Microformulation
Forum Replies Created
-
Please email. markfuller@microformulation.com. For some reason it takes several days to get the inquiries. We can discuss a time via email.
-
@Belassi Here is the US the term “milk” is used frequently for a thin spray able emulsion. Common in self tanners.
-
Look in the pinned post “Looking for Formulation Services.” We do exactly that, but their are numerous other clients as well. Talk to several (I do an hour free initial call) and feel them out. In the end select whomever best works with your Business model.
-
Definitely something to watch and stay on top of.
I believe that we will still see numerous violations. Too many wrongfully endorse the term “natural” as an inviolable term that even when not defined they defend with “you know what I mean.”
I will have to watch the ruling on certification since I have numerous clients who have followed a standard but not achieved the certification.
-
I am glad you see the value in the message. Many novice Cosmetics people will underestimate the difficulty of the process and see any reminder as threatening. It is not.
First, refine what “natural” means. If you leave it undefined you will not have a clear benchmark by which to vet raw materials. You will either be too lenient and “greenwash” or more likely you will adopt such a strict fear based non-science based definition that you will hobble yourself in attaining the performance which you need.
Ultimately if you wanted to be most credible, you would follow a Natural standard and get your Product Certified under this standard. Perry has done several great posts and presentations on these standards I would refer you to. However, for many line the added cost and administration of attaining this certification is too great at first. In these cases I will urge my clients to adopt a “Raw Material Statement.” This statement will address some of the avoided raw materials based upon Marketing and rarely on hard Science. For example, parabens. The Scientific bias against parabens has been dis-proven but the Marketing bias exists and needs to be addressed. For example “XYZ Cosmetics avoids parabens, Formaldehyde donors,…….and uses plant based materials to deliver effective and safe skincare.” Notice I didn’t use toxic. Fear doesn’t quite sell as well as many believe.
Next, google the FDA Definition of a Cosmetic and make it a poster. This is your guidance in marketing and when making claims for a Cosmetic, refer back to this poster. If your claims are unrealistic or over-reaching you will have associated issues. Too unrealistic and you are selling snake oil. Too over-reaching and you will face FDA censure. Select realistic buzzwords such as “moisturizing, lightening, etc.” THEN ACHIEVE THESE GOALS WITH INTELLIGENT RAW MATERIAL SELECTION! A cool sounding or intriguing ingredient may not always be the best when you look at the overall product.
These steps are key to the Product Development. The Product Development summary will give the Chemist the “work order” for what he needs to Formulate and will also give the Marketer the start of your “story.” Keep in mind that rarely can you be effective both as your Formulator and your Sales/Marketing team. Be realistic about your strengths. If you are like me and love the Technical side, get a partner. In that case you will do 90% Technical and 10% Sales/Marketing. If you are properly a Sales/Businessperson, you will do 10% Technical (participating in the Product Development) and 90% Sales, Invoices, Marketing, etc. A successful line can’t realistically do both and must delegtae out their weak side to an appropriate party.
-
Knowing specific ingredients is just a sliver of designing a Formula. If you freely admit you are ignorant in preservation, you are easily 2 years of practical experience away from producing a safer, consistent, elegant and effective Formulation.
As others will surely weigh-in, you are overly simplifying the total process. Don’t discount the Dunning-Kruger effect and it’s impact in Formulating.
As @Belassi most properly pointed out, the term Chemical-free is an indicator. Also, it would be helpful to sharpen your Marketing on what “natural” would mean. Also, craft attainable and clear marketing bench marks. They are currently diffuse and disconnected.
-
Time to hire a Consultant.
-
I agree. Even when these stabilization strategies are applied, a very finite shelf life is achieved. The efficacy is just as good with some of the more stable derivatives and the stability is superior.
-
They don’t limit the patent to that pH. This is really the area of a patent attorney.
The patent holder will license the technology. However if you ever get large enough to come to their attention you could expect a cease and desist. They interpret the patent to be for the stabilization of L-ascorbic acid with Ferrulic acid. -
I may be wrong, but in this case oil is not equal to oil. The structure is not such that it could be easily saponified and hence kick out glycerin and a saponified soap.
-
Are you looking to gel oils in combination with a surfactant?
-
Many of my clients will opt to go with Private Label. As @Belassi points out, it is really a Business decision.
First, read up and refine what natural means. Since “natural” is really only a marketing buzzword, more clearly defining this term will be helpful in both Product Development of Custom Formulations as well as vetting any Private Label products. I won’t belabor this point since in past threads there is a great deal of guidance in this manner. My point is “natural” simply has no legal definition for the most part and really doesn’t address the issues well enough to grant your company a coherent standard.
Private Label can enable you to launch a wider variety of Products initially. Many Private Label Formulations are very good Formulations and should be examined to see if they fit your companies Business model. Private Label products allow a growing line to offer a wider range of products on day 1 and as such you can gather real world sales figures. As anyone can attest, everyone has had a Product that they thought was going to be the next big thing offered in their line and it flopped. They can also speak about how a product they put little thought into became a sales leader. On the downside, you have very little if any opportunity to customize the products. PROS: Less initial financial outlay, decent products if you examine them keeping your Business model in mind and a wider range of offerings day 1 which will give you sales figures which you can use down the line to direct your Custom Formulation program. CON: You really get what you get, no Customization.
Custom Formulation allows you to design a product from the ground up or to emulate an existing product. Many have negative feelings about using another product as a starting point but this is not necessarily wrong. First, if the product has come to your attention, it likely has merit and potential in the Market. Also, you are not just “knocking off a product”, but have an opportunity to improve upon the product. You can also design a product from the ground up. You start with the benefits you want to deliver and the qualities of the final product. Select raw materials that realistically deliver these benefits (promises) to the customer. Develop the product to feel and apply as you would like. Probably the biggest downsides to this process are cost (realistically the process from design to manufacturing can run in the 5 figures range and you will need to buy as many as the minimum run size of your manufacturer) and the timeline to develop a product. My advice as someone who does this process. Please don’t come to your Formulator with the attitude of “we need this yesterday.” It doesn’t realistically speed up the process a great deal and to some it it is a red flag that you will be a pain to work with. Also, it will force compromises that could cause you not to have the best product. Custom formulation is in involved process where if adequate thought is put into the Marketing and the Chemistry, a wonderful product will result. PRO: you get a customized product you will feel “ownership” over and if proper thought is put into the process you can get a product that meets the Chemistry and Marketing challenges. CON: More expensive, higher MOQ’s and much harder to offer a wider range of Products.
One last point in an already long winded reply. Be sure to put a great deal of thought into manufacturing yourself. It takes an honest personal inventory of your strengths. Are you a technical person who would realistically need a partner with Sales/Marketing skills? Or are you a Salesperson who needs Technical support? These roles can initially be met by one person, BUT if your line expands and grows as we all want them to, you will quickly outgrow this function. If Sales is your strength, it is generally more efficient to outsource the Formulation and Manufacturing. As many can attest and have stories to tell, getting the actual products in stock is a big task. However, once you have the product, what will make you successful is communicating the value and benefits ethically to your customers and communicating to them why they should buy YOUR product. This is Sales and Marketing. It is a basic rule; a middle of the road product with a great sales strategy will outsell the very best products with little to no marketing. As a Chemist I wish it weren’t so, but it is. In the end if you do the manufacturing it really should be your passion or the end result goal of your Business model. “Do I want to start a Cosmetic line or do I want to start a Contract Manufacturing facility?” In the end, you need to decide which goal you want. As such it behooves 95% of people to outsource their manufacturing. Manufacturers have specialized QA/QC programs that will ensure a consistent and safe product. Don’t under estimate the value of these programs and they really only come from experience in the field as well as specialized training. You wouldn’t go online, participate in a few social media sites and then go off and pry out your own appendix. In fact most of us would even hesitate to go online and do our own car repairs. DON’T OVERLY SIMPLIFY THIS PROCESS IN YOUR MINDS AS WELL.
-
Potassium Sorbate, Sodium benzoate. Ph adjusted to 4-6. Good cGMP. Proper stockkeeping. First in and first out. Don’t stock more than you can utilize within a realistic period of time.
-
No, it is not manipulated to that pH, that is the natural pH of the raw material as supplied. This is one reason it is important to adjust the pH when using APG’s.
-
@Belassi Talc is the new no-no ingredient here in the US at least.
There have been several class action suits against Johnson and Johnson. As such, talc is demonized. -
I also know of several Chemists who work almost exclusively in surfactant systems and they rely heavily upon centrifuge testing as well as a full protocol.
-
I use Microchem and they are outstanding. Are you located in the US and if so, what region.
-
Again even in deference to the conditioning of the scalp, the contact time is finite and also if your product does not rinse off effectively, you will have negative aesthetic properties associated with your product. A little oil goes a long way. Also, there are other raw materials besides oils which can give you great effect. An effective product utilizing many discreet and complimentary actives, not just a whole lot of one.
-
@HuskyBeard No problem at all.
As many have pointed out (and I am sure that you may progress to see this as well), the benefits sometimes attached to the Natural products are exagerated to at least a large extent. I have always attributed this to “chemophobia” and “naturalistic fallacy” which is rampant in the smaller DIY adjacent market sector. Some never progress beyond this paradigm, but many will evolve and see that perhaps it is better to provide a root product based upon some realistic claims that can be attributed to valid plant based materials (perhaps conditioning, “volumizing”, etc) and then as a marketing “campaign” later.
The one truism (which you may not be ready to accept yet) is that a. if there were truly effective plant based products, the market would have utilized them by now. It is no accident that Rogaine has been a winner for Upjohn. And b. if a product did exhibit a true physiological effect it would become an OTC drug. Applying for a New Drug Application (NDA) is an expensive 6 figure process and the speed at which the FDA approves these NDA’s is slow. I know these two points challenges your point and that is not my intent. Just put a pin in it and keep it in the back of your mind as your project progresses.
Lastly, much as your Formulation will get revised and will change, so must your Marketing. Don’t make the mistake of writing yorr Marketing goals in stone and refuse to revise it in regards to what the Science can provide. In that case you will either fail or alternatively make a product which you fly under the radar of compliance, hence engaging in snake oil.
Good luck with your project and I wish you all the best.
-
Perry did a webinar on this several months ago that was very comprehensive.
Our stability protocol is based upon guidance from the PCPC. There is not hard set protocol but in general if you make a good faith effort to follow the PCPC guidance you should have a defensible program.
I have also sen facilities perform tests in addition to the guidelines. One example is a calibrated light box.
Lastly, you also have to make some allowances for the type of product. AN quick example of this is perhaps the differences you might employ when testing an anhydrous butter over a shampoo for instance.
-
That is way too much. You have to first look at who your client base is and then fall back on good old fashioned Anatomy. Many Cosmetic Chemistry Texts cover this.
Caucasian hair has a lower oil content inherent to it’s anatomy. I am recalling the numbers but based upon this anatomy 3% oils would be the very upper limit. African American Hair has a slightly higher oil content naturaly, again based upon the anatomy. In that case 5% would be at the very highest levels.
Remember, as @johnb rightfully pointed out, this is a rinse off product ultimately and even the above numbers are arguably high. Even with a prolonged leave on, the bulk of your oils will be rinsed off. It is naive to believe otherwise.
In the end, you are achieving oily waste water for the most part and if the rinse off is inefficient an aesthetically displeasing product.
-
I would use a combination of Phenoxyethanol/Ethylhexylglycerin or Phenoxyethanol/Capryl Glycol. The manufacturers have guidelines specifically for leave-on and rinse off applications. Honestly though, once you optimize the other qualities of your product, the only real way to ultimately assess your preservative is challenge testing.
-
You are welcome.
My last piece of advice. Don’t use a Cosmetic Chemist as your go to source of specialized advice. We specialize and you must seek an appropriate expert. For example, I recently did some work with CBD oils. My assertion throughout was that my expertise revolved around including these materials in a stable formulation with nice skin properties, NOT the actual effectiveness of the CBD oils. Claims substantiation is a specialty and in fact there are several laboratory providers that provide this service. It is not a core Cosmetic Science function. It is the same with Regulatory compliance. Granted we can speak to the topic, but in the end you will need a regulatory expert. Regulatory compliance is not a core Cosmetic specialty, arguably something we have exposure to, but that is all.
Just because a product is sold on Ebay, Etsy or Amazon does not grant you permission to violate the regulations as well. While granted, the FDA does let a lot slip through, they are watching. There have been more violation letters this year than any year I can recall. In fact by July 1st, they had issued more in 2016 already than in all of 2015. If you get caught, you would have to bring all your web citations and packaging into compliance or face further censure.
Just because someone gets away with a violation doesn’t make it a good idea for you to attempt to do so also. A few streets over someone sucessfully kicked a door in and stole a big screen TV. But be assured, I will not be doing the same thing.
In the end it comes down to your level of risk and your level of ethics. That simple. I again doubt you will see significant performance in this product. If it were possible, one of the Fortune 500 companies with an R&D budget thousands of times larger than yours would have already put it on the market.
-
I have tried the Calblend SF as well as their Calblend ECO. It worked fine. I think it wasn’t used that often again since if I recall it took so much trouble and so much time to get the sample in the first place. They also make several other similar surfactants such as their AOS 40.
-
I do know that they are not an approved combination in the US. Hydroquinone at less than 2% is an OTC Drug for Skin Lightening. Tretinoin (a very specific compound different from retinol) is a “legend” drug and requires a prescription.