MarkBroussard
Forum Replies Created
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With the exception of the Geogard products mentioned above, both of which are ECOCert and/or NPA approved, none of the others are effective as preservatives.
When you use the term “Natural” what you must understand is that these preservatives are approved for use in products that fit into the standards of Natural Products as defined by ECOCert, NPA, Soil Association, etc. However, as @PhilGeis pointed out, Georgard 221 and Geogard Ultra are made with ingredients that are manufactured synthetically, but may be “nature identical” meaning they are found in nature, but it would be prohibitively expensive to try to extract, isolate and purify these compounds from biomass, so they are manufactured via chemical synthesis. In that context, the term Natural is more defintional than it is absolute.
So, what you are really looking for are not Natural preservatives per se, but preservative ingredients that are approved for use in products defined as Natural by the various standards bodies or a particular standards body.
A preservation system is absolutely essential in a personal care product. Note, I said preservation system that incorporates preservatives, chelating agents, pH adjustment, preservative boosters, etc., not just the simple addition of a preservative ingredient.
For instance, the combination of Geogard 221 + Geogard Ultra in a product formulated at pH = 4.8 + a chelating agent (Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate (GLDA)) + Pentylene Glycol … this would be considered a Natural standards compliant preservation system
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Yes, Perry pretty much nailed it. Marketing + Packaging are key to first purchase and Performance/Price to repurchase.
In evaluating a new product to purchase, consumers first focus on marketing copy, packaging and scent to evaluate whether or not they will purchase the product (if buying in store) and/or other consumer reviews (very important) and to a lesser extent influencers if they are purchasing online.
Long-term, performance + price will be key determining factors. Not all consumers are the same. Some feel that purchasing an expensive cosmetic product is a personal treat that they deserve and they will continue purchasing provided performance is satisfactory (or they have convinced themselves that it is a good price/performance trade-off). Others just want a product that works at a good price.
Compare La Mer to Palmer’s. Palmer’s is a drug-store brand that always ranks high on consumer product reviews and sells for $15. La Mer … what $350, but it has the fashion industry cache. Both perform the same function and probably not really indistinguishable by most consumers.
So it’s a matter of good marketing/story, well-formulated products, attractive packaging, appropriate price point … and Luck. You can do everything right and sometimes consumers just won’t be attracted to the product.
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Sucrose Stearate is a good choice if you are looking for a water-thin emulsion. But, it may or may not be sufficient solo to form a stable emulstion. You have to play with it and if it does not work solo, pair it up with another emulsifier.
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The only way I am aware of is if you register and declare a Trade Secret and your “petition” is accepted by the FDA allowing you to declare a Trade Secret. But, your plant-derived colorants are probably not a trade secret if you purchase these colorants from an ingredients supplier.
The laws are designed to protect consumers, so everything in the formula must be disclosed. The answer is: There are no secrets.
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I think the corect answer is because it says not to on the label
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You’re light on both … NaB 0.35 and PS 0.2 would be more appropriate. But, without more information on what all is in your formula, not really possible to give you any better advice.
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“We support EWG VERIFIED™ the gold standard in the health & wellness certification”
That comes directly from the EWG website -
Yes, Perry, that is true. There could come a day when EWG compliant is just something that many companies do and it is no longer a differentiating factor in the market.
As of now, most retailers are focusing on specific ingredients, Phenoxyethanol being the current bad boy. But, I can foresee retailers creating a special EWG-compliant product section on their website and in their stores much like they are doing for Sustainability and Clean Beauty.
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The number of products in the market that are EWG-certified or any other certification is miniscule. Once people consider the cost of the certification and giving up 1% of your revenues, most determine it is not worth it and elect to develop products that use ingredients with low EWG-ratings, but don’t actually pursue the certification and address that in their marketing.
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EWG was charging 1% or revenues for the certification, but that was a couple of years back so I’m not sure what the current arrangement is. I would suspect that EWG & P&G negotiated a much better deal since EWG could then enhance it’s prestige in the market by touting that P&G was launching products in compliance with EWG guidelines. I’m currently working on an EWG-compliant formula, but have not reviewed the financial details of their certification program.
I have clients who are getting lots of pressure from the retailers, particularly on Phenoxyethanol. It seems to be primarily a retailer-driven market shift, but of course that filters back to what consumers are buying from retailers.
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I’m sure P&G have evaluated whether it is worth their while to EWG-certify some of their products. Perhaps they are having good success with their two EWG-certified Shampoos and will offer more EWG-certified products. This is just classic market segmentation so they have decided to offer a line of EWG-certified products for the consumers to whom this matters. They would not do it if they did not see any marketing benefit or if they forecast cannibilization of their existing products.
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I think the correct answer is: 2.47359 parts Water / 97.52641 Propanediol
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The HLB system was developed when using PEG-based emulsifiers. It’s the equivalent of the Comedogenicity Scale … an ancient relic of an approach that has managed to linger for decades, but really aren’t reliable systems.
If you have some spare time on your hands, calculate HLB, but as you proved to yourself. Only one of your examples had a PEG-based emulsifier and the HLB calculated at 11.1 matched your lipid phase, but it yielded the least stable emulsion.
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LOL! … when in doubt, add more ingredients! … Looks like a hot mess of a formula to me.
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Yes, Salicylic is oil-soluble and poorly water-soluble. SA dissolved in an oil will exfoliate skin. Upon application, it will dissolve in the sebum in the hair follicles where is will help shed dead skin cells. When papers say it is best at pH 4, they are referring to SA dissolved in a water base.
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Check out the natural colorant plant extracts from Campo Research. They are quite stable in formulas.
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This might help you.
Preservation is a system approach. One ingredient that is considered to be a preservative, will not protect your product across the board from bacteria, yeast and mold. So, you will need to use a combination of preservative ingredients. Some are more effective against bacteria, some are more effective against yeast and mold. You need to combine a bacericide with a fungicide. In addition, there are other components such as formulating your products at pH 4.8 or so (or lower), definitely below 6.0. And, there are other ingedients that are preservative boosters that enhance the effectiveness of the preservatives by weaking the microbial cell wall, for instance. And, chelating agents to bind metals. So, a proper preservation system might consist of 5 or 6 individual ingredients that work in tandem.
As it regards dip sticks, you can use these as probes or screens to determine if your preservation system is definitely not working as you have noted above. When you first prepare a sample, it should be relatively clean microbially if you have sterilized your equipment before making the sample.
(1) Using a sterile swab, dip the swab into the sample and swirl it around to get a good distribution from different parts of your “product”. I usually dip a finger in the sample prior to sampling with the swab to try to introduce some microbes into the sample. This might simulate the way an end user will actually use the product if your container is a wide-mouth jar, for instance.
(2) Swab a thin layer on each side of the dip stick just so you have an even coating of product on the dip stick surface. Cover the entire dip stick surface and make sure you can clearly see the surface of the dip stick and that it is not obscured by product. If so, just wipe off any excess product.
(3) Best to use an incubator and place the dip sticks in the incubator and monitor them. As long as I have room in the incubator, I just leave the dip sticks in the incubator for a couple of weeks or so. If that is not possible and you live in a hot, humid environment, w/o air conditioning just leave them on a countertop. This will simulate the way the actual product is stored in use.
(4) After 72 hours, examine the agar surface of the dip stick with a magnifying glass looking for any growth colonies. And then monitor periodically over a 2 week period. If you see any signs of growth whatsoever, then you know that you need to go back and revise your preservation system.
If you do not see any signs of growth, you can send the sample in for Preservative Challenge Test. Or, you can send it to a micro lab for a plate test and if that comes back clean, then submit for Preservative Challenge Test.
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Potassium Hydroxide will yield a softer, more shiny white cold cream that Borax or Sodium Hydroxide.
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You’re simply not going to get an EU Safety Assessor to sign off on submitting a report on someone else’s product … This is simply a crazy idea begging for a lawsuit.
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Let’s go back to your original premise:
“(This may be a silly question)”
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This might help you:
(1) Heat propanediol + ferulic acid to 80 to dissolve FA
(2) Add (1) to water
(3) Add HA to (2) stirring @ 300RPM to hydrate HA (if you add HA after you ad the Ascorbic Acid, it will take forever to hydrate at a low pH)
(4) Add other W/S ingredients
(5) Pre-mix Polysorbate and Vitamin E .. Add to stirring (4)
(6) When (5) cools to 35C, add Ascorbic Acid
(7) Adjust pH to 3.2 - 3.5
The solution will appear yellow in the beaker, but when you pour it into a 30ml container, it will appear clear in the eye dropper.
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Stanley said:I have to make a 20% vitamin C serum. The viscosity is waterlike. I was asked to use MAP as a last resort.
i put in my ferulic acid and my whole system became cloudy. My system was ph-2.43 I was adjusting the pH with 30% soln NaOH. Any suggestionsDeionized
Water (0.2 µm filtered)64.500 propanediol 10.000 Vitamin
C-L-ascorbic acid20.0000 Ferulic acid 0.4000 Sodium
hyaluronate0.4000 IPM 2.0000 polysorbate 60 1.0000 Vitamin E 0.5000 Alphaflor
GigaWhite0.2000 Euxyl 9010 1.0000 Citric Acid 0.0000 You’re light on the 1,3-Propanediol. Jack that up to 20% to 25%. Heat the propanediol up to 80C or so and then add the Ferulic Acid to the hot propanediol stirring to dissolve the FA, then add that to your water phase.
IPM … why?
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You encounter the same issues in developing a fragrance for a product. I always have the client send me samples of fragranced products where they like the scents and for product clarity, etc. Those types of definitions can mean different things to different people. It saves a lot of time and back and forth if you do it that way.
If someone tells me they want a clear product with a light floral scent … well, than can be quite a few different things.
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PhilGeis said:If you see contamination, it is a signal your prob should not be making cosmetics with your system. No growth is meaningless - you’ll still need to test at a qualified lab.
That’s exactly the point of how dip slides can be useful in new product development. No point in spending $500 on a lab test when a $5 dip stick will tell me that my preservation system is definitely not working.
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I find the Mikrocount kits from Schulke useful to do scoping tests on new product development. If you get growth on the dipslide, you certainly would fail a lab test. It’s a quick, cost-effective way to get an indicator if your preservation system is working or not, prior to going for a full PCT.