or, you may forget Lubrizol, bypass their powders and use Rapidgel EZ1 from 3V Sigma USA. Liquid format just drops in, already neutralized acrylate polymer, inexpensive, same electrolyte tolerance as Ultrez to stabilize emulsions or form gels. Whatever. Could not be easier, why they called it EZ.

[chemicalmatt]

It is good to remember @Transformize that the HLB System is merely a guideline, never an exact point so you have a lot of freedom here to alter your surfactant ratio. Also, adding a third surfactant will not only be allowable but a good idea. I would add some low HLB alcohol ethoxylate Steareth-2 (HLB ~ 5) to offset the high HLB ethoxylate CT-25 to build stability here. There is always the question of the polarity of y our oil blend to consider also.

[chemicalmatt]

I’ll advise obtaining a degree in chemistry, paying close attention during the three mandatory courses for B.S. degree covering Physical Chemistry, then taking Perry’s Cosmetic Chemistry for Beginners pod course. You will have better results then.

[chemicalmatt]

I second what @ketchito said. That reaction is usually catalyzed by copper coordinate in alkali medium. Research it yourself if this is merely an academic exercise, but that reaction outcome is unlikely to occur within a cosmetic formulation in situ.

[chemicalmatt]

Negative, Mike. I always winged it, having some remorse later in a few areas that I didn’t consult an industrial engineering firm or millwright on.

[chemicalmatt]

Phthalates were very effective fixatives as @fareloz mentions but are discouraged or banned from use now due to safety concerns. Private use of phthalates is no problem but should you go to market with this try using triethyl citrate or ethylhexylglycerin.

[chemicalmatt]

@JoongRi I am with @fareloz here: acrylics require some water to hydrate and gel, even if just a little. Rapidgel EZ1 from 3V Sigma will thicken a system like that quickly (it’s a PEG-6 solution already) but only if there is 3.0% water inside. Why not switch to a higher mw PEG? Viscosity increases with the polymer length.

[chemicalmatt]

@himanshu_bhonde26 the stickiness may be mitigated by adding a glycol such as propylene or butylene glycol perhaps 1 - 2 %. As for the spray problem, that is due solely to the HYA polymer. Polymers do not like to atomize; very few do and only those having low mw chain lengths. Try a lower Dalton HYA and see what happens.

[chemicalmatt]

@Zymurgist try adding an emollient ester to that mix. These are compatible with those butters & waxes and you’ll get better dry comb. I would also suggest dimethicone but I glean that a Leucidal user would be averse to using silicone too.

[chemicalmatt]

I can add here @ntina that your 45C ACC sample will generally fail if this is an invert (w/o) emulsion. Virtually all invert emulsions are thermodynamically unstable. We classify these as meta-stable. I have 10-year-old w/o samples that still basically look fine but have the same small amount of syneresis they had at 24 months at RT. The ACC sample was disjoined at 30 days as I recall. The world of invert emulsions (w/Si are same) is a topsy-turvy one.

[chemicalmatt]

@Juliatrudie the term “surfactant” is synonymous with “emulsifier” in this and 99% of other cases, just to clarify. Not all surfactants are viable emulsifiers, but nearly all emulsifiers are surfactants.

[chemicalmatt]

I’ll counter here that MoCRA regulations are not a big deal and are more significant for what they omit than what they contain. I’ve worked in FDA registered drug producing establishments nearly my entire 40-year career and have compiled export docs to Asia, EU, China, LatAm also during that time. There is nothing novel about MoCRA and in fact facilities that are solely Chapter V producers are entirely exempt from it. What is significant is what they left out. No harmonization of the ingredient “denials” in all 50 states - a major flaw - and no language anywhere for label review of claims or other criteria. Posting your label into the Product Listing portal is only “optional” not mandatory, not that it would matter as there is NO FDA LABEL REVIEW mechanism or acceptance criteria. The product label chicanery and greenwashing (i.e. “natural vegetable glycerin”) will continue in the USA whereas EU, China and even Canada took steps to counter this. As a certain orange-hair narcissist freak of an ex-president would have tweeted: SAD

[chemicalmatt]

First of all, kids, is why is putting Epsom Salt into your hair anything approaching a good idea? This smells of a weird unfathomable TikTok trend. PVP is doing the heavy lifting there, trust me. It is also doing the flaking. Sorbitol makes this way too sticky, although propylene glycol mediates that, why we ALWAYS add propylene glycol to high glycerin formulations, right? Same true for sorbitol. BTW, ethanol is only there to allow faster drying, the isoceteth-20 is only solubilizing the fragrance oil. And @Chetna : diazolidinyl urea is not a hair conditioner but a very good preservative, one of those scary formaldehyde donors. I use it all the time and why you ask? ‘Cuz I aint scared a’ nuttin’.

[chemicalmatt]

@Ahassan22 At least you intelligently resolved the bad actor here by DoX - a good chemist you are. Many will just shake their heads and dial up this blogspot for answers. That BTC quat (Stepan?) is your issue when using with TEA. The white ppt may be the quat salting out. This raises the issue why adjust pH to the high side when a quat is the main surfactant (and disinfectant). No need to build pH like other HI&I products. The TEA is unnecessary. If you HAVE to include then add a hydrotrope to this like sodium cocoampodiacetate or a phospho-ester.