[domicanica]

Thanks a lot, I’m really excited about using it in my lotions, everything I’ve heard about it is amazing. Thanks for telling me about pentylene glycol too. I was previously chasing the “wet feel” with jojoba because that’s how it feels neat but it just didn’t do it for me in the actual products.

[domicanica]

thanks for the tip about pentylene glycol. you know, i think it’s you i saw on this forum talking about KW20… do you still enjoy using it in emulsions or have you found something better?

[domicanica]

@helenhelen i didn’t see those on the manufacturer website, thanks a lot!

@Pharma I’m going to do some more reading and see if I can apply what you’ve laid out above, thank you!

[domicanica]

I’m still a beginner so I don’t have any advice but something that stumped me especially in the beginning is, generally speaking HOW do you guys know how much of each ingredient to use (ie suggested usage rate might be 1-40% then i’ll see someone here say to use 2%), when to add it (ie some gums have to be slurried with glycerin, some have to be added before certain ingredients, some after). is this learned through experience, trial and error, manufacturer info, through courses, literature, like what?

[domicanica]

thanks a lot for the guidance everyone. also thank you @PhilGeis for the reality check because sometimes i buy into the marketing hype and i’m beginning to see that the info is often inaccurate.

i think i will try the sodium benzoate with benzyl alcohol or potassium sorbate and glycols. because i still have some dermosoft i’ll also try that with the dehydroacetic acid and glycols as suggested. i’ll also try phenoxyethanol and see how my skin handles it and determine which system i prefer.

[domicanica]

@MarkBroussard yes that’s correct. My market is generally unaccepting of chemicals so I’m trying to find alternative solutions. From brief research I can see that honeysuckle extract is somewhat similar to parabens but is this effective on its own?

I’ll do some research on dehydroacetic and see if I can find it and any of the glycols in small quantities, thanks a lot.

[domicanica]

@MarkBroussard that’s exactly what I was doing, but I just don’t have much faith in the information they’ve provided. i have a pH of ~5, i have my chelating agent and i’m using pump closures. i have 1388, GMCY and i know where to get 688 at repackager level, which is why i was wondering if i could use 688 and 1388 together…

[domicanica]

thanks guys

@PhilGeis i do have a chelator, thanks. from my research i know that sodium benzoate is commonly used with potassium sorbate and i think i’ve seen that blend on repacker websites. i’ll also see if i can get that benzyl alcohol as well just in case.

@Pharma, the glycols are just boosters right?

[domicanica]

@Pharma thanks. I have my doubts about dermosoft’s protection against mold as well and the brochure’s on the website don’t provide enough clarity for me to not be concerned. i really wanted to use it because it seemed like a good alternative but maybe it’s just time to find something else.

[domicanica]

@PhilGeis I don’t have an issue with parabens but I don’t care to use them because of their perception. I searched through some threads on here and saw that people were seeing irritation with phenoxyethanol so i don’t care to use it but i’m not completely turned off from it. i was interested in spectrastat but i can only find the version with glyceryl caprylate at the repackaged level.

[domicanica]

pH of both products is around 5

[domicanica]

oh, okay. have the products you used with it failed testing?

[domicanica]

emma1985 said:

domicanica said:

@emma1985 I have the dynamic minipro and i bought that exact beaker because I saw someone in another thread say that the minipro fits perfectly in the beaker, but the beaker is too narrow for the machine. are you using the standard attachment that it comes with?

I have used the regular attachment that it comes with many times with that beaker. Try rotating the MiniPro slightly, it only fits at a certain “angle.” Try rotating and inserting until it fits. 

This is so strange, I’m not getting it to fit at all. And the width of the beaker is about the width of the end piece of the attachment as well. Maybe something is off with the beaker, I don’t know…

[domicanica]

@emma1985 I have the dynamic minipro and i bought that exact beaker because I saw someone in another thread say that the minipro fits perfectly in the beaker, but the beaker is too narrow for the machine. are you using the standard attachment that it comes with?

[domicanica]

Could someone please clarify for me the part about Vitamin C Acetate not having anti-oxidant properties?

[domicanica]

Just 1-2%. 

[domicanica]

Thanks @singhc10 and @PhilGeis.

Another question: I am making 2 different products, a body wash and a body lotion. These will come in 5 different scent variations each, lavender, coconut, sandalwood, eucalyptus and unscented. Do I need to send one sample of each product in each scent or would it be sufficient to only send the unscented ones plus 1 scented body wash and 1 scented lotion?

[domicanica]

Just wanted to come back and say that after taking Perry’s advice and lowering my surfactant amount and reducing the glycerin and propanediol I’m much more pleased with my product. Really appreciate the help guys!

[domicanica]

@ngarayeva001thanks for commenting, cationic guar seems to be common so I’ll see if I can find some. What would you advise, to get a good foam? 

[domicanica]

Hi @Graillotion, this is good advice. The problem for me really just lies in figuring out which percentages/ratios I should be adding these ingredients in. I guess I’ll have to keep using trial and error until I figure something out.

I do find it interesting that that OGX uses SCI in their body wash. As far as I’m aware it has poor water solubility which I assume is why all my formulations using it have ended up with sediment to the bottom….

[domicanica]

@Perry I took your advice and lowered amount of surfactants I was using and it feels a lot better. I really appreciate your advice, thanks a lot.

[domicanica]

dropping gems as usual thank you @Perry . on that note, apart from judging off how my skin feels, and writing on my arm….how would i test the effectiveness of my products in terms of cleansing?

[domicanica]

Thanks @Perry. I honestly didn’t think that I had a high level of surfactants. I tried this based on a similar formulation from Innospec and it all adds up to 33% surfactants with ASM of 18% but I’ll go back and lower the surfactant amounts.

I haven’t really seen anything that uses the exact surfactants I have or have access to unfortunately, but I keep seeing SM cocoyl taurate referred to as having a “dense creamy foam” so I really didn’t think it would be so hard to achieve the results I want 😐

[domicanica]

Thanks @Abdullah. @Graillotion, I’m using distilled water so I’m sure 0.1% sodium phytate would be sufficient..

[domicanica]

Thanks for your input! How much do I add to formulas and where in the process do I add it in a body lotion and body wash?