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@LincsChemist and @ngarayeva001 - Thank you both! I will begin testing formulas as soon as all of my materials arrive!

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@LincsChemist, I think that’s going to be my first attempt for sure. What % of PEG-20 did you use? I was thinking I’d start with 15%.

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Thank you @chickenskin! I’ll look into sourcing that material as an alternative.

Great resources @Perry! I’ll follow up on those and see what I can get.

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Hello! My name is Nika, and I’m a 10-year experienced Metallurgical Engineer in the Oil & Gas industry in Texas. My interest in formulating comes from the difficulties I’ve had finding products that work and won’t irritate/clog my very reactive skin. My focus right now is creating an oil-based cleanser that’s fragrance free, non-comedogenic, non-stripping/drying, removes makeup and sunscreen, washes away cleanly, and doesn’t leave a tight feeling behind on my skin - it’s a big ask, but hopefully not impossible! I’m not sure where this will take me yet; I know I have a lot to learn, so I plan to stay in the anhydrous world for a while and leave preservation science to the professionals. I look forward to being a part of this community!

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Thank you for sharing @ngarayeva001!

You say it’s not as good as Banila… How is it not as good? Is it the texture? Its ability to remove makeup? Does it not rinse away cleanly? Does it make your skin feel tight after rinsing?

Also, I was thinking I might try PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate as my secondary surfactant (after Cithrol 10GTIS). Do you have any thoughts on the PEG-6 vs. PEG-7 for this application?

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It’s an elusive formula…

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@ngarayeva001, thank you so much! I’m going to look into buying the PEG-20 tomorrow!

Since this is my first foray into formulating, I was planning to keep it simple - I just want to make a self-emulsifying oil cleanser. Balms sound a bit out of my league at the moment. So far, my planned formula is going to be:

Rice Bran Oil - TBD%
Passion Fruit Seed Oil - TBD%
Hemp Seed Oil - TBD%
PEG-20 - 10%
Polysorbate 80 or PEG-10 or Other - ??%

I’m using the Botanic Farm Cleansing Balm as a go-by because I like the way it emulsifies and rinses cleanly from my skin without leaving a tight feeling afterwards. I figured the emulsifiers were the main factor in my success with that cleanser, so I wanted to use them in formulating my own if possible. 

Thank you for the preservative info! I’ll definitely put some in anything I plan on putting my grubby fingers into.

I just bought the Matsuyama Hadauru Moisturizing Cleansing Gel, which uses PEG-20 and Sodium Surfactin as the emulsifiers. I’m excited to see how it compares in all of this once I receive it. Do you have any experience or thoughts on Poly 80 vs. Sodium Surfactin? Or on concentration of either in a formula like this? Also, are the materials being measured in volume or weight?

Thank you again for your help! Good luck on your quest to formulate a cleansing balm! I may join you in the future…

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Hello @ngarayeva001 and anyone else who might see this! I’d like to jump in - I’m interested in making my own cleansing oil. My favorite cleansing balm (Botanic Farm Grain Ferment Cleansing Sherbet) uses PEG-20 glyceryl triisostearate and PEG-10 isostearate as the main emulsifiers. It cleanses fully and rinses away without feeling like it leaves anything behind or stripping my skin. However, I recently realized it has fragrance in it, and I’ve been trying to eliminate fragrance as a potential irritant (I have reactive skin and have been seeing a flare-up of issues recently). I’ve noticed if I leave this balm on my skin too long before rinsing, I get a bit of an irritated/warming sensation on my face, and I’d like to get away from that.

I’d like to use those two emulsifiers (PEG-20 and PEG-10) in my formula, but I’m new to formulating and am having trouble finding a supplier for either material. Which leads to my main question:

1. Do you have any recommended suppliers, specifically for the PEG-20/Cithrol 10GTIS? After reading your posts, I’m considering replacing the PEG-10 with Polysorbate 80, especially if it makes sourcing materials easier.

I’m planning on making an oil blend similar to this one that contains rice bran, passion fruit, and hemp seed oils as my base. Overall, this oil cleanser was extremely enjoyable to use - it smelled like black tea, had great spreadability, and didn’t sting or cloud my eyes - but it made my cheeks feel tight after use, even after applying layers of humectants and moisturizers. It made me concerned that the Cromollient SCE was either too harsh for my skin or leaving something behind (or both). 

Two more questions:

1. Do I not need to use a separate preservative? Are there already enough preservatives in the individual components that it’s not an issue? Or is some other mechanism at work here? I never see preservatives mentioned in people’s oil cleanser formulas.
2. Do you have any suggestions for the concentration if I want to use PEG-20 as the main emulsifier in my oil cleanser? The Cithrol 10GTIS data sheet says it can be used in concentrations of 5-30%, but that’s a big range… I was thinking something like 10-15%?

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I appreciate any help you can provide.