mikethair
Forum Replies Created
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The fact that products made from natural ingredients don’t foam and/or don’t smell good is because of poor formulation.
Since 2006 I have formulated for global brands using only natural ingredients, and these products have been very successful. And have elevated these brands to become very successful.
But having said that, there are challenges in formulating with all-natural ingredients. It can take time. For example of have spent three months on some products to get them right. Then I send samples to my clients for their evaluation and customer feedback. This can take another two to three months.
So, to answer your question”There isn’t a way to fix these problems?” yes there is. The key is a competent formulation by a formulator experienced in using natural ingredients. And more consumers these days are looking for all-natural products.
And with surfactants, I have perfected ways of saponifying plant oils. And with the correct choice of oils, these foam very well.
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Hi,
I have been formulating with essential oils for many years, and since 2006 have formulated for many global brands.
Formulating fragrance is an art, and requires many years of practice and in-depth knowledge of essential oils. The easy route is to use synthetic fragrances. But these have been lost favour recently.
And with essential oils, we use certain oils to “anchor” other oils. For example, benzoin is used as a fixative, slowing the dispersion of essential oils and other fragrance materials into the air. And I prefer to use certain base oils. Of course, all of these must be in a synergetic blend.
For best results, and to elevate your products, it’s best to outsource to a competent formulator. And that’s what many of the brands I work with globally have done.
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No surprises here about the “sticky feeling.” You have provided a complicated formulation of synthetics.
With moisturisers, my approach is a lot simpler. I use only plant oils and select these based on what I’m trying to achieve. With the various oils available, you have a wide palate to produce various outcomes. But you do need to know your oils. And I prefer working with organic oils.
I co-founded a skincare manufacturing company, and since 2006 have produced these types of products for brands globally. They sell very well.
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Would be best if you listed the ingredients.
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No surprises here, it is a massive shift in mindset for manufacturers.
With my experience as the co-founder of a skincare manufacturing factory in Viet Nam and Malaysia since 2006, I am able to provide advice on the design and setting up of certified GMP Manufacturing facilities and the associated Quality Control (QC) system.
Cosmetics professional with competencies in communicating with people, designing and managing quality systems, labs and research areas. My focus is on continuous improvement via audit, operational efficiency, and continual problem analysis.
Working for more than 15 years in our company’s QC and Production areas, I have managed many QC audits. And oversaw the manufacturing of cosmetic products for export to Private Label clients in Europe, Japan, and the USA. Associated with this manufacturing was the preparation of cosmetics compliance paperwork for these export markets.
Experienced with following and auditing GMP regulations, I come from the view of avoiding the risk of contamination to the process/product and ensuring the entire QC system works well to prevent problems (Quality Management, Training, Complaints, Recalls, etc.).
I also specialise in setting up the production of saponified vegetable oils to produce various all-natural body wash, face wash, and shampoo products.
Feel free to contact me: mikethair@gmail.com
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From my experience in formulating so-called “barrier repair” creams in fact have the opposite effect. The synthetic ingredients tend to aggravate the skin of sensitive individuals, and they require frequent re-application.
Counterintuitive to many, is the use of high-quality plant oils. I use organic plant oil formulations that are soothing, healthy and hydrating. Either single ols or in a combination. For example, a single oil I favour is Jojoba. And using a combination of oils gives you a broad palate of treatments/effects depending on the oils used.
I formulated these soothing/hydrating oils for around 20 years for private-label brands globally. They were very popular with brands and their customers.
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Overall, happy with what we have now. It works!!
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From my perspective, this is a very complex formulation based on synthetic ingredients.
My approach was a lot simpler and straightforward. I saponified extra virgin olive oil. This produced a very mild face wash base to which we added appropriate EOs.
Globally, this product was enormously popular, both under our own brand name, and Private Label.
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I would check customer reviews, some products are not what they claim.
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Abstract
Phenoxyethanol, or 2-phenoxyethanol, has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and has been widely used as a preservative in cosmetic products for decades. It is effective against various Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as against yeasts, and has only a weak inhibitory effect on resident skin flora. According to the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, phenoxyethanol is safe for all consumers - including children of all ages - when used as a preservative in cosmetic products at a maximum concentration of 1%. Adverse systemic effects have been observed in toxicological studies on animals but only when the levels of exposure were many magnitudes higher (around 200-fold higher) than those to which consumers are exposed when using phenoxyethanol-containing cosmetic products. Despite its widespread use in cosmetic products, phenoxyethanol is a rare sensitizer. It can be considered as one of the most well-tolerated preservatives used in cosmetic products.
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Yes agree, but in my opinion, it all depends on where you position your brand in the marketplace. For me, it was all about quality that our customers could trust. And cost wasn’t an issue.
Saponifyning our own coconut allowed me to select the best quality coconut oil and KOH. The Potassium Cocoate we produced was of the highest quality.
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My approach to shampoo is a lot simpler. Saponified coconut oil with added essential oils. I manufactured this product for 20 years for brands globally, and now in retirement, I have constant requests for this product.
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Why not get radical and saponify coconut oil…… it produces a really cleansing and foaming product.
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As a scientist, I see Vitamin E & C as marketing ingredients that have little
(if any) effect in topical skincare. But the marketing people will see it differently. -
Go back and look closely at your oils and waxes and their relative percentages/proportions. Research the characteristics of each ingredient and identify those that have a “sticky” feel.
Then do a series of formulations with different propositions and record the results in Excel.
Have others try these, and then validate your own conclusions.
It’s a long, time-consuming process.
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If your focus is on the fragrance, some essential oils are just used for anchoring the other EOs. For example, benzoin is a fixative, slowing the dispersion of essential oils and other fragrance materials into the air. And the fragrance is very vanilla, warm and sweet. It may fit your Christmas theme.
Also, benzoin will not have the same fragrance depending on its variety. For example, Laos benzoin will be vanilla and caramelised without being too sweet. Siam benzoin is the most sought after by perfumers, is much rarer, and therefore much more expensive. It has a much more assertive vanilla character and is very sweet. The CoAs should tell you the origin of each oil.
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My journey was to first get a useful undergraduate science degree. In my case, I went on to an MSc and PhD. And next, you need some hands-on experience in a laboratory environment.
With this experience behind you, start working in a cosmetics manufacturing environment with mentoring. And try to get experience working across all fields including production, QC, and formulation. Also, some involvement in cosmetics compliance requirements for your particular country.
With all of the above behind you, then think about branching out on your own. It’s not an overnight journey.
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Hi Twish,
I call it complicated because it is complicated. And this is evidenced by the “stickiness” you describe. In short, your formulation is not performing.
And I have provided you with an alternative. But you will first need to understand your oils. And this approach provides superior outcomes as evidenced by our experience manufacturing for brands globally since 2006.
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I disagree. I feel very comfortable in this forum. I’m a chemist, and I have formulated for many brands globally over 20+ years.
Also, with my experience as the co-founder of a skincare manufacturing facility in Viet Nam and Malaysia, I am able to provide advice on the design and setting up GMP Certified Manufacturing facilities.
I also specialise in setting up the production of saponified vegetable oils to produce various all-natural body wash, face wash, and shampoo products. And I have successfully capacity-built companies in these areas. The African companies I have worked with are now doing extremely well. And all done remotely to keep the cost down.
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There is very little, if any, peer reviewed evidence for the cosmetic effects of caffeine around the eye area.
However, having said that, I have formulated some Private Label products for the eye using caffeine. It’s a sexy product, and sold very well.
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In saponifying our own coconut it allowed me to have full control over the quality and characteristics of the Potassium Cocoate produced. In the shampoo we produced I regarded the Potassium Cocoate as a surfactant with amazing cleansing abilities.
And, the saponification process gives us the ability of “superfatting,” which means we formulate the coconut and KOH to leave a percentage of the oil unsaponified. This would provide the “moisturising” you refer to. Of course, the superfatting percentage must be tightly calculated and controlled during production.
But for many, high levels of superfatting are not desirable in a shampoo. But where it really counts for example is in our face wash. Here we saponified extra virgin olive oil to produce a luxurious, moisturising face wash. Our face wash was VERY popular.
OK, easy to write here, but in fact it took me more than one year of experimentation to get our face wash, shampoo, and body wash perfected. But once done, we went into production and produced these products for around 20 years, and exported globally. These included our own branded products, and 90% of our production was Private Label for various brands around the world.
Now that our production facility has closed, I’m looking for partners with the ability to produce these products under my guidance. And yes, these skills are transferable…….we have done this with a few businesses in Africa who are now doing very well.
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I would not agree with this distinction between chemist and formulator.
In my experience as the co-founder and Managing Director of a company where I worked for 20 years as the formulator (I consider myself a chemist with a Ph.D. and MSc.) I see both roles as one and the same.
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<OK, I see you have your arse covered “Thankfully I have emails dating back almost a year appraising him of the situation.”
As I have experienced with GMP / QC audits undertaken by cosmetics authorities, there is not much room for interpretation, the GMP guidelines are straightforward, and those who are not up to the mark pay the price.
And I spent a LOT OF TIME training my staff. It pays off!!!!
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That everyone is oblivious to MoCRA comes as no surprise. And for me, raises questions on the quality and safety of cosmetics in the USA.
I founded and managed a manufacturing company for 20 years based on European standards that were higher than MoCRA. It made sense and had advantages. The biggest was that it opened export markets. We were exporting globally, including to Europe and Japan.
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To me, sounds a bit chaotic. Where is senior management in this scenario? Who gave the Operations Manager the authority to ignore the plans and build something incompatible with future plans?
