[EVchem]

depending on the company you want to buy from, you could ask them if they have any information on their products regulatory status  in  whatever countries you are interested in.

otherwise you could search each countries regulatory information which should be free and open access (ex health canada)

[EVchem]

You can try sepiplus 400 (Polyacrylate-13 (and) Polyisobutene (and) Polysorbate 20), I’m not the biggest fan but it should cover a lot  of the points you are asking about- I’ve emulsified about 24% oil with 3% of sepiplus

[EVchem]

There are people with a much stronger background on here that could give you more qualified advice. 
  but here are my  initial thoughts:
- I don’t know what peptide is in peptide powder but generally I’m skeptical of peptides doing much in cosmetics 
- you can choose a variety of different molecular weight hyaluronic acids. The higher the molecular weight, the more it will just sit on top of the skin and the more it will form a thick gel when mixed with water.
- if you want to tackle redness i would recommend niacinamide over mugwort powder but that’s only because i’m more familiar with niacinamide for that application. 

 all that said, I’m not sure how any of these will perform when combined with the clays. Clays like bentonite swell and may reduce the ‘efficacy’ of some of your actives

[EVchem]

I would say the preservative would be worthwhile because many of these ingredients may come with a heavy microbial burden unless you are getting irradiated powders.

[EVchem]

I think Salvona is able to do the encapsulation, the actual spraying you would have to find someone else. They are based in New Jersey
https://www.salvona.com/custom-encapsulation

[EVchem]

no EDTA is a chelator that will bind to metal ions, not the same as preventing microbial growth

[EVchem]

@mikethair they are slightly different compositions and pH- it’s also what Schulke recommended to us when we mentioned the false negatives we saw on duo

[EVchem]

 We used to use duo and we got some false negatives- do you have access to the mikrocount combi. Would the lab be using the same kind of agar/media as the mikrocount? Different media could be a variable here right?

Can the lab perform any identity testing

[EVchem]

I know the solubility of the phenoxyethanol/EHG in water is not great but if they are using the standard 1% 9010  it should be fine?

Or maybe the rose absolute has something to do with it, I don’t know much about the range of variation you can see with botanical extracts but I’d guess it can be pretty wide

[EVchem]

I would try a different surfactant/emulsifier, preferably a combination.  I’ve used Polyglyceryl 4-oleate and polysorbate 80 together  in a oil cleanser and it worked out nicely.  HLB is not a perfect system but going for a combination of something hydrophilic  (higher HLB) and something hydrophobic (lower HLB) should help

[EVchem]

I also think thickening the water phase could be helpful, with that much sodium benzoate you probably need additional carbomer.  You could always add the TEA to the hot water phase A and disperse the carbomer in the oil phase so it thickens during emulsification.

940 is the one processed with benzene right?  I doubt it’s very resistant to salts but I don’t know what else you have available.

Honestly carbomer and the sodium benzoate are probably  not a good combination. The Sodium benzoate will work better the lower the pH (at least below 5.5) but the carbomer will thicken best close to pH 6-7. I would swap one of those out. 

[EVchem]

I have too many questions but hopefully it will help you find any other issues

In what way is it not stable? Does it form properly and then fail overnight at room temperature, or after some time in an oven? Does it just not come together? 

Which carbomer are you using?  To me 1% is the upper limit, is this much necessary because you have a decent amount of salt (sodium benzoate)?

Most importantly, how are you mixing- can you give a  breakdown of what phases and what order you are adding things in, what temperature you are heating each phase to, etc?

[EVchem]

Oh boy.. I have a couple comments to start 

1. Which form  of Vitamin E are you using? Typically when we post on this forum you’ll get best responses  if you post INCI names. Vitamin E could mean Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, etc. 
2. you have no emulsifier to help your ‘vitamin E’ , oil, and dimethicone  so yes things will separate
3. If you are using benzyl alcohol to help incorporate ingredients then it is now part of your formula and you need to factor that percentage in.

[EVchem]

There has been plenty of discussion on natural preservatives in this forum.  Take a look at this thred that was updated recently and be aware of the risk you may be taking by choosing a marketing claim over product safety
https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/comment/39016#Comment_39016

You’re gonna have to define what you think is natural and/or what standard you are following.

I have seen spectrastat recommended on here along with some others

[EVchem]

@ngarayeva001 at upwards of 50% in the formula though it would get used up quick right?

We actually had a sample on hand so I tried something similar:
Plantapon AF               55
CCT                            14.5
Argan Oil                     18
Rosemary EO               0.5
Castor Oil                    11
Euxyl PE 9010 (Phenoxyethanol/ Ethylhexylglycerin) 1

There was foam but it was  on the smaller side, a little creamy (sorry I am not very experienced with cleansers so my vocab is lacking). I attached a picture, not sure if that helps or what the proper method for foam testing is

[EVchem]

@Meemcha we have used it at 18-20% in anhydrous product. Can’t speak much to performance as we didn’t perform any testing, the client just wanted a stable Vitamin C form with hiiigh percentage. it has not discolored in 50C oven  and it has been almost 5 months

[EVchem]

Do you have anything to monitor humidity?

[EVchem]

Your location will make a big difference here. In the US sunscreen is a drug so the costs to produce will likely be higher  vs in other countries where sunscreen may be considered cosmetic. The only company I know of likely won’t do a run for 5,000 as I think their MOQ is 10k

[EVchem]

I work for a CM so  the situation is a little different, but I  can give you my perspective
1) we charge anywhere from 1,000-3,000 for the “R&D fee”. This is just for developing the formula to the clients request and includes PET testing. In my opinion it is a little low, esp for some cases where the client requests that all raw materials be vegan or ~natural~

2) right now we have an NDA available to clients and then a concept brief/project scope that outlines estimated launch dates, quantities, price point, claims, packaging.

3) Our standard practice is that we own the formula unless the client comes to us with a fully-fleshed formula that requires only minor tweaks at most or unless the client chooses to purchase the rights to the formula (we charged 7-10,000). If they request a material we can’t use for another project we also tell them the can purchase the material exclusively or just charge it as an excess material fee.

4) we also do 3 revisions before charging another fee, but sales doesn’t always keep to this (setting up a plan is one thing, but getting our sales team to follow through is a separate issue). If we have the packaging the client desired we try to do at least one sample in that but otherwise we keep to 15-30g samples. We also attach a form with the INCI deck since we inevitably get a client who says they like the sample until they read the label and ask for us to remove something integral to the base.

[EVchem]

I have had formulas with ferulic discolor, but there might be other suspects. You’ll get more help if you post the whole formula

[EVchem]

That is a huge undertaking. I think this will be pretty location dependent- where are you planning to put this facility? Will you work with formulators remotely or bring them onsite? Are you going to manufacture, fill, and ship product and over what distances? How will you market your products? There are so many questions to address!

You can look at these posts which should provide some starting points:
https://chemistscorner.com/what-are-the-startup-costs-for-a-cosmetic-business/

https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/641/laboratory-set-up-equipment-list#latest

[EVchem]

@Pharma what makes sucrose laurate infamous?

[EVchem]

You won’t use any preservatives? Not even those commonly used in the food/beverage industry?

I think you’re asking for trouble

[EVchem]

https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/764/pcc-oil-water-emulsions/

I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for but the article has some very basic examples and mentions an expired patent so that could be helpful.

[EVchem]

Why do you use 50C? 50C is a bit high for most products, we use it in our lab for two reasons- being short on time and  replicating certain warehouse conditions.  If a product fails 50 I don’t consider it an automatic need for reformulation.