[MichelleReece]

Are you willing to use silicon/dimethicone/polymer blends?

[MichelleReece]

@luiscuevasii

Tween 80 & 20 can deactivate parabens. Other nonionic emulsifiers, such as ceteareth-20, may also deactivate parabens.

You also want to be careful with celluose and its derivatives, because they too can interfere/deactivate parabens.

[MichelleReece]

Would you be willing to use glycerin as a solvent for anything? It’s quite useful for that.

[MichelleReece]

Supposedly Centerchem’s Petalatum can stabilize Vitamin C. I haven’t experimented with this myself (yet), so I can’t tell you it’s effectiveness or whether it has an acceptable skin feel.

Chances are, you’ll have to make a “fancy” micro- or nanoencapsulation system, which will get pricey.

Whatever the case, be prepared for tons of testing and lots of spending if you still want to try this out.

[MichelleReece]

@ YMF

Is HoneyQuat available for you, and if so would you consider using it?

[MichelleReece]

@SERGE

I highly recommend you read these articles: http://www.makingskincare.com/preservatives/ and http://www.makingskincare.com/how-to-make-a-lotioncream-part-1-equipment-and-ingredients/

You should probably start making anhydrous creams (that won’t come into contact with water, such as an in-shower scrub/cream), while you build up a collection of preservatives and preservative enhancers. Once you learn more about emulsifiers and preservatives, then you can work your way into W/O and then O/W creams.

[MichelleReece]

@ssdc

Have you considered doing an W/O emulsion or encapsulating the AIs in nanotechnology? The latter tends to have a better feel, though it can get pricey depending where you live.

[MichelleReece]

I apologize for not seeing your post earlier, @Anna. It didn’t notify me; try putting an @ after the name(s) so we can get notified.

You might not have enough water to dissolve SAP in. I suspect your plant extracts are taking up too much room. Also, SAP is stable at pH 5-8; your formula could be too acidic.

[MichelleReece]

Is makingcosmetics.com’s formula cost-effective for you now?

Typically, retinol is unstable and doesn’t tolerate heat very well, so you may want to think about encapsulating it. Adding chelators would also help, as long as they don’t conflict with the other parts of your formula.

[MichelleReece]

Are you planning to encapsulate your retinol formula later?

[MichelleReece]

Would makingcosmetics.com’s Vitamin A Microcaps suffice? It’s $564 for 33.6 oz.

[MichelleReece]

One of the longest-lasting skin tightening agents I’ve tried had a combination of (IIRC) silicones, clays, alcohol, menthol and seaweed proteins that had film-forming properties. I felt the tightening for about 2 hours. The silicones may have slid off earlier than it “should have”, as my skin was oily.

Some people using high concentration retinoids, prescription and OTC,  have reported anecdotally that long-term use of them has made their skin feel tighter, so you may want to test that.

I’ve looked into some smallish studies that DMAE had a skin-tightening effect. I think it’d be a good idea if you could conduct a study with the aforementioned ingredients-I know I’ve wanted to conduct those kinds of studies myself.

[MichelleReece]

What are you dissolving SAP in and at what temp?

[MichelleReece]

@Perry Did you get any dermatitis from washing your hair that often? I think mine would’ve.

[MichelleReece]

@Zink

That looks like a draft.

According to this (http://cfr.regstoday.com/21cfr347.aspx#21_CFR_347p10), cod liver oil may be combined with 0.5-2% allantoin, 50%+ cocoa butter, 1-30% dimethicone, 20-45% glycerin, 50%+ hard fat, 12.5-50% lanolin, 50%+ mineral oil, and 30%+ petrolatum and white petrolatum if you label them as active ingredients. This page doesn’t say that cod liver oil must combined with mineral oil, active ingredient or not.

[MichelleReece]

I should mention that in the US, colloidal oatmeal is approved for treating eczema whereas cod liver oil is not. For the latter, I’d recommend getting the lowest vitamin A and vitamin D content should you use cod liver oil.

[MichelleReece]

@Belassi  I prefer to have standardized products, and some of the butters and blends I’ve used had inconsistent emolliency. Could’ve been the suppliers or their storage issues.

[MichelleReece]

The least irritating sunscreen drugs are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. “Strange” how some groups don’t call them “natural”, though they’re naturally occurring minerals. But sunscreens aren’t “natural” in the sense that you can’t go into your backyard and pluck them from a tree. Ah, the meaninglessness of “natural” in marketing.

[MichelleReece]

@Belassi
But occlusion is treating the problem with dry skin. Dry skin has an impaired/weakened barrier, and needs occlusion, especially when you add humectants so they don’t draw water out from the skin and exacerbate the problem. Mildly dry skin can recover on its own if you apply an occlusive. Of course, recovery would be faster if you combined it with a humectant.

@Zink
Colloidal oatmeal does form an occlusive barrier, and reduces itch. Applying anti-itch drugs stops the vicious itch-scratch cycle that prolongs and worsens eczema.

A cheaper source of omega 3 fatty acids is cod liver oil, which is also a source of retinol and vitamin D. Cod liver oil is an FDA-approved skin protectant in 5% to 13.56% concentrations as long as you don’t exceed the vitamin A and D daily limit.

I disagree with having that low concentration of green tea if you want any topical effect. From preliminary studies, it takes 1% to 5% EGCG in an acidic pH to have an effect.

[MichelleReece]

Stearic acid is also an occlusive agent, though not as effective as, say, petrolatum.

[MichelleReece]

“…just adding a drop or two of Vitamin E (natural) or Rosemary doesn’t cut
it in a high risk formula, especially these days when everyone wants
formulations containing a thousand different herbs, speciality vegetable
and essential oils and also because many brand owners frown on  BHA/
BHT antioxidants (not natural).  Chelating agents do help but again many
brands want to avoid EDTA – the cheapest and most effective of this
class – which means we have to push more natural options to their limits.”

This is also exactly why I don’t mess around with extracts very often and go straight for the active ingredient(s) whenever possible. If I want my product to have allantoin, for example, a go for the ingredient itself, and not comfrey root. Way too many potential impurities and skin sensitizers to deal with. I’d prefer to not mess around with vegetable or fruit butters either, but right now I can’t get my hands on specific crosspolymers when I’m just starting out.

Excellent article nonetheless. More people should bookmark it or better yet, link it on their desktops for reference.

[MichelleReece]

Oh, darn. I was hoping that wasn’t the case, though I figured it was. Can’t have it all right away, now can I?  )

Anyway, thank you so much, @Bobzchemist.

[MichelleReece]

@Bobzchemist

I was thinking of putting the creamiest emollients in a cream or ointment for very dry skin for the body & feet (possibly for the face too), and to take out the tackiness of petrolatum.

[MichelleReece]

Yes, I do, though I mostly make them for my family who suffers from severely dry skin because of frequent hand-washing or diabetes. My major skin problem is acne, but I can’t get as fancy and nice with my at-home formulations as I want them.

[MichelleReece]

I’ve never ordered any cosmetic ingredients from China, and don’t plan to because of the problem with counterfeits and mistranslations.

Anyway, thanks for the warning; you’ve probably saved a few dozen lurkers a lot of hassle.