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  • Herbnerd

    Member
    December 8, 2024 at 11:33 am in reply to: Xylitol in toothpaste

    Hard to call this a toothpaste because there is no water in it - it looks like a toothpowder. Dip your wet toothbrush into the powder then brush as normal.

    When manufacturing toothpaste, I dissolve the xylitol into the water along with other water soluble ingredients, before adding the dry ingredients into the vacuum mixer.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    November 28, 2024 at 5:18 pm in reply to: %natural & % plant based calculations.

    If a quick and dirty calculation is what you need - go to the Natrue website and download the standards and the annexes and work through them. As long as you don’t make claims about meeting Natrue, you should be fine; but if you want to use Natrue certification, then an audit/fees etc will be required.

    Natural ingredients are pretty much anything plant based - where you may not consider the solvents, Natrue does consider extraction agents and the excipients/diluents. Check Annex 1

    Annex 2 Natural & nature identical minerals, pigments etc with the exception of some fluoride salts, pretty much anything that occurs in nature is permitted, though if it is not on the Natrue list, you may need to make a submission - I got potassium nitrate listed this way.

    Annex 3 - Derived natural - there are a ton of derived natural compounds here. Just search the list

    Annex 4 - permitted preservatives. This is minimal. There really isn’t much there.

    Download the label requirements and refer to table 1

    Natrue has tighter requirements than COSMOS - where sodium CMC is permitted under COSMOS, it is considered synthetic under Natrue.

    Happy to assist if you need further help.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    September 30, 2024 at 6:33 pm in reply to: Old Spice fragrance from the 1970s (or earlier?)

    Try Indian grocers who import their own stock. Old Spice made in India is, I believe, still made to the old formula and still popular.

    I buy it, and prefer it to the insipid Old Spice bought through regular distribution outlets.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    September 19, 2024 at 5:15 pm in reply to: Dubai - Cosmetic Registration

    I was asked to provide both sets of info. The amount of the ingredients used and the amount of the active too” Such as:

    Lauryl Glucoside 50% - 5%

    containing: Lauryl Glucoside 2.5%; Water 2.5%

    This may just be because our international marketing team didn’t understand what was required.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    August 19, 2024 at 8:29 pm in reply to: Toothpaste Formulation

    Toothpaste formulator here.

    1. Abrasive silica - are you targeting a specific RDA? In which case that will affect the choice of abrasive silica and the quantity used. If you are using Evonik material there is an RDA/PCR calculator on their silica site. There are a ton of different grades with different abrasivities. You can adjust or mix and match accordingly. You should ensure your toothpaste is safe - we send to University of Indiana’s Oral Health Research Institute for analysis

    2 Thickening silica - You will find that this will very much depend on the silica above and also the quantity used. For example if I use a low RDA/PCR silica it also has very low thickening ability (I’m using 7% Thickening silica like zeodent 165) whereas if I have a high abrasive silica, it does not appear to contribute to the viscosity in the same volume used, but I tend to use more of it - in one case I am using 20-24% abrasive silica to about 3% thickening silica.

    3. Sorbitol - Depends on the formula - I am using between 13-40%. A lot of this will depend on the aesthetics of the toothpaste. If you want a clear gel, you will need to match the refractive index of the silica. If you are titanium dioxide to give opacity or a FD&C colour this will be less important.

    4. Glycerol - We were using around 10-15% as a humectant to stop it drying out. We have used much more than that in some formulations.

    5. CMC - Probably about right. But you will need to trial this based on the formula. It will work with the thickening silica.

    6. Remaining ingredients - a lot of this will be down to your product preferences and performance. SLS might need adjusting up or down depending on how much it foams and whether you want less or more foam Colour is down to personal preference

    7. Fluoride - depending on your market, this may be considered a drug or a cosmetic product. Fluoride in toothpaste in USA, Japan, Korea is a drug, In EU, China, ASEAN Aus, NZ it comes under cosmetics provided 1000 ppm/g is not exceeded. Just check whether you are expressing ppm w/w or ppm w/v.

    Trouble is, like many things, there is no-one off the shelf formula. The guts of it look OK, but ultimately so much will depend on the materials you use and the trials you need to do to confirm this.

    With silicon dioxide gels, mix under vacuum, then once clear, mix the SLS in last and stir for a few minutes. Otherwise it will go opaque. This may not be a problem if you are producing a white gel.

  • If you search under Colecalcierol (British spelling) or Cholecalciferol (American spelling) you will see it is listed as an endocrine disrupter.

    This is probably the reason it is banned in cosmetics.

    https://edlists.org/the-ed-lists/list-i-substances-identified-as-endocrine-disruptors-by-the-eu

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    April 17, 2024 at 3:55 pm in reply to: Need help with Wig/Lace glue

    I suspect the INCI you have been given is incomplete. A quick search on google led me to this site selling wig glues.

    I had to giggle at the lay-language used especially for What is Acrylic? “Short Answer: a substance cooked up in labs.”

    I can only suggest spending more time researching similar products.

    https://blog.walkertapeco.com/our-10-most-commonly-used-ingredients/

  • Acid value, peroxide and anisidine are used as markers of rancidity in oils. The Peroxide and Anisidine is often used in a calculation called TOTOX (2PV+AV) and a TOTOX value above 26 is considered rancid.

    However, this is really useful in polyunsaturated oils such as fish oil, flax oils and generally oils used for nutrition rather than cosmetic use.

    I guess the manufacturer is just proving their oils are not oxidised in bulk, but I would think it is of little use in cosmetic applications

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    April 1, 2024 at 11:41 pm in reply to: MICA In Japan/China/Korea

    China is no problem - check the IECIC 2021 for the latest list of cosmetic ingredients

    Korea & Japan you need to check whether your product is classed as a quasi-drug. If it is, then you will need to find a pharmacopoeial monograph to support it. (I’ll save you time, there isn’t one for mica) in the Big 6 Pharmacopoeia permitted in Korea (KP, JP, BP, USP, EP and the German Pharmacopiea (I think that was the last one).

    Korea is very tough, even tissues are classed as quasi drugs. Japan does have some cosmetic regulations as well as quasi-drugs.

    Japanese Cosmetic Ingredient

    list https://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/2008/04/dl/tp0407-3a.pdf

    https://www.jcia.org/user/business/ingredients/namelist

  • There is a difference between salicylic acid and salicin - the latter being the salicylate compound found in plants.

    Salicin is a glycoside which is highly soluble in water (43 g/L) (not so much in ethanol at 3 g/L); however Salicylic acid has poor solubility in water (about 2 g/L)

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    January 9, 2024 at 2:23 pm in reply to: Tank cleaning compounds

    I asked this question a few months back as was guided to Alconox.com

    However, because we are working to Natrue standards (manufacturing toothpaste) it turned out we couldn’t use their products (or our local distributor was useless) so we use citric acid to dissolve the calcium carbonate based toothpastes only and just our existing approved surfactants should we need it.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    January 7, 2024 at 10:47 am in reply to: How do I dissolve iron oxide in oil to make a lip tint?

    You don’t dissolve the iron oxide - you just disperse it. You just need to ensure it is evenly dispersed and there are no lumps. Any lab mixer should be able to do this.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    November 20, 2023 at 11:01 am in reply to: Mineral Oil replacement

    I’ve used Capric/caprylic triglycerides as an alternative but I am working to Natrue and the other options were somewhat limited.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    November 6, 2023 at 12:59 pm in reply to: Sodium benzoate in toothpaste

    I’ve been developing toothpastes for a few years now. Most of our toothpaste does not use any sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate or any other preservative; however two of them do - our toothpaste is stable based on low water activity (0.2 from memory), high pH (calcium carbonate pastes are generally pH 8-8.5).

    We have tested to various PET/Log count methods (ISO, BP, USP etc) and all passed with the exception of the kids toothpaste.

    With the kids toothpaste we sought extra advice on pH from Indiana University’s Oral Health Research Institute as to the lowest pH we could go to - and the advise we received was surprisingly low; however, we ended up using potassium sorbate and targeting a pH of 5-5.5 and we passed PET/Log counts.

    Note: We develop to a natural standard and many options for effective preservation were not available to us.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 15, 2023 at 11:44 am in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    When we moved from our old manufacturing site to a new site; our QA manager at the time drew up new site plans and asked our auditor to review them. The auditor came up with a few things he would like to see and the QA manager updated the plans to include comments from the auditor.

    This was certainly cheaper than paying someone to do the plans for us.

    BTW - Operations manager took those plans and ignored them and built something incompatible with future plans. We moved into the new site and he promptly resigned!

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 12, 2023 at 11:59 am in reply to: Ingredient List

    No reliable way.

    Most companies hide their IP by stating ranges for their ingredients. Even with experience, you can sort of guess the approximate ratios - but may not be exactly right.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    May 27, 2024 at 12:07 pm in reply to: Product ideas to manufacture in a vertical vacuum mixer

    Unsure at the moment where the company wants to go - but I would guess they would prefer to look at contract manufacturing because adding to our own range seems to include months and months of indecision.

  • If you are doing an oil extraction of the plant, it is unlikely unless there are any oil-soluble salicylate compounds present. Salicylic acid is soluble at about 2.4% in oil; however the acid form may not be present in appreciable quantities to be considered therapeutic.

    Plants are full of a tonne of compounds - and depending on the plant (genus/species) and sometimes down to chemotypes of plants, also where it is grown, when it is harvested the target compounds may be present in greater or lesser quantities.

    You may be better buying a standardised extract (such as Salix alba bark extract standardised to X% salicin; but if you are using this is a topical cream the salicin won’t be broken down from its glycoside to the free acid.

    You could however, use another salicylate compound - such as methyl salicylate or wintergreen oil. You can buy synthetic methyl salicylate but wintergreen oil if you want natural.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    March 27, 2024 at 1:42 pm in reply to: The Body Shop

    Fair comment, I hadn’t considered that aspect of it. And I should, because for the last 5 years I have been fixing all sorts of issues from when the company I work for bought out the company for which I have been sorting out documentation, labels, international registration etc.

    I guess I assumed that wouldn’t have been so widespread an issue in the industry.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    March 24, 2024 at 1:06 pm in reply to: The Body Shop

    There is that - but also when a corporation buys out a company they impose their ethos over everything; this can be completely at odds with the original founder of the company.

    Body Shop was good in their day, but as consumers demand more of a story, more ‘natural’ ingredients and Body Shop failed to keep up with what their customers want. As such their customers deserted them in favour of brands that are more closely aligned to their ethics.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 19, 2023 at 11:36 am in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    China has recently published new standards for cosmetics and since our business exports toothpaste to China, this affects us. The new regulations were published late September.

    My boss is complaining that we should have let him know ‘months ago’ and not just now. The new regulations are to be implemented on 1st December this year. Our supposed head of innovation has no idea of innovation or regulation.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 18, 2023 at 11:52 am in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    We are not US based - but our company has decided that the USA is to be our next ‘home base’ and so far everyone is oblivious to MoCRA. I’ve discussed it, sent emails out defining what needs to be done and by when.

    Nope - I’m just putting in road-blocks. Oh well, they will find out soon enough and I have an email trail to back me up.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 18, 2023 at 8:22 pm in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    I actually had this discussion with my boss this morning. He was ‘unaware’ of this and wondered what we have done to mitigate the situation.

    Thankfully I have emails dating back almost a year appraising him of the situation.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 16, 2023 at 11:33 am in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    Absolutely.

  • Herbnerd

    Member
    October 16, 2023 at 11:32 am in reply to: Cost of floor plan for GMP Certified production facility

    I guess that is corporate life.

    One company buys out another, then employs ultracrepidarian managers who not only have no experience of the industry we are in but know enough to tow the company line with their pretty powerpoints and incomprehensible jargon where we have ‘medium term event horizons’ and the need to ‘litigate’ with other team members.

    Meanwhile, in this company there are two people who actually do have industry experience propping up an organisation with deep pockets and zero competency.

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