[crystabel]

Dtdang said:

The article has some valuable points:
we need to understand the % fatty acids profile of natural oils we used to formulate. Never overload the oleic acids that can cause acne, dark spots,…we also need to understand the active ingredients that can effect the skin in the good ways.

Thank you for this comment, it is good to have this point reiterated and to have it clear in my mind when analyzing formulas. Although I don’t formulate myself I have a keen interest in chemists and as a Green Practitioner of Make-up Artistry I have to look at the back of many many different packets of products to quickly figure out which ones are well formulated.

I will try to get together some sort of simple list of a way of working out if it is balanced. Have you personally come across any common mistakes in this sort of formulation?

Thank you also Mark for your comments on the same subject.

PS

Mark, I have seen many many formulations with Aloe Vera Juice and it is only labeled with organic credentials, no mention of ‘aloin free’. Is it worth emailing the brands that contain this or do you recommend avoiding all together?

Perhaps the organic credentials signify a more careful extraction of just the gelly and not the Aloin part.

MarkBroussard said:

She has some good points regarding her list of “do not included ingredients” … Essential Oils, unbalanced Linoleic/Oleic Oil combinations, overall pH balance and her products are well-formulated for the most part.  They appear to be 2 phase systems as she does not use emulsifiers, so they must be shake well before use to mix the oil and water phases.

Where she is going off the rails, and is it pure marketing schtick on her part, is that chemists do not have the skill set to formulate good cosmetic products nor understand skin biology as she completely disregards the fact that most all learning is self-taught and is a life long experience.  The implication is that because you have a degree in chemistry, that you are incapable of learning or understanding skin biology and that you stop learning at the end of your degree, which is patently absurd.  But, again, that is part of her marketing.

I do have to laugh at her dig at the profit motivation of skin care developers when her own products are priced at $100 to $200 per ounce and require no more skill than pouring a fixed set ingredients into a beaker.  All one need do is some research on ingredients and ingredient combinations to develop a similar suite of products … basically, that’s something any trained scientist in chemistry, biology and related fields is capable of doing.  I mean, how many years of scientific training does one need to come to the conclusion that putting Cilantro Extract in a skin care concoction could be beneficial to the skin?

By the way, someone should inform her that Aloe Vera Juice has absolutely no scientifically-proven skin care benefit, and can potentially be harmful if it is not aloin-free.

[crystabel]

Thank you Mark for the informative comment, really interesting to hear your opinion on the formulating skill from a cost/skills analysis perspective.

MarkBroussard said:

She has some good points regarding her list of “do not included ingredients” … Essential Oils, unbalanced Linoleic/Oleic Oil combinations, overall pH balance and her products are well-formulated for the most part.  They appear to be 2 phase systems as she does not use emulsifiers, so they must be shake well before use to mix the oil and water phases.

Where she is going off the rails, and is it pure marketing schtick on her part, is that chemists do not have the skill set to formulate good cosmetic products nor understand skin biology as she completely disregards the fact that most all learning is self-taught and is a life long experience.  The implication is that because you have a degree in chemistry, that you are incapable of learning or understanding skin biology and that you stop learning at the end of your degree, which is patently absurd.  But, again, that is part of her marketing.

I do have to laugh at her dig at the profit motivation of skin care developers when her own products are priced at $100 to $200 per ounce and require no more skill than pouring a fixed set ingredients into a beaker.  All one need do is some research on ingredients and ingredient combinations to develop a similar suite of products … basically, that’s something any trained scientist in chemistry, biology and related fields is capable of doing.  I mean, how many years of scientific training does one need to come to the conclusion that putting Cilantro Extract in a skin care concoction could be beneficial to the skin?

By the way, someone should inform her that Aloe Vera Juice has absolutely no scientifically-proven skin care benefit, and can potentially be harmful if it is not aloin-free.

[crystabel]

Thank you Dr Catherine Pratt for your passion and knowledge on apoptosis as
programmed cell death, very interesting to hear about how people get
these details wrong and it is generally not pick up on in a consumer
context.

Dr Catherine Pratt said:

Oh you guys know I get a bit Passionate about things!

[crystabel]

Thank you Perry for your answer, very informative to hear about how the subjects cross over in the final year and your opinion on exfoliation.

Perry said:

If someone is trying to sell you something, their opinion about a subject should be viewed suspiciously. This is not to say that the person is lying, but you can be certain you are not getting the full picture of whatever subject they are opining on.

I was a biology major then switched to chemistry in my final year in college. Every chemistry major had to take biology too and had to learn how to read biology research papers. Her claims about the abilities of different scientists are ridiculous.   

Also, practically nothing I learned in biology or chemistry was directly helpful in my job as a cosmetic chemist or formulator. College does not teach you about specific ingredients, formulating, what’s best for skin or hair or anything else about making products.

There are some valid points about essential oils, extracts, etc. but there is a lot of BS too. For example physical scrubs do not cause cell death & foaming has nothing to do with surfactant’s “destruction of skin”

Overall, I find the author of this paper to be immature and insecure.