[Onur]

You were told to avoid synthetic fragrances because no one knows what they’re talking about. A “natural” fragrant oil is made of… guess what… chemicals! Most of them are common allergens and some isolates from them or fully lab-created aroma chemicals are better for this purpose. They also allow you to create non-medicinal smelling, beautiful fragrances.

Fragrances that are used in cosmetics are mostly made of Hedione + Iso E Super + Galaxolide combo because those materials are the skeletons of modern fragrances. Then they might throw a floral, fruit, or an aromatic base in that skeleton. Apart from those three, the most preferred aroma chemicals are ionones (violet, iris), heliotropin (almond, sweet), vanillin/ethyl vanillin (vanilla), coumarin (tonka), phenyl ethyl alcohol (rose), linalool/linalyl acetate (lavender), limonene (orange) etc.

There’s no need to learn another artistry to scent your materials, though. You can just buy fragrances made for cosmetics or just hire a perfumer.

[Onur]

Glycols are what you need for that effect.

Try the trio of Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Sodium Polyacrylate with Carbomer and/or some high molecular Sodium Hyaluronate. That combo is giving me forever moisturized feel and whenever I touch my face, it’s not dry.

[Onur]

Salicylic acid, of course. Many people think it’s water soluble but no, it’s only soluble in oil/ethanol/some glycols. I kind of like bisabolol, too.

Squalane and Squalene are different, the latter being cheaper and oxidized easily. Squalane is the superior one. It’s weird to say it’s oil soluble because it’s the oil itself, it’s a liquid.

Zinc oxide isn’t dissolved in oil, it’s dispersed only.

[Onur]

I love using Triethyl Citrate in body products as it also has deodorizing properties. Great to plasticize glycerin.

[Onur]

All I remember about Urea is that a sodium lactate/lactic acid buffer would help it remain stable and that sodium benzoate & potassium sorbate duo as the preservative system would be the best. These preservatives are most effective between pH 4 and 5.

I wouldn’t use Urea in a cleansing system, though. It’s very hard to work with. And there are more stable keratolytic agents like Allantoin, Salicylic acid and even Lactic acid itself is keratolytic. They all soothe/moisturize the scalp.

[Onur]

Lecithin (0.5% or less) is the way to create liposomes in formulas. Get a decent soy lecihthin and work with it.

[Onur]

I love BRB 1288 (amodimethicone, trideceth-12, cetrimonium chloride)

Awesome conditioning trio for liquid sprays, could be added to the finished product and don’t thicken much. I don’t like how glycerin feels on my hair, though. It’s sticky and feels chalky later.

[Onur]

Not an expert but looking at the commercial formulas, it seems that they’re just ingredients that seal the hair cuticles to prevent breakage during heat-treatments. Makes sense because heat will extremely dehydrate hair strands. Use silicones, emollients, cetearyl alcohol etc and it’s your heat protectant.

[Onur]

Are you starting with a prescription strength formula as a starting formulator? 15% Azealic acid is beyond the cosmetics standards, it’s a drug.

Plus, it’s highly unstable with pH and heat dependency to perform well in a formula. Reduce it down to 5%, dissolve in glycerin or in propanediol as it’s a lot less sticky. You can try 1:2 ratio (5gr Azealic acid in 10 gr propanediol). Put them in a pre-gelled distilled water and stir. Try to keep it between the pH of 4.5 to 5, add preservative and chealating agents.

Again, if you’re a starter formulator, maybe start with a nice niacinamide lotion?

[Onur]

Many popular perfumes, colognes, and body sprays typically contain a dozen or more potentially hazardous synthetic chemicals.

What exactly are non-synthetic aromachemicals? Are they the aldehydes like “hexyl cinnamal” in my chamomile tea, or the citral in my lemon cake, or are they like the terpenes and linalool in my tea-tree oil toner?

They’re all natural but they’re a lot more sensitizing than the synthetically produced Ethyl Vanillin, which is very tolerable. Even your shea butter has volatile chemicals in it that makes up the scent profile of the oil.

If they’re used within legal limits and consumers are comfortable with the finished product, it shouldn’t be an issue. Personally, I prefer creating fragrance-free formulas for the leave-on but I’m all for indulging in a heavenly scent for rinse-off systems!

[Onur]

It could be with the help of polymers, e.g Sepiplus 400 and esters/emollients. Wax-blends are not all stone-solid in a minute, some get viscosity over a longer period of time, you can incorporate heat-sensitive ingredients at this point (at around 40°C) and try high shear stirring. The cleansing balm I made with Cetearyl Alcohol + Stearic acid + IPM + Rice bran wax needed around 30min to get solid and it was still like a pudding at 35°C.

[Onur]

Scalp serums aren’t intended to offer the smooth gliding sensation that silicones give. Additionally, silicones are not water-soluble and should not be applied to the scalp since there is no need for substances that stick to the hair in this context. This includes silicones and cationic guar gum.

Extracts are moslty marketing ploys unless their active ingredients and their efficacy for a specific condition are understood.

For scalp moisturization, NMF (natural moisturizing factors) like Sodium PCA and Urea could be useful, despite their high electrolyte content, which would require the use of a compatible emulsifier. Panthenol and arginine might also become handy in scalp-treatment systems.

To promote hair growth, you might want to add some caffeine, mild exfoliants like gluconolactone, terpenic compounds like α-pinene, eucalyptol, and camphor, which are present in rosemary essential oil, or tea-tree oil. These compounds not only impart a fresh sensation but also give antimicrobial properties.

Lastly, you could use penetration enhancers like butylene glycol (water-soluble), ethanol (water-soluble), IPM (an ester, oil-soluble) to help with the delivery of active ingredients to deeper layers of the skin.

[Onur]

Yes, arginine works well in cathionic systems, it indeed is one of few cathionic amino-acids. It might help with conditioning but I wouldn’t use it above 3% in the formula, it’s a protein and your formula is mostly water, it might easily go rancid despite the preservative system. I’d also use a bit of silk/soy/wheat amino acids in such formulas.

You can use water-soluble silicones like PEG-12 dimethicone or even regular ones. People make so much fuss about silicones but they’re actually fine, they do deposit on the hair but they go away with washing. What’s more difficult to remove is polyquats, they’re resins that stick and stay for a long time, which ends up in dull and matte looking hair.

Lastly, if I was to make a leave-in conditioner, I’d definitely add a tiny amount of BRB 1288 (Amodimethicone, Trideceth-12 and Cetrimonium Chloride). The way it conditions is second to nothing.

[Onur]

I’ll answer the question in the title. My fav combo is:

Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate
Zinc Coceth Sulfate
Sodium Cocoamphoacetate

They’re very gentle and they do provide amazing foam and luxurious after-feel, especially for cleanser gel systems.

For shampoos, my hair loves coco glucoside & glyceryl oleate combo along with CAPB & SCI. There’s no one-size-fits-all ingredient in cosmetics, each one might become handy for a particular purpose.

[Onur]

Glyceryl Stearate is not a strong emulsifier on its own, usually paired with PEG-100 Stearate to make a true emulsifier. Cetearyl alcohol in the oil phase would also be useful to stabilize emulsions, and it’s rinse-friendly. I’d try some Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, it’s very powerful even in tiny amounts for oil-heavy systems.

[Onur]

Do you use distilled water? The essential oils or your Vitamin E might contain carrier oils that could cause cloudiness. You might want to reduce the amount of Vitamin E if it’s not necessary. Substitute the reduced amount with EDTA.

Adding a minute amount of PEG-12 Dimethicone (like 0.5%) might be helpful to maintain the clarity of the formula, too.

[Onur]

Urea + Sodium Lactate + Mineral oil

That’s the most researched clinical combo to treat dryness and flaking. Yeah, nothing else heals faster.

[Onur]

Thanks—I didn’t mean to offend anyone. Aroma chemicals used in perfumery are actually very well-tolerated and safe. They aren’t inherently riskier than natural essential oils just because they’re labeled “synthetic.” In fact, it’s often the opposite. Essential oils, absolutes, and extracts contain dozens of aromatic compounds, many of which are known allergens. They don’t offer any particular benefit in skincare, either. Modern perfumery uses both synthetics (primarily) and natural ingredients when appropriate. Synthetics are exceptionally useful for creating an infinite range of scent profiles—floral, fruity, fougère, gourmand, etc.—without the medicinal or terpenic notes often associated with natural materials. They offer a broader palette and are well studied by toxicologists.

[Onur]

It depends on the formula. SLS/SLES is very well tolerable in eczama-prone skin if formulated well. The formula is mostly fatty alcohols and PG, so the chances of it being harsh on the skin is very low.

What surprised me more is that they didn’t use any buffer or a chelating agent for a bath product.

[Onur]

I’m an organic chemist with 12 years of experience in perfume making.

[Onur]

Peptides, proteins, botanical extracts, and oils do NOT repair hair. They’re marketing ingredients—there’s no solid science behind them. The studies that do exist are limited and often biased. Hair damage is not reversible. What we can do is use cationic emulsifiers, polymers, and silicones to mask the damage, improving the hair’s appearance by adding shine, softness, and elasticity.

The term “bond-builder” is just marketing hype—those products work in a similar fashion to a basic conditioner. Products like Olaplex and K18 are selling dreams. If they truly repaired hair, you wouldn’t need to keep using them weekly or monthly; one application would be enough—at least until the hair was damaged again. Botanical extracts are useless, very few of them actually do something with a ridiculous price point. They’re used to give the product the illusion of being safer and better and often used at 0.01% - 0.1%.

[Onur]

I think I’ll go with 15% nano (transparent) ZnO combined with 10% non-nano version. This caught my attention: https://enteknomaterials.com/en/micno-powder

And it’s available in where I live. What do you think?

[Onur]

Again, how?

Personally I can’t be 100% with those claims. INCI names are not accurate with this product, either. Cacao powder in a sunscreen formula? Why?!

[Onur]

It says “NON-nano, ultra-sheer” on their website: https://www.mustelausa.com/products/spf-50-mineral-sunscreen-stick

What does “chiefly - but not entirely” mean? Doesn’t it have to be at least SPF 50 to get this label?

I just realized that the product contains <b style=”background-color: var(-bb-content-background-color); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(-bb-body-text-color);”>Octyldodecyl Olivate, it sounds like an ester. Just googled it and it says it also acts as a disperser besides being an emollient, probably an alternative to more-available Butyloctyl Salicylate.

My question was if it would be that easy to get enough protection with such basic ingredients and if I could approach in a similar fashion. If so, I can reformulate this with non-oxidising oils such as CCT, Squalane, a synthetic wax (and Butyloctyl Salicylate + anti-redness & soothing agents like bisabolol etc). What would be some good tips?

I’d even settle for SPF 30! Should I use more Zinc Oxide (like 25%) and mix the nano and non-nano versions at 1:1 ratio to make sure it adds more protection. What do you think?

Lab-SPF tests are very expensive in my country, that’s why I’m trying to make sure everything is right.

[Onur]

Yes. Oryzanol + Disodium EDTA.