[DAS]

It might, but that’s physics, so even if you reduce the gel and lower the viscosity a little bit you still have tiny air bubbles trapped. If there is air, agitation and high viscosity there is nothing you can do.

[DAS]

7.8%?. That’s a lot, I never use over 1%. And you have a ph restriction. 
You could use CMC, or HMC instead, it is more aproppiate for that use, but in the end you will have the same issue. 
If you want a gelly product I suggest more surfactants and more salt. Perhaps 35% ALS and 1,5% salt. You could play with the % till you get the consistence you want.

If you can’t you could do the batch, let it defoam overnight, and then add a prehidrated thickener and mix as shortly as you can.

[DAS]

I was at the supermarket yesterday and the latest marketing hooks were the “detox” shampoos. Meaning, cutting out sterates to make a transparent product and reducing the active matter. So it’s basically SLS, CAPB, salt or a polyquat, and fragance. Oh yes, and parabens free. Most of what I saw had a blend of thiazolinones as preservative. And the most expensive ones had an oil/butter like karite, coconut, aloe vera or whatever. Those had “natural” written, and in small print “derivatives of natural… blah blah”, so technically they are not lying.

So basically they are selling a cheaper product with a huge profit thanks to marketing. Those were more expensive than regular shampoos  

[DAS]

@Perry Logically speaking, wouldn’t the sillicone, due to it’s high heat tolerance, act as a bareer at all?. Or at least slow down a little any effect the heat might have on the product?.

[DAS]

I was wondering, where and how do you homogenize?. Given the thixotropy of the shampoo I guess you are mixing at 40-60 RPM. Depending on the configuration of your homogenizer and the paddle setup you must consider specific weight as a potential problem. 

[DAS]

@em88 what’s the cosmetic benefit of salt?. None, it’s just a cheap thickener. You use it, I use it and many use it for that reason.

So when I see most of the big players do the same it really bothers me, because they have the resources and dozens of alternatives, and in the end the consumer is paying to watch cristiano ronaldo kick a bottle on TV instead of a better shampoo.

[DAS]

@Derya I was thinking BHA/BHT for oxidation. I think Phenoxyethanol is boosted with Potassium Sorbate, if parabens and thiazolinones are out of the question.

By the way, won’t it be too foamy?. I use around 20-30% of alcohol to kill the foam (it produces foam anyway if you shake it), and BHT. Lasts for about 1yr, and the oils would oxidize a little bit and get color, the transparency is not affected. I guess you could fix that by adding BHT but since I don’t store for longer than a month I never tried.

[DAS]

That deppends on the oils you use. I’d say that you need to focus on oxidation, and given the water based nature of your formula perhaps a blend of biocides would be more accurate. 

[DAS]

Well, one way to know what’s sold in your area is the supermarket. Read the labels of all the shampoos, and take pictures for future references. In my case for example the main ingredients are SLS, CAPB, Cocoamide MEA in some cases and sadly Sodium chloride. Oh, and for Belassi’s indignation thiazolinones as preservative. I still can’t believe worldwide companies use salt… 

Anyway, do some research of your findings and read as much as you can to understand all the components. Then you will have better arguments when you talk to your suppliers, and it will be much easier to find new ones.

[DAS]

It looks like a laundry formula, I would’t wash my hair with that.

http://www.kaochemicals-eu.com/formulation/conditioning-shampoo-3

In that page you can find a couple more formulas for shampoo and other purposes. Its a well known and respected manufacturer and the formulas are tested. 

[DAS]

A 10% is too much, I’d think your product didn’t homogenize, seems more like phase separation. It is a cold process or do you heat up the components?. Even if theoretically the components would blend @RT, sometimes they don’t. It happend to me with a similar formula, but I was using DEA. 

You should take some right after blending in a test tube and see how it behaves.