MakingSkincare
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks so much Bobzchemist.
I live in the UK so it’s a bit hard to get hold of. For something automated and cheap and cheerful, how about a coffee grinder ?? -
Liquid germall plus
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Can you explain what you mean by hair cream? Do you mean leave-in conditioner?
Swiftcraftymonkey has a great blog with formulas for all types of hair products. -
I would advise not to use a stick blender.
phoenixproducts.co.uk sell Methocel in small quantities and they also sell carbopol ultrez 10. -
Any hand muller’s you’d recommend Bob ??
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You can get pre-dispersed iron oxides, for example, in castor oil. If you’re looking for small amounts, TKB Trading sells some. This won’t work for your water based formula though.
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Merit - there is a discussion on this subject which you might find interesting here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/makingskincare/permalink/460598170732679/
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Perry - in another forum Kalos said were they looking to improve upon the formula to make “lighten” more and the pH of the lotion was 5.5.
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Bimsmide - do you have the 70% SLES version which can be a pain to dilute. Add the paste to the water and stir slowly. Heating helps, but still it takes a some time to go in. Alternatively, add the paste cold and use a homogeniser to break up the paste into small bits whilst stirring it in. Put the homogeniser on the slowest speed possible, so that it just picks up the paste and disperses it without dragging in air, otherwise you’ll get lots of foam and a long wait for it to disperse.
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Milliachemist - I’d recommend this book if you’d like to know more about the chemistry side:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scientific-Soapmaking-Chemistry-Cold-Process/dp/1935652095
For the creative side and equipment etc here’s my soap tutorial which contains links to videos on how to do lots of different types of swirls and how to create different tops: - http://makingskincare.com/how-to-make-soap/There are some groups for soapmaking which can provide a lot of creative inspiration . Personally I love this one - https://www.facebook.com/groups/soapersretreat/ -
Sarah, details of 27 preservatives here - http://makingskincare.com/preservatives/.
If you scroll down to near the bottom you will see a reviews of “Natural” and Ecocert preservatives along with the pH ranges. -
Info below (except last para) copied and pasted from http://makingskincare.com/preservatives/Phenoxyethanol is most active against Gram-negative bacteria. It is used in combination with other preservatives, in part because its activity is weak against yeast and mold.Benzyl alcohol is good to very good against Gram+ve, moderately poor against Gram-ve, poor versus fungi and moderately poor against yeast. Benzyl alcohol has low water solubility, is volatile (so should be used with an antioxidant) and may be inactivated by nonionic surfactants such as polysorbates. Note: over time (6 months) benzyl alcohol oxidises to benzaldehdye which smells quite strongly of almonds. Add 0.3-0.5%.You might consider adding another preservative to the mix to get broad spectrum coverage. Also check that the preservatives you end up choosing work within your product’s pH as the organic acid preservatives need a low pH.
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Ah, that explains it, I was wondering where the 5% alcohol had appeared from!!
If only homogenizers were cheap - I know w/o really needs it. cherri do you have access to one??
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Some great advice here.
Bob - I see you added 5% alcohol?? -
cherri, here’s an article from a supplier - MakingCosmetics.com:-
http://www.makingcosmetics.com/articles/27-how-to-make-water-in-oil-emulsions.pdfYou will want to make quite a few changes to your formula incl using a low HLB emulsifier and add epsom salt to stabilize etc -
You can find Cetearyl alcohol and Cetearyl glucoside sold together in the UK from phoenixproducts.co.uk - they call it Montanov 68.I’ve not heard that about panthenol. Chemistscorner and swiftcraftymonkey have some good posts on ingredients and penetration if you want to learn more.
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Yes as Perry says, looks like they aren’t listing all their ingredients eg emulsifier, preservative
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Optiphen plus can cause emulsion instability so that together with too little emulsifier could be causing your curdling issue. I have some formulation tips on my preservative page http://makingskincare.com/preservatives/ to help with optiphen.
I wouldn’t add a low HLB emulsifier to the ewax unless your required HLB actually needs it.Lotionpro 165 is a good, reliable emulsifier blend which is great with acids. -
What is the INCI of your ewax and also what preservative did you use?
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Potassium sorbate isn’t sufficient I’m afraid netta - see list/reviews here - http://makingskincare.com/preservatives/
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Try using lanolin or lecithin - a small % to allow you to add the honey.
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Elias - It’s all detailed in the above webpage.
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Yes you will need to add a preservative. Most preservatives have pH restrictions so you will need to choose one which can cover pH9. You will find reviews of 27 preservatives and the pH ranges for them here: -
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what pH is it??
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You could ask in the DIY section of the forum of basenotes.net - http://www.basenotes.net/forums/15-Fragrance-DIY - there are a lot of very helpful perfumers there.