[Noobie]

Hello everyone! I’m Z and I’m an M.A. student in Germany. Although I study nothing closely related to science, let alone cosmetic chemistry, I got interested in formulations after following Dr. Shereene Idriss, Dr. Dray, and LabMuffin. The more I learned about how skincare products work, the more apparent it became to me how much expertise formulating required, unlike even the relatively complex DIY formulations. Not having the necessary background and equipment, I will be postponing turning what I learn into a hobby to much later, although I think it will be a very expensive one. I do not have big skin-related concerns, so creating something would be purely out of interest and only for myself. Right now, as a consumer and not a formulator, much of what I learn here helps me navigate the clean beauty dominated industry to get something decent. I wish the marketing teams of products already helped instead of fear mongering. The good thing is that I think I will end up not wasting money on cosmetic ingredients, if things get greenwashed to the point that I end up only with botanicals by the time I feel the courage to create lol. Since I am by no means an expert, I believe I will rarely be able to help unfortunately. But thank you all, because you are also helping consumers against beauty claims with your expertise and I appreciate that.

[Noobie]

Thank you so much @Richard and @fareloz ! I’m still waiting for an answer from the chemists of the brand, but I do not expect a sophisticated answer since they will want to counter the mould comments. Also the customer representative said that mould was likely a result of the customers’ hygiene, and that their products had an ideal pH of 5.5 although I am not sure how they achieved it since I am relying on theoretical assumptions with the lack of a professional pH tester. I see that sodium acrylates copolymer requires a pH of 6 or higher, but do you think the essential oils lowered the pH?

[Noobie]

Regarding the pink color: I just saw The Ordinary’s new soothing serum and read that the B12 gives its Barbie toned pink. Not an expert, have no idea if it fades and since it’s water soluble, might be less relevant to emulsified body butters, but just wanted to share the info.

[Noobie]

Oh the thing about hexanediol is a great tip, thank you! I think suppliers pushing these “alternatives” make it really worse for formulators…

[Noobie]

Not sure if a new post is necessary, but a Korean brand selling internationally also seems to me to have sketchy preservatives. A’pieu’s Ampoule has the following ingredients: Water, Centella Asiatica extract, glycerin, 1-2 hexanediol, beta-glucan, Madecassoside, ethylhexylglycerin. It is in a glass eye dropper bottle and again, I might be totally wrong, but I’ve read here that ethylhexylglycerin was not a preservative.

[Noobie]

Thank you Dr. Phil! The brand is by no means international or domestically as popular, it is a brand named “Polente” in Turkey selling from both their own website and a storefront of an online shopping app. They sell under the claims of “natural, organic, clean” but different than other such brands, they don’t just sell oil and botanical extract mixtures, which draws customers that seek “dupes” of more expensive brands. For example, I saw many comments likening this to the Kiehl’s avocado eye cream but being significantly cheaper. This brand has the same preservative system and almost the same ingredients varying slightly in percentages, so those that like a facial moisturizer also mostly like the other version or the eye creams but the same might not go for dry oils, soaps, or botanical mists, bar shampoos and conditioners that they have. Since understanding the comments even with the auto-translator might be difficult, let me summarize them: Many comments of course preach the “clean ingredients” but since almost the entire industry promotes this, I think they mean clean AND cheap. Few of them address their skin-related issues for choosing natural products, but there is an equal part that addresses sensitivity upon use without attributing it to the essential oils and extracts. Personally, I knew better to not fall into fear mongering after following great cosmetic dermatologists and chemists like Dr. Idriss, Dr. Dray and LabMuffin but of course, budget was an issue and I did not have a skin concern leading me to choose this brand to begin with. I developed a critical eye of the marketed active ingredients after reading Dr. Perry’s comments as well but I think there are a few other people like me that also wanted panthenol, niacinamide etc. in one product in the form of a daily moisturizer, unlike LRP’s Cicaplast balm for example. These dermatologist and chemists also emphasized the preservative problems in the industry caused by fear mongering and cautioned against “no preservative” or “naturally preserved” products, and I believed this brand mostly used clean beauty for sales and still took care to preserve their hydrous products. I don’t think they were effected by the mould accusations at all and I am not sure how they would recall and substantially develop their new formulas. At this point, thanks to your insights and with the lack of an answer to my e-mail, I think it’s safe to say that they don’t conduct adequate tests and the products are not manufactured or formulated by at least good chemists. I think my question reflects the problems in the beauty industry today as you can suspect, even though this is a small brand. I am and will be mostly sticking with derm brands just to be safe from issues like this but your expertise also really helps to have a critical eye, so thank you.

[Noobie]

Yes it is a clear glass jar

[Noobie]

Oh that’s great, I never found a dry clay mask that contained preservatives online but saw potential issues after reading forum entries here. I also looked up a dry grain scrub containing no preservatives but that’s where I got the idea of including Propanediol 1,3. I guess the trick is purchasing sterilized clays and maybe slightly adjusting the acidity while adding water to not be irridated by the pH of the clays. Thank you!

[Noobie]

Now that was really helpful, especially about learning about the preservative function, thank you so much!