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  • Graillotion

    Member
    April 8, 2025 at 3:34 pm in reply to: Natural and Organic Beauty

    Pure lies…. you forgot to mention preservation. 😂

    How many emulsions of small brand have you not seen, that did not even include an emulsifier.

    They believe the FDA only has time to fry the big fish. 😉

    As they are selling to a ‘special’ clientele, they provide a special LOI. 😂

  • Graillotion

    Member
    April 5, 2025 at 3:26 pm in reply to: Best humectant for lip balm

    Hyaluronic Acid, Oleo-HA | Lotioncrafter

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 27, 2025 at 3:27 pm in reply to: Dark and Moody

    You love your Benzyl benzoate? 😉

    • This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by  Graillotion.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 25, 2025 at 3:09 am in reply to: Vegan NAG

    GlucoBright™ (Acetyl Glucosamine)

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 21, 2025 at 4:05 pm in reply to: Ceramides are incredibly expensive

    Pseudo-Ceramides

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 20, 2025 at 4:23 am in reply to: Natural oils and hair growth

    If they had discovered an oil that grew hair….think about it just for a moment… they would not be pedaling their wares online. They would be billionaires, living in Hawaii near me. Nuff said. 😂

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 14, 2025 at 8:12 pm in reply to: Electrolyte tolerant polymers

    As you did not give enough detail on what the intended use was…..it as difficult to give a thought. In the last year, I have almost swapped out all members of this category with Hydroxypropyl starch phosphate. Granted I only make emulsions. I was directed this way with my new affinity to cationic SPDMA, so this was the natural fit, and also allowed the inclusion of Sodium lactate in a formula.

    The polymeric companies… that advertise … ‘electrolyte tolerant’ … is often just good comedy. A relative term. Yes… about any polymeric is ‘more tolerant’ than Aristoflex AVC…. but is that ‘additional tolerance’ worth anything and the end of the day…. ‘Ell No!

    If you follow the normal formulating path/steps …. you often have no idea that you toasted your polymeric. There is an easy method to test. Just take water and a formula plausible amount of the gelling agent you are considering, hydrate, and evaluate viscosity. Then add the suspect ingredients….and see if any viscosity is lost. This will manifest almost immediately…..no waiting around.

    Good luck.

  • Graillotion

    Member
    February 22, 2025 at 3:22 am in reply to: What am I doing wrong? Moisturiser splitting/creaming

    I saw a gelling agent…. GMS, and a fatty alcohol and a thickener…(stearic).

    I wouldn’t expect that to hold much together. Stearic does not emulsify until it is converted to a stearate soap at high pH. (I missed the part about pH?) Were you counting on that?

    How are competitive benchmarks held together?

    • This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Graillotion.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    February 17, 2025 at 10:43 pm in reply to: Using Magnesium oxide in deodorant

    Most beginners use magnesium hydroxide… maybe if you use that as your query you will get returns.

    Magnesium oxide when combined with water (sweat) has a pH of 10-11. The reason your do not get the pH burns that you got from baking soda is that it is far less soluble in water than the BS is. BS releases that horrible pH on the unspecting skin….all at once. The mags, due to solubility….might for lack of a better term …. be considered ‘timed release’ high pH.

    You seem to be grasping at random concepts you have seen around the net. TEC needs a low pH to function. You are not providing it, so it does nothing of what you think it is supposed to do. It is simply a high-cost ester in your package. Drop it.

    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Graillotion.
    • This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Graillotion.
  • I am sure that the food industry follows the cosmetic industry in regard to ‘tricks of the trade’. In cosmetics it is often the case that Vit E is added (adulterated) to oils that have sat in the system longer than was initially intended. Hence sometimes by the time it gets to the end user… adding any additional Vit E is already in the realm of pro-oxidant vs the desired realm of antioxidant.

    Hence, when I preserve oils that don’t originally source from ICSC out of Denmark, I focus more on ROE (Rosemary Oil Extract…. Not rosemary EO!), Ascorbyl palmitate, and one final option (that I don’t use) is sodium phytate. Since oils sourced from ICSC have unlikely (assuming no middleman) been adulterated with MT-E …. one can safely add a small amount of MT-E and still get the good from it.

    Mixing more stable oils…. do not enhance the stability of the less stable oils…. it simply reduces their inclusion rate… (not a bad concept).

    Oxidation…. can be visualized by a snowball rolling down (yeah, I see the irony of this illustration to someone from India) a hill. It starts small and increases in mass and speed. Oxidation is the same! Hence starting with the freshest oils…and treating them the moment you receive them (vs when you use them in formula) are all proactive steps you can take. Buy the smaller quantities, so you use them faster and replace them sooner. Last, but surely the most important….store your oils in the refrigerator.

    Good Luck.

  • Graillotion

    Member
    February 14, 2025 at 11:25 pm in reply to: Best emulsifiers combinaison

    I am at a complete loss. Why are you asking your emulsifier to bring the viscosity? I couldn’t imagine a scenario I would not appreciate more. Emulsifiers generally don’t feel that nice. They have ONE JOB…. to emulsify the phases. Let them do their job. You use only the amount it takes to accomplish a stable emulsion. What if you want a thin emulsion…and your emulsifier brough viscosity?

    This is why the 165 is sooooooooooo appreciated globally….. it allows an incredible range of viscosity; you simply thicken to taste. You thicken with things that feel nice….NOT emulsifiers. 🤮

    • Graillotion

      Member
      February 15, 2025 at 12:58 am in reply to: Best emulsifiers combinaison

      The best emulsifier combo is…. the one that holds things together for longer than the shelf-life of the product. It is also one that gives you the freedom to create any viscosity your project calls for. I use 165 to make thin lotions….or the thickest of creams….. because it holds thing together. The viscosity…..and how that is achieved….is a completely separate topic.

  • How about ethanol? That is so safe…I’ve actually even heard of people drinking it. 🤣

  • Graillotion

    Member
    January 7, 2025 at 3:12 am in reply to: US FDA recalls of cosmetic and personal products from 2011-2023

    Looks like Gram - stole the show! 😉

  • Graillotion

    Member
    December 30, 2024 at 7:57 pm in reply to: Mineral Oil W/O emulsions

    Not an expert….but I would say that it falls squarely on the shoulders of being a petroleum derivative. When you rename it something like ‘baby oil’ 😂 … then you’ll fool at least 75% of them.

    I am always tickled to see them flock to squalane…. another hydrocarbon. Isn’t that just squalene that has been processed like margarine? 😂 (Hydrogenated squalene.)

    In this industry, once you get a ‘black eye’, it is very tough to make a comeback…and this is exacerbated by the fact that the big boyz don’t even try…..they cave-in to the whiners….instead of attempting the more difficult course of education.

    Oh well…………… (Maybe you can call it dinosaur based squalane….and you’ll have a real hit?) 😂

  • Graillotion

    Member
    December 19, 2024 at 3:30 am in reply to: Phenoxy and ethoxylated surfactants.

    Dr Geis, were you willing to take a shot at this question….maybe establish a ‘level’ of ethoxylation that phenoxy can be compatible with, or maybe the better wording might be…. not compromised? @PhilGeis

  • Graillotion

    Member
    April 11, 2025 at 1:00 am in reply to: One of my favourite essential oils

    How are 196 random, unvetted chemicals….on anyone’s ‘must have list’. No thanx!

    I’m a little dull…which of those 196 should I consider….a must have?

    GC_VetiverEO

    • This reply was modified 25 minutes ago by  Graillotion.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 31, 2025 at 3:21 pm in reply to: Structure XL: Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate

    Means they are different in every regard. Different does not mean better or worse….just means different.

    Haptics are 98% subjective. Test it.

    I use Hydroxypropyl starch phosphate almost exclusively now, and I consider myself pretty picky. I was actually pushed into it…with my affinity to cationic co-emulsifiers and use of electrolytes.

  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 27, 2025 at 3:40 pm in reply to: Thickener for body lotion

    GMS SE is just GMS that they already turned into a soap. So, if you use at lower pH’s it functions as GMS. If you use at elevated pH’s, it remains an anionic emulsifier.

    So yes… you can ‘un-make’ the soap with the use of low pH.

    Inolex is one of the few companies…that will actually tell the truth in their marketing blurbs (sometimes).

    • This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by  Graillotion.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    March 26, 2025 at 2:21 pm in reply to: My Deodorant Stick is sticky and doesn’t glide easily

    Of course TEC will not work at ALL for you. It is an ester of citric acid. You have a VERY high pH product. TEC won’t do what it is supposed to do above a pH of 5.5. The only purpose it has in a deo, is to maintain a low pH. You can laugh for the rest of the day now.

    You cannot mix and match…. concepts you find across the internet. You must pick a theme….and stick with it.

  • You seem to have a limited understanding of ingredients. I suspect you are thinking that Coco betaine and betaine are the same thing. Nothing could be more different. Betaine is a natural osmolyte humectant, that is just a magical (and edible) ingredient in skincare. I actually include 1 tsp of it in my morning coffee each day, as well as 2-3% in about every formula I make.

    I work with a beginner group, and they often assume if spelling is similar, or if part of the word overlaps…. they must be the same. Nope….not even close.

    The betaine in that listing also goes by the name of betaine, betaine anhydrous, or TMG betaine (Trimethylglycine). On an inci….is simply lists as betaine. Coco betaine can NOT be listed that way, correctly.

    Millions of Americans eat betaine, each and every day. Try some! Betaine Anhydrous Trimethylglycine (TMG) | TMG Supplement

    • This reply was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by  Graillotion.
    • This reply was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by  Graillotion.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    February 2, 2025 at 4:27 am in reply to: Looking for dry & non-greasy emollient - any recommendations?
  • Graillotion

    Member
    January 21, 2025 at 3:57 pm in reply to: Preservative systems for skin creams

    She is already chatting with one of the world’s foremost experts on preservation! Dr Geis, literally wrote the book! 😉

  • Graillotion

    Member
    December 17, 2024 at 9:53 pm in reply to: PRESERVATIVE

    The reason people start with PE 9010…. it is one of the few….socially acceptable preservatives that does a good job on the dreaded gram- bacteria. The other loose ends….are easy to address with a little bolstering. I can’t think of a better….more socially acceptable start point to get Gram -.

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