[KatieW]

Thank you so so much for this - soooo super helpful and I really appreciate your time 🙂

[KatieW]

I just want to jump in and echo everything that has been said by everyone above.

I have been following this forum for a few months, became a member yesterday and put my first post up yesterday. I have gained so much from this forum over the past few months and not even 24 hours has past and I have already gained an understanding as to what I am doing wrong regarding one of my formulas! I have honestly been tearing my hair out with this formula and ended up feeling lost and deflated. I now feel refreshed with new ideas and now understand why something isn’t working. This is all thanks to you wonderful people who care and take the time to point out issues and stear people in the right direction.

You are all so knowledgable and this forum is such a wonderful idea. So thank you, so much. 

[KatieW]

Thank you all so much for your wise words!! This is so helpful.

I was trying to create a conditioning shampoo as ordinary shampoos leave my hair so dry.

OK understood re. the argan oil and I shall remove this then if it’s totally pointless.

It’s really annoying about the CAPB as the ASM % is quite low for this formula yet the foaming is brilliant! Do you think Lauryl Glucoside will be just as good in terms of foam and will I need to heat this in a seperate phase to the BTMS/cetyl alcohol and the water phases as I understand this is more like a paste?

Thanks again so much for your time, I really appreciate it. 

[KatieW]

OK if I substitute the Benzly Alcohol for Sodium Benzoate/Potassium Sorbate that should work better?

Ideally I don’t want to substitute the Btms 25 due to it’s conditioning effect it has on my hair. Is there anything else I can do to stabilise the formula?

Thanks so much for your help! 

[KatieW]

I have literally just discovered today that it’s the Vitamin E oil! I made a batch without it and it’s crystal clear. I only add the Vitamin E oil to the formula, to prevent the EOs from oxidising. Do I still need to keep the Vitamin E in the formula for this very reason? Is there something I can use as an alternative? Thanks so much!

[KatieW]

Hi Perry - thank you so much for this!! I’ve just checked and the preservative is only affective for formulations with a PH under 5.5. I had completely overlooked this! The PH of my finished product is 6.8!! Does this mean that my preservative is completely in-effective as a result of the PH? In which case, if I adjust the PH with Citric Acid and bring it down to PH 5, it will fix the issue? Do you think I should add a secondary preservative or do you think adjusting the PH with the current one will be sufficient? So sorry for all the questions and thank you so much for your time.

[KatieW]

Ok Phil, thank you so much for your thoughts.

[KatieW]

Thank you so so much for your reply! Would you suggest adding an additional preservative or changing the preservative entirely? Also, if the carrageenan is causing the smell, is there anything that I can do to counteract that? (Unfortunately the end formula gives a completely different result to the hair when I remove it). Are there any solubilizers that you would recommend? Thank you again, so much for your time.