Microformulation
Forum Replies Created
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This is at heart a board for Professionals. We all need to act accordingly. This thread will be searchable training asset for those who will come in and search for solutions to this problem.I will not respond in a reactive manner. It accomplishes nothing and does not further Cosmetic Science in any manner. -
Search the INCI of a component of the mixture. When you get your results on UL Prospector, select “mixtures.” Now, at this point, you really need to look through and do some Detective work.
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If you search a portion of the INCI in the mixture with any of these sites, UL Prospector as well as others, they will show combinations.
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UL Prospector. They do require that you be confirmed as an Industry Professional and will not use a gmailor yahoo account.Other sources are;There are various other search engines.
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Honestly, I limit my practice to North America. When you consider the differences in available Raw materials, the Shipping (Overseas, Customs) and the variations in Regulatory Demands, I think you would find that the project will be faster and less problematic if you used an Indian Formulator. Indian has a very well defined Cosmetic Industry and if you check Professional Societies
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I miss the direction of your question. Even under these standards, you must use appropriate and approved colors.This speaks to the limitations of “Natural” or “Organic” dyes. They also must be approved as well. There are very few truly organic colorants which are approved.
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I love when people use “And” although by common standards it is usually left out. To whit, I will put forth that you usually see these less than accurate Ingredient Declarations from smaller lines without a Regulatory Department. Not a lot of “and” in big line INCI Decks.Here is my theory and the use of “and” has a great deal benefit if you use “and” in your list and then I am asked to knock-off your product. The lines that I see using this are cutting and pasting the INCI names.For example, Chamomile in Sunflower Oil (Biobotanica) has a listed INCI as “Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower (and) Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil.” List it with the “and” makes it clear that you used this product.Another issue I see with these lines without proper oversight is that they do not reference Ingredient Breakdowns (such as 90% Sunflower and 10% Chamomile in this case for example). Let’s say that you used 3% of this extract. You MUST break-up the components as the Sunflower oil will be declared at 2.7% and the Chamomile would be below the 1% line. As such, using the “and” (pasting the combined ingredients at the 3% line) is inaccurate. I see this error in some emerging lines several times a week.In my opinion, leave out the “and.” It makes it easier for me to knock-off (Thank you), I have never seen a Regulatory Department approve it and it is likely going to lead to an inaccurate ingredient declaration.
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Many lines will believe that Manufacturing themselves is the way to get into the Market. It is really a mistake in the long run.
- If you do not have the assets to send the project to a manufacturer, this speaks to your Business Model and Plan. If you are underfunded here, it is my experience that you are under-funded in these areas. START-UPS FAIL WHEN NOT PROPERLY FUNDED.
- As an emerging line, one of the tasks you will be doing is developing contacts and determining vendors who can meet your need. You are missing this opportunity.
- Manufacturing is not as simple of an evolution that many believe. Remember, if you manufacture, you have the potential to be visited by the FDA. The FDA will not judge you as a small manufacturer but on the same level as any manufacturer in this group. Can you withstand an inspection?
- Manufacturing themselves is always proposed to me by a line as a way to make money “until we can afford to use a manufacturer.” I have seen this backfire. In the long run, your goal is to grow sales, thus increasing the manufacturing. Say you blow-up. It is usually about 60 days at best for you to establish a relationship with a CM and get manufacturing. This assumes that you have a perfect, validated Formula with mainstream Cosmetic Wholesalers listed and the testing performed. In the end, you deal with out of stocks and back-ordered product early on in your Sales cycle. Not having product for 30-60 days will usually be a line killer at this point.
Look at it as a Project Manager. Emerging lines have “more time than money” and that is your strength early on. However, the goal of a line is to grow to the point where you “have more money than time.” TIME is your strength at first. Don’t waste it on manufacturing yourself. Brand Management is key. There will likely be legions of people selling similar products. There will NOT be someone with your Marketing story. -
This threads are open and will often evolve into discussions much wider in participation than the original post. No reason to be so reactive.
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Belassi said:Step 1: Do you even have a brand? Tell us your registered brand name, please.See, as @Belassi is telling you, your task is in Brand Managment. Define the Product functionally and suggest raw materials of interest for the Chemist.I have never seen a line that spent TOO much time on Brand Managment and Sales/Marketing strategies.Or, will your product be so amazing that they will queue up to get to buy the product without any advertising?
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Salicylate toxicity (primarily from Methyl Salicylate or Oil of Wintergreen) is rare but still a concern.Salicylic acid is routinely used in hair care and skincare at less than 2%. The real challenge is in solubilization.Early on someone suggested searching in the forum. It is possible. The reason this is of value is that there are several threads on this recurring topic. Failing to review the old threads will steal the opportunity from you to get some useful tips.It can be tricky, requiring various solvents, oftentimes ones not as welcome in a “naturally compliant” product.My last comment is that I would highly suggest that you follow the guidelines as outlined in the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/ingredients/ucm107940.htmIn this case, the general practice is to lump the BHA’s into the total AHA’s. For example, 5% Glycolic plus 5% Salicylic Acid would be 10%.
Please don’t get in a tizzy, but if they are out of the guidelines above, they are not really for a Home use products and MUST be administered in the clinic, by a qualified Professional. To ignore this is reckless, negligent and unsafe. I would suggest that anyone on the fence consider intelligently the level of liability and their comfort for risk. After 30 years, I would never risk allowing a client to use a product that exceeds these published credible warnings. -
As an addition, you use the term “bioavailable ingredients” which to me implies absorption into the Body, If a product were truly “bioavailable” (as in it delivers a measurable amount of actives to the human body, physiologically), it would be a Drug product, not a Cosmetic.It is really all these refinements where a Chemist would come in. Again, no offense but you have a narrative of buzzwords which sound great together from a Marketing standpoint but do not describe any credible Cosmetic benefit or address a standard in any manner.
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I also don’t see a Deodorant active that jumps out at me. I have seen some try and attach this benefit to the Clary Sage.As far as “completely halt the odor-causing reactions on external skin. … Lume blocks the ability for bacteria to consume fluids like sweat, semen, urine, and blood that lead to odor… ” goes, this sounds to me as if a Marketer dressed up the action where the bacteria are blocked from causing malodor. They really put some effort into that statement!
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1. And this is important, you hire a Chemist to determine “every aspect of the production (e.g. suppliers, exact formulation and heritage).” To have what is for all intents and purposes a layperson participate and supervise is a drag on the R&D. Also, no offense, but Formulators learn to know which lines will be easy to work with. That term is a huge red flag that the client will demand that I justify in real time every selection, dot, and comma. You have undefined marketing terms but few technical terms. All told, I would see these as barriers to the market. HONESTLY, if you are qualified to cooperate and supervise a Chemist, ironically you wouldn’t need a Chemist.2. I have a closed facility, In my lab, there are all sorts of other line’s IP visible and vulnerable. Since you are not an employee, you wouldn’t even be allowed in AS I take my NDA’s extremely quite seriously.3. Now, you are assuming that the R&D is a linear process where we develop the projects from step 1 directly to Step 2 and so forth. It is not. During testing, there will be 7 and 28 day periods where the sample is in stability. Would you wait in the car?4. As Mark touched on you have a hodgepodge of marketing terms, but not a single useful, acceptable or clearly technical term that helps in the R&D process.5. This sounds much like it would demand so much time as you “direct” the project that it would be a fulltime use of my lab. This could lead to a compromise or reduction in services to my existing clients, the ones I have had for 10 years and send me numerous projects a year.In summary, over the years I have had some start-ups and emerging lines early on in my practice which had many of these “danger signs” and over the years I have screened for them. Here is my advice. Get a Chemist. Do a comprehensive Product Development. Let them work. THEN, do what you really need to do, let them work, pivot and then you would work on branding your line and products.Please don’t see these comments as direct negatives. Honestly, I hope it brought up some issues that you would need to confront before getting into the process.That said, I truly and sincerely wish you all the success with your projects. Have a Happy Holidays.
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I want to be involved in every aspect of the production (e.g. suppliers, exact formulation and heritage)This alone would make me likely to pass on the job.
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Perry said:To get a useful answer you’ll need to post the ingredient list of your formula.
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What are your Essential oils? Have they been vetted for Safety in Veterinary use? This is a very important safety measure. (Original Posted Formula refers to 1.5% wt./wt. Essential oils without breaking them down).
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Be careful. You say this is a vet product. What you need to know is that this is a very tight market. If you are looking to launch this into the Pet Care market, most of the fluff in the Formula will have to go. I created a similar Formula and it was approved. The next step was the client realizing that they were far too expensive for the market.The Vet Market has tight margins. Now, the next thing I hear from clients is “People will spend extra for their dogs.” I may be wrong, but the “Prestige Market” and higher priced products one would expect in such a Market rarely is successful.Knowing this you can now see why Sulfate Shampoos are so common in this sector. Take my advice or leave it as I have no vested risk in the project of course, but remember it comes from the fact that many Vet products will get stripped down to match the process which the market sector will support. REMEMBER, in the end, the Market sets what they will pay for your product based upon many factors. You really don’t set a price based on YOUR raw material costs.My 2 cents from almost 100 hours in Conference rooms trying to resolve the cost versus benefit in a very tight market.
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Olivem 1000 is pretty outdated and process dependent. We stopped using it years ago. There are many better emulsifiers that require less scale-up engineering. Kalchem distributes Olivoil Glutamate Emulsifier which is really one generation evolved from Olivem. Better aesthetics and foolproof in the processing.
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I have to agree. That entire Seppic Montanov Line is outstanding to work with.
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Evonik’s Technical Staff is one of the best out there. They will give you a great deal of guidance. The only caveat is that some of these materials may have a higher MOQ than some are accustomed to.
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This product opens up a great deal of potential to add water-soluble actives (conditioning comes to mind) to dry shampoo. If you do it right any wet feeling rapidly dissipates. Don’t try this without an overhead mixer and a disperser blade. That stick blender will just make a mess.Hardly new.
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No, it uses Evonik’s Powder to cream Formulation “System.” They have numerous sell sheets on this system with various starting Formulations. When they first promoted the materials at supplier’s day they gave out a sample. It was a powder that dropped all its liquid load on the skin. It is hard to explain. I played around with it and made a DHA bronzer with it but it would have been too expensive for that market.