[MarkBroussard]

Yes, both Glycol Stearate and Glycol Distearate are pearlizers and thickeners.  Glycol Distearate is made from Ethylene Glycol … based on Anna’s formula, I surmised that she was formulating in the natural realm and would want to avoid PEG derivatives.

[MarkBroussard]

Yes, for small quantities you can purchase Glycol Stearate from http://www.ingredientstodiefor.com … they are based in Austin, Texas.

[MarkBroussard]

Anna,

To “whiten up” your cream, you can add 2% Glycol Stearate (not Glycol Distearate - there is a big difference!).

In addition to making your cream more white, Glycol Stearate is a fatting agent, that will also provide benefits to the skin and will improve the sensorial of your cream … less oily feeling.  Take care in that it may also have a thickening effect and perhaps some soaping.  In that case, reduce down to 1%.  You’ll have to play around with it, but generally 1% to 2% is an appropriate amount.

[MarkBroussard]

Let me elaborate a bit here on Ritamulse:

You have two high HLB emulsifiers (Cetearyl Alcohol HLB 15.5 and Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate HLB 14.0) blended with Glyceryl Stearate HLB 3.8.  At the ratios given in the mix, the HLB of Ritmulse would be 8.1.  I don’t think you necessarily need any additional emulsifiers for this mixture to form a stable emulsion, provided that the HLB of the mix of oils you’re using is close to 8.1.

As opposed to simply using it at 8% like the other formulations you have seen, refer to the formulation guidelines from your supplier of Ritamulse and see if they recommend any co-emulsifiers or stabilizers that they know work in tandem with Ritamulse to add stability to the emulsion.

As for the thickness of your cream, try ^^^^^

[MarkBroussard]

What oils are you trying to emulsify and what is the HLB of the blend of oils you are using?  Ritamulse would have an HLB of 8.1.

If it’s too thick, just eliminate the additional thickeners that you’re adding in:  Cetyl Alcohol and Stearic Acid and cut the Ritamulse down to 6%.

Experiement!

[MarkBroussard]

Excellent catch, Milliachemist!  The Tego Solve 61 from Evonik is exactly what I am looking for.  Many Thx!

[MarkBroussard]

I just started using Floramac 20-W Jojoba Esters … it gives an excellent sensorial and is water soluble.  And, is a multifunctional that minimizes pores and enhances moisturization.  

Thanks for the tip MakingSkincare!

[MarkBroussard]

K, Thx!  I’ll do some research.

[MarkBroussard]

@milliachemist:

Can you be a bit more specific, please?

[MarkBroussard]

Anna, the first question is:

Why so many ingredients in your formula?  The best formulations are direct … by that I mean, each and every ingredients performs a specific, essential and necessary function.  You have lots of ingredients in your formulations that will do absolutely nothing to help achieve your intended result.  

The ingredients that you have included that will have an effect of skin whitening are:  Niacinamide, Bearberry Extract, Licorice Extract and Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate.

Starting from the Aqueous Phase (or the top of your list) of your formulation is fine.  When you get to the oils, choose a couple of good carrier oils with the Triglycerides (for instance Jojoba Oil (5%), Sweet Almond Oil (5%) and Triglycerides (5%) and Vitamine E T50 (2%) as your base.  Add to it the Olivem and heat to dissolve.  Eliminate the other oils from your formula.  WIth Olivem there is no need for Stearic Acid or Cetyl Alcohol … The Xanthan Gum in your aqueous phase will help stabilize it at 6% to form a nice cream.

Eliminate the Shea and Mango butters, Sodium Citrate, Triethanolamine, Citric Acid.

Keep the Allantoin.  Your Phenoxyethanol is low at 0.5%.  Better if you use Optiphen (Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid & EHG) at 1.0% to 1.5%.

So, a nice, clean formulation would be:

Aqueous Phase:

Distilled Water: QS
Vitamin B3 Niacinamide: 2%
Glycerin :1.5%
Xanthan Gum: 0.2%
Aloe vera powder 200:1 : 0.3%
Sodium-L-Lactate: 2%

Oil Phase:

Jojoba Oil 5%

Sweet Almond Oil 5%

Triglycerides 5%

Vitamin E T50 2%

Olivem 1000 6%

Heat Water Phase and Oil Phase to 65C, combine under continuous high shear to form an emulsion.

Cool to 35C and add ingredients in Actives Phase, on at a time, with stirring to incorporate.

Actives Phase:

Allantoin 0.5%

Bearberry Extract 1.5%

Licorice Extract 4%

Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate 3%

Phenoxyethanol/Sorbic Acid/EHG 1.5% 

Check pH.  Adjust pH to 6.5 with Sodium Lactate or Citric Acid as required.

Hope that helps.

[MarkBroussard]

Well, all I can say is that I received some information from Whole Foods to the contrary regarding chemists being involved in the creation of their list.

But, I certainly agree with you that it would be better if more scientists and/or industry participants were involved in setting these standards.  And, yes, some of these standards can be misguided and lead people down the wrong path, as you point out, especially regarding preservatives.

For instance, Phenoxyethanol is a no-no from an ECOCert perspective, but acceptable from a Whole Foods perspective.  There are ECOCert approved preservatives which are proven to be effective and are in line with “traditional” preservatives.

The Badger recall … the company should have had to good common sense to use proven preservation systems.  They made a bad choice in trying to be “too natural.”  It looks like they went with Leuconostoc Radish Root Ferment and Gluconolactone as a preservation system.  Gluconolactone, on its own, is not a preservative and Radish Root Ferment, well, what can you say.  

Had they used Gluconolactone/Sodium Benzoate, which is ECOCert approved, at sufficient levels they may not have had a problem.

[MarkBroussard]

Let me make that more clear:

The regulation is that ingredients are to be listed in descending order, on the basis of % by weight of each individual ingredient in the formulation and the ingredients are to be identified by their “common or usual names.” …

If you have doubts, your supplier can provide you with guidance on how their ingredient should be labelled. 

So in the case you brought up, the Preferred Name for SLES is:

Preferred Substance Name:	SODIUM LAURETH-3 SULFATE    [show more names]
UNII:	BPV390UAP0
Formula:	C18H37O7S.Na
Search Term:	SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE

Synonyms and Mappings

[MarkBroussard]

@Belassi:

The regulation is that ingredients are to be listed in descending order of concentration by their “common or usual names” … 

Take the example of Green Tea Leaf Extract.  The extract of Green Tea Leaf in an aqueous base will contain numerous catchins, polyphenols, etc. … but, the usual or common name for this chemical stew is “Green Tea Leaf Extract” or “Camelia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract.”  This is why I like to use the FDA Substance Registration System, because it gives you a Preferred Name for any given ingredient and there is a listing of alternate names for each ingredient, if there are alternate names or variants.  I just use the Preferred Name using the logic that the government would have to take issue with its own data registry if there is a dispute.

The regulations are specific, but also intended to be practical in implementation as the purpose is for the consumer to understand what are the ingredients in a product.  But, yes, for a multi-component ingredient, you are supposed to break it down to the individual components as Perry described.

[MarkBroussard]

@Perry:

Yes, you are correct.  ECOcert is a standards body that has been around for a decade of so and is based in Europe.  To give them credit, they (and Whole Foods) are creating a framework within which “natural” and “organic” formulators have some established guidelines on ingredients.  Hey … they’re instrumental in helping shape a growing niche market in cosmetics.

Some of their restrictions do force you to get more creative if you are trying to formulate within their guidelines.  So, all-in-all, it’s a good thing.

[MarkBroussard]

Actually, ECOcert does define “natural”

http://www.ecocert.com/en/natural-and-organic-cosmetics

The basic principles of the Ecocert standard

To ensure an environmentally friendly cosmetic product, the Ecocert standard lays down: 

1. The use of ingredients derived from renewable resources, manufactured by environmentally friendly processes. Ecocert therefore checks:

• The absence of GMO, parabens, phenoxyethanol, nanoparticles, silicon, PEG, synthetic perfumes and dyes, animal-derived ingredients (unless naturally produced by them: milk, honey, etc.).
• The biodegradable or recyclable nature of packaging.

2. A minimum threshold of natural ingredients from organic farming to be reached to obtain certification:

For the natural and organic cosmetic label:

A minimum of 95% of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and a minimum of 10% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming

For the natural cosmetic label: 

A minimum of 50% of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and a minimum of 5% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming.

[MarkBroussard]

While it may not be technically correct, I have seen it done this way on some labels.

Perry, if the ingredients are included at 1% or less, then they can be listed in any order?  Is that correct?

[MarkBroussard]

In my discussions with Whole Foods, they have always referred to their panel of chemists who they have hired to assess ingredients.  What are their criteria, I don’t know.

But, if consumers are looking for “natural” products and they do some research, they will certainly pay attention to the Whole Foods list.  Like many things in life, it may not make sense from a scientific perspective, but from a market perspective, it is what it is … and Whole Foods has the megaphone.

If all things were guided by scientific fact instead of marketing and consumer perception, we would live in a very different world.  Remember, your average consumer knows nothing of chemistry and are susceptible to the babble of sources of information that they trust.

[MarkBroussard]

Yes, people can get quite ridiculous in their definition of “natural” … And, it’s not based on science, per se.

I just follow the Whole Foods acceptable/unacceptable list as a guideline.  It contains a listing of 400 skin and body care ingredients that are either Unacceptable, Acceptable for Skin Care, or Acceptable for Premium Skin Care lines carried by Whole Foods.  If the chemical is on the Acceptable list, you’re good to go from a “natural” perspective.

But, you may encounter some ingredients that have not yet been evaluated by Whole Foods, in which case your best bet is to use a functional alternative that is already on their list.

[MarkBroussard]

Some ingredients that are extracts, will be in a water base and may also contain a preservative or other ingredients in the blend and will be labelled as such.

Here’s an example of a Green Tea Leaf Extract that I use:

INCI:  Vegetable Glycerin (and) Purified Water (and) Camelia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract (and) Gluconolactone (and) Sodium Benzoate

You can list the ingredients on your label in the manner above.  Just follow the way the plant extract you use is labelled.

Or, you can go to the FDA Substance Registration System and search for the UNII for the main ingredient in your extract.  In this case, it would be Camelia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract (there are other acceptable names or variants, but you will not find the INCI that I listed above.  So, in that case, I just go with the name and UNII in the SRS system that most closely matches the active ingredient.

http://fdasis.nlm.nih.gov/srs/

[MarkBroussard]

Here’s a great video on formulating with Sucragel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAsIgz4C6M4

[MarkBroussard]

Yes, you are correct … ALL chemicals are from natural origin.  But, the consumer perception is generally that “Natural Origin” in this context generally means from plant-based (including microbes, yeast, fungi, seaweed, etc.) origins as opposed to petrochemical origins or sythetically-manufactured.

Good example:  1,2-Propanediol (proplyene glycol) and 1,3-Propanediol.  Both can be produced from plant sources, but 1,2-Propanediol is generally manufactured synthetically.  Very similar chemicals, but most people in the “Natural” community would not dare put 1,2-Propanediol on their skin, but don’t have a problem with 1,3-Propanediol since it is marketed as being the plant-sourced “natural” alternative to propylene glycol.

Question is:  Is the ingredient you’re using an extract from a plant source, or is it synthetically-manufactured?  And if the latter, is the “starting material” - the chemical moiety that is used as the base molecule for the synthesis, from a plant-source?

[MarkBroussard]

@Zink:

I would not say that Konjac Root Powder is “better” than Sclerotium Gum per se.  Either one should work for your intended purposes.  Sclerotium gels tend to be a bit more stable with a bit of Xanthan included.  Yes, Sclerotium can hold up to 5% oils.  But, I would go the route of 1,3-Propanediol + Tea Tree Oil + Sclerotium Gum as opposed to just Sclerotium Gum.

Mind your pH as the Sclerotium can give you problems below 5.0.

[MarkBroussard]

@Zink:

4% is pretty high concentration for tea tree oil for a topical.

Your most “natural” approach would be to use 1,3-Propanediol (Zemea) which is plant-based and water soluble. Simply add the tea tree oil to 1,3-Propanediol at a 1:10 to 1:20 ratio and shake vigorously, then add to the water.  You can use 1,3-Propanediol at up to 70% in water-based formulations (in which case it would be a Zemea-based formulation!).

If you want to cut down on the 1,3-Propanediol, you can add Polysorbate 80 at 1%, and cut the Zemea down to a 5:1 ratio to the tea tree oil.  Polysorbate 80 is on Whole Foods approved list, so that would not present a problem from a “natural” perspective.

You can bind it with a combination of HEC/Xanthan gum.  Or, as BobZ suggested Sclerotium Gum/Xanthan Gum.  Sclerotium Gum can “hold” up to 5% oils without the use of a solubilizer or surfactant.

Or, you can use Amorphophallus Konjac Root Powder at 0.5% to 1.0% if you want to use only one gelling agent.

   

[MarkBroussard]

That’s a good suggestion @Miliachemist.  

@matthewk:  I find that HEC gives the best results if used in the ratio 2 Parts HEC to 1 Part Xanthan Gum.  I would be hesitant to use HEC alone.

[MarkBroussard]

Curoxyl 42 Benzoyl Peroxide is formulated as a suspension in a gel … it’s Carbomer-based, but Essential Ingredients will not provide specific information … trade secret.  And it is easily dispersible in water.

Part of your problem may be that Sulfochem ALS-K is designed for low pH formulations and Carbopol Aqua is most stable at pH 6.5+.

I’ve used Curoxyl 42 in a face wash and a serum with no separation problems.  

You might try switching to a Betaine/Sulfoacetate/Sulfosuccinate blend and eliminate the Carbopol Aqua SF-1 and try thickening with Hydroxyethylcellulose or HEC with a touch of Xanthan Gum.