[mikebavington]

chrisbaysauli,

I would preservative challenge test every product that you produce. If there is ever an issue with contamination in the future, having preservative challenge testing results will cover you to some degree. I know the liability costs of selling a contaminated product in North America would FAR surpass the cost of testing for microbial growth before you sell your product. I would actually use preservatives in every product I produced, even if no water was present in the formula. Oils/fats can attract surface moisture and become contaminated over time.

For the insult patch testing/dermatologic testing, if you are using common ingredients that have a good history profile,  then you should be okay without doing such testing. For example, if you composed a lip balm that included ingredients such as beeswax, lanolin oil, some common oils/fats - avocado, macademia nut, cocoa butter etc. - you could research the use of those ingredients by other companies and determine their safety profile, based on the percentages you intend to use.

I dont know how Philipino regulators classify lip balm. In North America, a cosmetic versus drug classification depends on whether you ingest the product or not, and most importantly, what claims you make about the product’s effectiveness. If you dont make any claims about the lip balm and if it is considered an ‘outside the body’ product - not ingested - you probably wont get into trouble regarding the lack of testing for dermatological reasons.

One thing you should test for is stability. Even if your ingredients are safe and your product wont become contaminated with microbes because of ineffective preservation, you still want to make sure your product ingredients will retain their strength/effectiveness, that the formula will not separate, change colour, texture etc. in the long run.

It is important to do tests with the actual packaging you intend to use for your final product. As an example, when a formulator uses PVP-Iodine in any formula at a concentration below 5%, it can rapidly become unstable, over time, and lose its effectiveness -  especially in plastic packaging.

PVP Iodine at lower than 5% concentration in a formula should be sold in a glass, amber jar, based upon the BASF product brochure recommendations. If a person was formulating with PVP-Iodine and wasnt aware of this fact beforehand, stability testing would let them know about the potential problem before putting their product on the market.

In conclusion, although I dont know the market parameters in the Philipines, I would at least do preservative and stabiltiy testing for all the formulas you distribute.

**Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I am an amateur formulator and dont have the training or experience of the formally trained individuals on this site. So, take my advise only as extra information.

[mikebavington]

Well, I spent $4000 over the course of 4 years to test and develop a near-complete formula. I then contacted a manufacturer and was told the minimum fill amount was 400 kg of product. I havent received the quote back from them, but I suspect my per unit cost will be between $0.80 - $1.20 for around 10,000 units. So, add another $8,000 - $12,000 for inventory to sell.

But, I still have to get the manufacturer to compose a few samples and send them out for stability and microbial testing, which will cost around $1100. If you want to do patch testing, that would be a larger expense to add on.

I also have to either set up an ecommerce site and contract fulfillment services to send out my orders. It will cost around $2.40 per order fulfillment, not including shipping costs. I dont count the fulfillment costs until I sell my product though.

And then you have to include registering your brand and trademark - $1500; setting up a corporation or LLC etc.

Dont forget advertising or sales costs, regulatory costs, lawyers etc.

I put the total cost at about $25,000 for your first product launch, if you want to be thorough about it.

[mikebavington]

IMHO,

With Tea Tree Oil, you have to use a very large amount in order to equal the effectiveness of other commonly used antimicrobials - greater than 10%. And with the higher rate needed, you encounter formula cost issues and irritation issues when the product is applied to the skin. Plus you will have more issues with formula stability, etc, as the tea tree oil -  in very high amounts - puts extra demands on the emulisifers.

I have researched antimicrobials quite a bit and the best one imho, is polyhexanide - PHMB.

[mikebavington]

I know you want to stay ‘natural’, but could you add cyclomethicone to your formula to help with the pour-in and the bubbles?

[mikebavington]

EDTA should be added to the water phase of the formula and as early as possible in the formulation process. By adding it early on, you make use of EDTA’s benefits to your formula. It is recommended to be used at 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.3% in soaps, but that depends on the purity/strength of the EDTA you are supplied with. A lower purity EDTA supply might require you to use more of it in the formula.

Here is the link where I recovered the above information, (Dow Chemical):

http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDOWCOM/dh_00b8/0901b803800b8ab3.pdf?filepath=versene/pdfs/noreg/113-01504.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc

If you are going through a home crafter website, ask them who supplies their EDTA ingredient and ask them for the formulating specs. The specs will tell you the proper percentages to be used, based on the manufacturers recommendations.

[mikebavington]

Sclerotium Gum at 2% is suppose to stabilize up to 20% oil load. So with your formula being 11% oil solubles and 89% water, Schlerotium Gum should work.

Here is a link to a supplier from Texas:

http://ingredientstodiefor.com/item/UltraPureGel/1264?category=36

Carbomer, as Perry suggests, is excellent at stabilizing almost anything. There is a product called Pemulen TR-2 -Acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer , which is suitable in stabilizing up to 30% oil load and can be used for sprayable applicaitons - low viscosity formulas. TR-2 is effective at a ph range between 4 - 11. The Personal Formulator, out of the mid-west, distributes it and does not have a minimum order amount.

Here is the link to their website section regarding TR-2:

http://www.personalformulator.com/wvss/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=1014

I think Cetyl Alcohol thickener would be unnecessary in terms of wanting only a sprayable consistency.

 

[mikebavington]

Just found this other supplier of silicones:

http://www.clearcoproducts.com

They are based in Pennsylvania. They dispense the silicones in 3.5kg containers, to start. That is a great size for the home crafter or other small production facility.

[mikebavington]

Found this link to suppliers of PVA.

http://www.thomasnet.com/products/polyvinyl-alcohol-1111806-1.html

[mikebavington]

You could use Cera Belina - it gels oils.

[mikebavington]

Maybe you could develop a cream to apply after debilatory application. You could include anti-irritant or soothing ingredients, such as: 

Petrolatum (occlusive, reduces water loss through skin - TWEL)

Panthenol (anti-inflammatory, humectant)

Menthol (cooling)

Polyhexanide (antimicrobial, reduces pain/discomfort)

Xylitol (humectant, antimicrobial)

Bisabolol (anti-redness)

Etc.

[mikebavington]

See, I just realized that I used the term ‘molecule’ in place of ‘atom’. I need your course Perry. 

[mikebavington]

I dont have a chemistry background, so I am the type of person that would be interested in such a course. I had to learn about formulating on my own, and even now, I dont know 95% of what I would like to know.

Expalanation of the Periodic Table and examples of elemental chemistry in cosmetic ingredients is important. I dont think many people understand that ingredients are basically a rearrangement of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules, in various quantities and positions. 

I would also spend alot of energy explaining emulsifiers and preservatives. These two areas are where most people have questions or problems relating to finishing their formulas. Especially emulsifiers. I cant say that enough. Emulsification is the most difficult task when trying to formulate.

I would do a lecture, with diagrams, on the components of skin. Most people dont understand skin composition and their are alot of misconceptions of how different ingredients affect/dont affect the skin.

Also explain all the terms commonly found in formulating, such as ‘alcohol’, which is different from ethanol. How occlusives are different from humectants, which are different from emolients, etc.

[mikebavington]

Good thing they didnt have regulators around when Geishas became prevalent.

[mikebavington]

Most athlete’s foot treatments have an antimicrobial ingredient in them to kill the microbes inhabiting the foot. For example, Tinactin has:

Active Ingredient:

Tolnaftate 1% - Antimicrobial 

Inactive Ingredients: (in alphabetical order, not by percentage)

ceteth-20, cetostearyl alcohol, chlorocresol, mineral oil, propylene glycol, purified water, sodium phosphate monobasic, white petrolatum

Ceteth-20 - emulsifier

Cetostearyl Alcohol - thickener, emulsifier

Chlorocresol - preservative

Mineral Oil - Occlusive, emollient

Propylene Glycol - Humectant, Solvent

Water - Moisturizer, Solvent, viscosity decreasing

Sodium Phosphate Monobasic - PH adjuster

White Petroleum - Occlusive, emollient

[mikebavington]

I second the comment regarding Cellulose. I am a really big fan of HEC.Anything over 1.25% HEC gives quite a thick suspending result. I have used it at 1.8% and it was really, really thick.

[mikebavington]

By the way, I realize that all ingredients, effectively, contribute to final PH; but in general, most formulas seem to have distinct PH influencing ingredients.

[mikebavington]

Which emulsifiers are you using? Are you using gelling ingredients such as HEC or Carbomer?  

[mikebavington]

I think Nivea - since it is basically thickened mineral oil - should put an oil rig logo on their packaging. 

[mikebavington]

I read the PrettyMommies Link. Typical marketing where everything ‘natural’ is great and all the inferences to ‘synthetic’ or ‘chemical’ dangers are frequent. I get REALLY TIRED of reading that sort of thing.

If these companies are so altruistic, why are they charging more than $1 per ml of product, considering that most products are 70%, or more, water?

And is it a valid claim to say that oils moisturize? I thought humectants moisturize. Oils, I thought, cover the skin, while emollients soften the skin. I see alot of companies make the claim that their oils moisturize.

[mikebavington]

PHMB 

http://www.lotioncrafter.com/Biguanide-20.html

Silver Citrate and Citric Acid

http://www.lotioncrafter.com/tinosan-sdc.html

[mikebavington]

Cera Belina as a stability agent

http://www.lotioncrafter.com/cera-bellina.html

Mystral Mystrate might also help with the whitening aspect

http://www.personalformulator.com/wvss/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=190

Sepigel 305 might also help with whitening

http://www.personalformulator.com/wvss/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=1273

[mikebavington]

If you were to add the triglycerides and isopropyl myristate, you would be negating the thickening effect of the extra waxes.

[mikebavington]

I did a quick google search. Although I think EWG overstates toxicity concerns of most ingredients, they have uploaded an interesting article on their website. It is worth a read, I think.

Here is the link:

http://www.ewg.org/2013sunscreen/whats-wrong-with-high-spf/

[mikebavington]

Sorry. Forgot to include wiki article link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraben

[mikebavington]

I read a Wiki article regarding parabens the other day and it mentioned that one would have to be exposed to 25,000 times the amount of parabens regularly found in products for it to even register as a concern. And even then, the estrogenic effects experienced by the body at that 25,000 times greater level would still be 100,000 times less than one would experience taking estradiol. And, the article stated, estradiol is already 10 times stronger than estrone, the sex hormone produced by the body, naturally. So, in essence, it is next to impossible to experience any negative estrogenic effects from being exposed to parabens in everyday consumer products.  Here is the excerpt from Wiki:

Yet, when you look at products such as YES lubricant, they mention how their ‘natural’ lube is paraben free and how, as a result, consumers can avoid the ‘dangers’ of the preservative.

http://www.yesyesyes.org/KYjelly.htm

Yes actually uses Phenoxyethanol, but then they go after parabens as being a ‘no-no’.

In general, when scientists lab test products, they test to unreasonable levels - to the extreme. 

And to that, I contest anything to the extreme is dangerous. For instance, take WATER.  If a human were to drink only 20 times the daily recommend intake of water, they would certainly become ill and most likely die as a result. Think about that again. Water, which is crucial to our survival as human beings - if consumed in slightly elevated amounts - can kill a human being. Can you imagine the warning labels on a bottle of water if it were treated in the same way as a cosmetic products is:

Caution: Do Not Consume more than 4 bottles per day

Too much intake can result in frequent urination, cramping, reflux and a decrease in vital nutrient absoption. Excessive amounts can also result in intoxication and death. Call 911 and seek help immediately if you feel you have been exposed to high levels of water.