[LuisJavier]

I’ve used tea tree eo when I had a finger infection starting at the border between my nail and cuticle. It was green and was getting bigger day by day. Purely anecdotal but after a few drops of pure eo for about 2 days, the green colour totally disappeared. This was about a year ago. Also own essential oils for perfumery. 

[LuisJavier]

just found this on the same link above: “ Tocopheryl acetate is prefered over Tocopherol in skincare products because the phenolic hydroxyl group is blocked, providing a less acidic product that has far greater antioxidant effects, skin protection and regenerating ability and protection against the sun’s ultraviolet rays.”

[LuisJavier]

MarkBroussard said:

@Doreen:

Phenthyl Alcohol is an excellent addition as a preservative ingredients and you can use it as a direct substitute for EHG.  It is particularly strong against yeast/mold.  Your best approach is to make a concoction of Phenethyl Alcohol (50%) and Propanediol or Pentylene Glycol (50%) to enhance solubility.  Drop this mixture in at 1% to 1.5%.

When I have trouble with mold, Phenethyl Alcohol is my go to ingredient, hands-down.

Is Phenoxyethanol unlike phenylethyl alcohol in that the former is weak against moulds whilst the latter is strong? 

[LuisJavier]

letsalcido said:

I didn’t know that, so I did a bit of research and it seems that at the < 1% topical should be pretty safe. However, I suppose better safe than sorry. I am just curious to learn myself if this is something I should be cautious of now for my own products.

I found a study about a drug (Kenalog) that reported issues https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16508436/ and determined that at the current usage it does not present toxicity in rabbits.

That drug uses 0.99% Benzyl Alcohol as preservative and it’s injected into the eye https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/intravitreal-kenalog-injections

It’s possible that whatever actives you put in the serum would be potentially more damaging and prompt the user to rinse thoroughly.

I have this link for you that I remember reading on benzyl alcohol which is one of the reasons I avoid using it as a preservative in water-based skincare products: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzyl_alcohol

If you scroll down to and read the contact dermatitis and safety sections, you will see my concerns. 

[LuisJavier]

The only issue issue that I can see using benzyl alcohol with my face serum is if a drop of it were to accidentally go into someone’s eye or if the serum is used very close to the eye area as I read that benzyl alcohol can cause death to corneal cells. I don’t know if this should be a cause for concern. Thank you for the link that you shared. 

[LuisJavier]

Also don’t mind using sodium Benzoate but would like to avoid formaldehyde-releasers, and potassium Sorbate (due to some people’s faces going red). 

[LuisJavier]

As much as anecdotal evidence may be overlooked here, I used peppermint oil in a beard oil and I really noticed an improvement in the lower cheek area where the beard grows. My beard used to be really patchy there, but after use of the oil for about 2 months, minimum once a day, usually twice and sometimes thrice, I noticed a lot of that area was filling out. I had someone I live with comment the same thing to me. I suspect this may be due to the different phases that the hair follicle undergoes, such as the growth stage (anagen phase), by either more speedily cycling through the phases, or by having an extended growth phase. That’s just my theory though. 

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of peptides for hair growth. Could look into it.

[LuisJavier]

Update: I have managed to get a hold of a sample amount of hexanediol and used it in combination with Tween 80. Hexanediol has been hugely helpful. It is far more potent for solubilisation thereby reducing the required Tween 80 than dipropylene glycol. 

[LuisJavier]

I was asking because I was aware that 1,4 butanediol is also used for recreational drug abuse; I was trying to avoid this and buy the 1,3 butanediol only. I was also curious whether, during production of 1,3 butanediol, the 1,4 butanediol is an isomer ”byproduct”. Is this the case? 

[LuisJavier]

Potassium sorbate seems to be quite notorious for redness to the face. I do not know about sodium benzoate.

[LuisJavier]

Try polysugamulse

[LuisJavier]

My preservation system: Phenoxyethanol/Phenylethyl alcohol (0.7%), hydroxyacetophenone (0.2%?), sodium benzoate/benzoic acid (0.4%?), 1,2 hexanediol (2/3%), +tetrasodium glutamate diacetate (not sure inclusion rate for this one, maybe 0.2%). Structure XL: 1.5%

[LuisJavier]

The preservatives I use do work above pH 5.5

[LuisJavier]

Hydroxypropyl starch phosphate; this is a very processed starch product; would this challenge the preservative blend? 

[LuisJavier]

I’m bothered by it because there is a significant viscosity increase above ph 5.

[LuisJavier]

Cafe33 said:

So here is my experience, I purchased a 1 kg bag of BTMS-25 around 5 months ago. It smelled like absolutely nothing, completely plain. I also purchased some BTMS-50 (Lotion Crafter) and it had a mild fishy smell. 

After 4 months, the BTMS-25 bag had around half of its material left and it started to smell like fish. It did not have any smell in the beginning. So it may be a sign of some kind of decomposition?  

Maybe it is decomposition. No clue. Fishy is another word to describe the scent I’m referring to haha

[LuisJavier]

Bill_Toge said:

should be if you have a high enough dose - try it and see

1,2-diols are antimicrobial by nature, and their activity increases as the chain length gets longer

Does that mean that if I include 1,2 Hexanediol at 3% in a face cream formula paired with phenoxyethanol and benzoic acid, that the hexanediol at 3% would be overkill? 

[LuisJavier]

Is hydrogen peroxide not the best for cleaning residual fatty surfaces on metal jugs used to make creams? 

[LuisJavier]

I did not mean to post the above without asking the question; does BTMS-25 smell foul to you too? Is that normal for this material?

[LuisJavier]

I don’t see how carnauba wax can have a synthetic derivative.

[LuisJavier]

Pharma said:

Formaline is obsolete in many countries because, well, it’s formaline.

For thorough disinfection, go with hydrogen peroxide which leaves no traces and won’t harm neither your health nor the environment.

The only fear I have is when I suspect that there might be residue amounts of hydrogen peroxide on glassware which could affect my next batches in the same glassware.

[LuisJavier]

Thank you. Na stearoyl glutamate is quite expensive,  yes 

[LuisJavier]

I have no clue about synergistic effects between phenoxy and other alcohols. I suspect Monopropylene glycol could help phenoxyethanol just as it seems to help parabens.

[LuisJavier]

I thought 20% was the necessary amount for adequate preservation. I had seen at least 1 face cream formula with isopropanol listed in the ingredients list close or alongside to phenoxyethanol which led to me suspecting it was being used as a preservative in the formula.

[LuisJavier]

I suggest you investigate whether your fragonia and lavender oil is of a high quality. If it is, then I am surprised that it does not smell similar to the product you wish to emulate. Don’t forget about the nerolina oil in the list. Also, the fruit extracts possibly impart some fragrance to the blend.