[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.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by  Onur.

[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]

Hey, wishing you a speedy recovery!

You might want to remove the preservatives and switch up your deodorant to something like Zinc Ricinoleate (maybe add a bit of rice bran wax to mimic Triethyl citrate’s effects). Then give it another patch test to see if these are what’s causing the issue. I’d also throw some Histidine to the formula for a better toleration.

[Onur]

Moroccanoil treatment comes in two versions: the original one contains cyclopentasiloxane and has more dimethicone than cyclomethicone. The lighter version, on the other hand, doesn’t include any cyclopentasiloxane but has more cyclomethicone than dimethicone. So, it’s up to you, try both and choose whichever your hair loves best.

[Onur]

Mostly because of light and air exposure, which is oxidation. Impurities or interactions with other ingredients in the formulation might be the culprit, too.

[Onur]

I’d start with SLS/SLES or C14-15 Olefin Sulfonate to make a clarifying shampoo as those are very strong surfactants. Polyquats can be very sticky and a pain to rinse out of hair, so consider adding alcohol and glycerol since that’s what they dissolve in best. Plus, the glycerol will give some hydration in addition to helping break down the resin buildup.

I’d add 2% salycilic acid and 4% niacinamide to help clear out the scalp, too.

[Onur]

Those commercial clear-oil hair products are mostly silicones (over 90%) and only the little part is actually the oil they put on their labels. The hair would feel too greasy otherwise. Those companies usually reduce the stickiness by using esters like Isoamyl Laurate and/or C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate. They give a drier, more velvety feel to the formula.

[Onur]

Beads floating sounds like the formula is not thick enough. A gelling agent would help with the viscosity. I’d use HEC (Hydroxyethylcellulose) or Sodium Hyaluronate twice as much as the recommended amount to create a thicker gel for suspending things. The surfactants you use must be compatible with those agents, though. Try milder surfactants because waxes are considered lipids, which might partially dissolve in the formula.

[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.

[Onur]

They do actually, at higher concentrations.

2% HEC in water gets insanely thick and would suspend those beads if they’re not too heavy. But I agree with you on the Carbomer, though they’re mostly pH sensitive.