[ozgirl]

Shampoos generally are a blend of surfactants and water (+ preservatives etc) they do not contain the same type of emulsifiers and thickeners that you would find in lotions and creams.

The choice of thickener will depend on your final surfactant choice. Some surfactants can be thickened with salt but others cannot and require the use of gums or other thickeners (e.g. crothix).

Hope this helps.

[ozgirl]

What is your preservative? Some preservatives can cause irritation to some people.

Definitely leave out the stearic acid, it is not generally used in shampoos. Coconut oil is just suspressing foam and reducing cleaning performance.

As the Cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine is common to all formulas it could be that you have a sensitivity to this material.

HTH

[ozgirl]

I definitely recommend converting to weights (not volume) and percentages.

It seems like you are trying to do too much with a shampoo.You probably need to remove about half of the ingredients.

I would recommend removing the following.

Coconut Milk Powder (bug food),

SCI (low solubility not generally used in liquid products - Try Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate instead)

Glyceryl Stearate

glyceryl caprate/caprylate

Varisoft EQ (cationic - save it for your conditioner)

I would recommend going back to just Water, Plantapon LCG, Cocamidopropyl betaine and Preservative then one at a time add the other ingredients fragrance, extracts and check performance.

Hope this helps.

[ozgirl]

You could do something about preservatives

E.g. Products preserved using non-traditional (and natural) preservatives are just as safe as those using traditional preservatives.

or “free from” claims

E.g. “Free from” claims should be banned.

[ozgirl]

Check your pH.  Adjust with Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda) or LABSA (Sulphonic Acid) if necessary.

Have you made this on a smaller scale before with no issue? If not it could also be an issue with the fragrance.

[ozgirl]

@Zara Thanks for the update. I thought I had missed something.

[ozgirl]

Spectrastat G2 is known for turning orange in the presence in iron. This is from the datasheet

Spectrastat G2 Natural MB is compatible with most cosmetic ingredients. However, it can interact with residual iron found in some clay-type compounds (e.g., bentonite, silicates, etc.). This interaction with iron may produce a very mild orange color or color shift that is barely perceivable to the eye in most formulations. In cases where the clays are high in iron, the colored compounds may be more perceivable

[ozgirl]

Here in Australia most sunscreens are SPF50. We do have one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and temperatures regularly above 40oC during summer so we need good protection.

[ozgirl]

The preservative (Methylisothiazolinone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone) is not suitable for leave on applications.

[ozgirl]

@Zara Where did you read that Emulsense HC was preserved with Phenoxyethanol? Inolex describes it as 100% biobased. It is both COSMOS and ECOCERT approved and both of these schemes do not allow phenoxyethanol.

[ozgirl]

https://chemistscorner.com/where-to-find-free-cosmetic-formulas/

[ozgirl]

UL Prospector is a good resource or try supplier websites.

https://chemistscorner.com/where-to-find-free-cosmetic-formulas/

[ozgirl]

Have you considered Emulsense HC from Inolex. I haven’t tried it yet but it is described as a quat free hair conditioner and is derived solely from fermentation and plant sources.

[ozgirl]

Distilled water can be obtained quite easily from most grocery stores/supermarkets and also from places like Walmart. 

Tap water can cause other issues than just with preservation due to the calcium, magnesium, sodium ions present. So why not avoid it if you can.

[ozgirl]

@zan666 One of the biggest questions you need to ask is “what is your timeline for development”? Non-cosmetic chemists do not realise that it takes time to develop and properly stability test products.

This along with the money aspect Perry mentioned is definitely what I would clarify from the start.

[ozgirl]

If you want bubbles suspended in your formulation you may need to use something like Aculyn Excel from Dow.

https://www.dow.com/en-us/pdp.aculyn-excel-rheology-modifier.379892z.html

[ozgirl]

I saw the Tresemme scaremongering on Facebook today along with a link to check your ingredients on the EWG website. I just sat there shaking my head.

Thankfully, someone had already beat me to warning against the EWG.

There is probably more formaldehyde in their organic apple. 

[ozgirl]

@Galaxy1111

What type of product are you trying to make? You have several threads started on the forum for the same problem but at no point do you mention what you are trying to make. You need to provide this information along with a complete formula to get any real help.

If you want to emulsify oil into water to form a lotion/cream type product you will generally get a white product but to do this you will need an emulsifier and a stirrer. You can start with a basic emulsifier like emulsifying wax NF until you understand the basics of creating lotions/creams and then move onto others.

If you are trying to just solubilise a small amount of oil into water (for example an essential oil at 1%) you can use your Poly Suga mulse D9 but this will not be white. You also need to pay attention to recommended usage rates.

You also mention the product needing to be foamy but oils generally reduce foaming of surfactants/emulsifiers but until we know more we can’t really help.

Titanium dioxide is not the solution to your problem.

Don’t get discouraged just give us some more information and we can try and help further.

 

[ozgirl]

Potassium Sorbate can cause redness or flushing reactions in some people.

https://makingskincare.com/preservatives/

[ozgirl]

Happy New Year!

[ozgirl]

I tried Supermol L (from Croda) (heavy emolliency) a while back and loved the skin feel in a cream. I’m not sure if it is available from resellers or in small quantities.

[ozgirl]

Here is a potential starting formulation

https://www.personalcaremagazine.com/formulation-details/2239/natural-hair-pomade?companyid=1259

[ozgirl]

Is your product currently an opaque or clear liquid. Poly Sugamulse D9 can form both clear and opaque products depending on usage and other ingredients.

I recommend sharing your formula or at least ingredients list to get more accurate advice.

[ozgirl]

This ingredients list is not accurate because the preservative is listed by its trade name (Optiphen) rather than using the correct INCI terms. 

Such obvious errors really bring serious doubt to the accuracy of the entire ingredients listing. 

One possibility is that they are using PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil as a solubiliser for the oil.

I would strongly suggest that you look for a different product to copy.

[ozgirl]

Large manufacturers will not deal directly with small quantities and use distributors/resellers to distribute their products. Try searching for distributors in your area or use the resellers listed above.

The availability of products depends on what the resellers want to sell so you may not be able to get all of the raw materials in small quantities.