[Gustavo]

For adult hair care routine average and suitable pH range would be 4,5.
Perhaps the shampoo could be a little higher (5,0 - 5,5).

In my opinion most critical reason to think of pH would be preservation! Chose wisely your preservative system and make sure it fits your pH range.

[Gustavo]

Thank you all! This is more interesting than I thought it would. When I started this discussion I was expecting to get some definition statements from English native speakers. But it seems to me this is another case of marketing approach with no actual meaning that consumers pretend to understand and we at the laboratory try our bests to comprehend and turn it into a winner formula.
Well the best option is to make it a quali research to get some definitions from both consumers and professionals.

[Gustavo]

At Walgreens.com the search for “leave in” returns several results.
Rinse-off is quite obvious it is any products that is rinsed off skin or hair.
I really want to understand these terms because I wrote a blog a few years ago trying to make them clear in portuguese. But after that some questions rose and I want to update the information.
Someone said once that “leave on” would suit skin care products and “leave in” would fit hair care products. I guess I’ll run a qualitative market research though…

[Gustavo]

I’m sorry I didn’t reply earlier but thank you Bill! I took your advise in consideration and decided to change the whole specification of the powder, leaving only the silica for 325 mesh.

[Gustavo]

Thank you all for your replies. That was really helpful!!!

[Gustavo]

Thank you guys! My first wish was to have all products made in US by a contract manufacture with raw materials supplied by US suppliers. That would make thing a lot easier and faster.

[Gustavo]

We have this product in Brazil for at least 15 years. I’m OK with it and I don’t worry about it Belassi.

My concern is that now we are about to export this product to US. So I’ve been trying to make sure if this amount o ethanol is allowed in US or if I must denaturate this alcohol.

[Gustavo]

Thanks for your replies!

I currently use pure ethanol usp grade. My doubt is even at 0,7% it is required to be denaturated?

[Gustavo]

When using HLB system I always consider the emulsifiers to be 25% of all oil phase as the start point. Example: if you are using 23% of lipids you should use 5,75% of emulsifiers matching the required HLB.

[Gustavo]

I have some experience in natural products development if I could be of any help. The issue is that don’t work in US so I don’t know much about US laws for naturals.

And the best comment award goes to Belassi! I’m laughing out loud.

[Gustavo]

Thank you all for sharing.

[Gustavo]

I’ve been developing conditioning shampoos with PQ-10 and PQ-7 for ages without incompatibilities.

But once the issue ir over I guess I can’t help much. But thank you all for this discussion. I liked to see the use of EGMS and recommendation of PEG derivatires. Don’t tell the world, but I do love them!

[Gustavo]

Rebecca, 

as a pharmacist I would totally disencourage you to add so many actives in one formulation. Even though is might be “just a cosmetic formula” there are still many possible adverse reactions to be avoided and the main one is dermatitis. Why all-in-one? There is no such thing as the one and perfect product. Even if you take a look at BB, CC or DD creams they are more marketing than actually 10 or more benefits in one single product. There are not 10 or eleven actives.

But if you wish to continue with your panacea, please be sure to have studied all benefits and possible interactions among all actives added to your formulation. Specially those acids.

[Gustavo]

I’m not sure if polyquat 7 is compatible with optiphen plus. In some cases there might be precipitation.

If you use the same tank for such a long time, perhaps this sludge is depositing all over the time once and again. Then suddenly (but not immediately) you notice them.

[Gustavo]

Just updating. I didn’t test silica, but the results with beeswax and rice wax were great! A very small amount thickened the entire product it is more a matter of adjusting the exact amount but the best tests were still the ones with some cetearyl alcohol.

[Gustavo]

I will.

Thank you Mark!

[Gustavo]

Companies in the northeast would be more interesting in the first moment.

[Gustavo]

Thank you for this discussion! I’m writing an article for my website and this link was extremely helpful.

I just would like to understand why marketers love to put all the blame in one molecule!

[Gustavo]

If your shampoo may be opaque, preffer ZPTO + Climbazol or ZPTO + Salicylic Acid. Both associations are more effective than only ZPTO. Lonza has a ZPTO encapsulated in lipids which claims to be more effective due to be biologically targeted.

But if you need a clear shampoo, Piroctone Olamine is the best option.

[Gustavo]

I never worked directly with this type of process. And now I’m studying ways to improve it. I’m working doing as you all mentioned. I thought there might be a better way.

Thank you all!

[Gustavo]

Thanks @Bobzchemist

[Gustavo]

@Ruben and @milliachemist you both were wrong. German deserved the trophy this time.

@pf_holden do you have any suggestion of silica for me to start with? There are many option from many suppliers.

[Gustavo]

Probably “lazy phase” refers to the lowest energy state of such phase. But @geiri you can microemulsify your oils but up to 0,5% total. Apart from viscosity an excess of oil in your formulation will also decrease foam.

Ajinomoto has an anionic surfactant family called Amilite and they improve foam when the formula contains oils. You could try it.

[Gustavo]

The thing here was not just to thicken a usual cream. It was a way to thicken a high oil hair care cream without cetearyl alcohol.

[Gustavo]

thank you all. Your replies were really helpful!