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  • The biggest issue we have run into with tubes is being able to find low minimum order quantities when trying to purchase the printed tubes. The minimums are generally 5k to 10k.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 30, 2016 at 8:54 pm in reply to: Lotion without carbomer… is it possible?

    Have you tried looking for a different supplier for your carbomer?

    Just ask your suppliers if they have an equivalent for the product you are using.

    Lots of raw materials are manufactured in Singapore so you may even be able to find one manufactured close to you.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 30, 2016 at 1:44 am in reply to: Preservative ruin my hair conditioner!

    I think the formula needs an emulsifier. It would appear that the formula is not really stable and destabilizes completely when you add the preservative.

    Refer to Perry’s comments in this discussion for more info.

    https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/1783/queries-for-experienced-lotion-and-hair-conditioner-producers/p1

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 29, 2016 at 9:33 pm in reply to: Good emulsifier to use with sodium carbomer?

    Have you tried putting the sodium carbomer in the oil phase?

    We use a combination of Emulgade PL 68/50 and Eumulgin SG with sodium polyacrylate (all in the oil phase) and it works well.

    I would second Bob’s suggestion to look at the Pemulens.

    Also Euxyl PE 9010 can cause emulsion instability, so make sure it is not your preservative causing the problem.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 29, 2016 at 2:14 am in reply to: Kind of Emulsifier to use

    You can pick scales on ebay quite cheaply. Look for scales that are designed for jewellery as these will often have more decimal places.

    Also don’t forget your preservative.

    Check out swiftcraftmonkey’s blog for some great information about making your own cosmetics.

    http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 28, 2016 at 10:02 pm in reply to: Kind of Emulsifier to use

    I am not sure what you are trying to make either but it is important to convert your measurements to weight rather than drops. This will help replicate your products in the future.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 28, 2016 at 9:53 pm in reply to: Labels from China

    Have you considered a semi-automatic labeling machine with your labels on rolls?

    http://www.ebay.com/bhp/semi-automatic-labeler

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 22, 2016 at 9:12 pm in reply to: Stability Testing- Hair Conditioner Spray

    Stability testing at different temperatures will also give you an indication if your product will be ok during the temperatures encountered during shipping.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 22, 2016 at 8:56 pm in reply to: New Brand

    Congratulations!

  • When you refer to LAS are you referring to linear alkylbenzene sulphonate? If yes are you using the acid form and then neutralizing it and your lauric acid with sodium hydroxide or other alkali?

    What is the surfactant level in your SLES?

    Have you considered using cocamidopropyl betaine? It will improve mildness and help with viscosity and foaming.

    What are you using to adjust your pH to 4-5? Why do you need the pH to be this low?

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 10, 2016 at 4:51 am in reply to: conditioner formulation

    If you want to learn how to create products at home check out swiftcraftmonkey’s blog.

    http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com

    Also I would recommend that you sign up for Perry’s cosmetic formulating course.

    It is unlikely that with no experience that you will be able to create a product that you can sell for profit. The reason you read about these success stories is that they are rare.

    It takes many hours and months of formulating and testing to create a successful product. With no experience you will not be aware of all of the testing and regulations that are required to sell a product. So I would highly advise against trying to sell products until you have a solid understanding of the chemistry, formulating, testing and regulations.

    Please don’t be discouraged about learning to create products just don’t think that this is an easy way to get rich quick.

    If you are just looking for a product to sell then find a private label contractor and have them make products for you to sell.

    Hope this helps

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 10, 2016 at 1:11 am in reply to: Allergic Reactions to Natural Products

    Lavender essential oil contains allergens and could be the cause of the problem.

    http://www.dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/plants/lavender.html

  • ozgirl

    Member
    March 6, 2016 at 9:07 pm in reply to: pet shampoo

    If you add a flea control agent it could make your product a pesticide and it would be subject to pesticide regulations depending on your country.

    Be extremely careful with any flea control or essential oils with cats as they do not have the liver enzymes to process these ingredients and it can kill them.

    pH is also very important in animal products.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 28, 2016 at 11:28 pm in reply to: DIY ‘heat box’ for stability testing

    Maybe look at chicken egg incubators for a cheap way of testing stability if the products are only for your personal use. I am not sure what their maximum temperature is but I would imagine it is around 40-45 degrees Celsius.

    Hope this helps :)

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 24, 2016 at 10:37 pm in reply to: Advice for career change

    Congratulations on achieving your PhD.

    I also have a PhD in Chemistry in an area unrelated to Cosmetic Science but I am currently working as a formulator/technical officer for a small company in Australia that specializes in cleaning chemicals with a smaller personal care / cosmetics division. So it is certainly possible to work in the Cosmetic Industry with a PhD in an unrelated area.

    I personally think that employers don’t really care what area your PhD studies were in they just care that you have demonstrated the skills necessary to achieve the PhD.

    Maybe doing an online cosmetic course like Perry’s would show employers that you are definitely interested in Cosmetic Chemistry.

    Best wishes for your career!

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 22, 2016 at 9:37 pm in reply to: Most popular preservatives used in the cosmetic industry

    Thanks for sharing!

    You will notice that even though the parabens remain the most popular if you calculate the percentage of use this has decreased significantly because the amount of formulations investigated has increased.

    It is interesting to see that the isothiazolinone preservatives are still increasing in popularity even with the concerns over irritation and allergy.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 14, 2016 at 6:48 am in reply to: Anti-oxidants for Facial Oil

    Thanks for the information. I will check out the availability of Rosamox here in Oz.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 10, 2016 at 2:14 am in reply to: Increased Opacity of Shampoo w/Thickeners & Oils

    I would try premixing your essential oils with some Polysorbate 20 before addition.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 7, 2016 at 10:20 pm in reply to: Emulsifier calculation for lotion brings ‘negative’ amount - help..!

    The HLB system cannot be used for lactylate emulsifiers.

    There is a system called LINDEX developed by RITA Corporation for lactylate emulsifiers.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 7, 2016 at 9:41 pm in reply to: Fiber Pomade, what is the job of the ingredients?

    If you want to know what the basic function of an ingredient is you can try searching at

    http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 4, 2016 at 8:55 pm in reply to: Formula for Bubbles

    @DavidW I wasn’t suggesting that you buy a detergent/shampoo and dilute it but just suggesting that you use one of your own basic detergent/shampoo formulas as a starting point.

    Have fun! :)

  • ozgirl

    Member
    February 3, 2016 at 9:40 pm in reply to: Formula for Bubbles

    Most of the “homemade” bubble formulas contain water, detergent and glycerin.

    I would start with a standard detergent formula and dilute it and add some glycerin.

    Sounds like some fun times ahead testing that formula.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    January 26, 2016 at 10:53 pm in reply to: What do you think of “free from” claims in cosmetics?

    It is certainly an interesting topic.

    I have had many a discussion with our marketing team about moving away from “free from” and “x-free” claims but as it has been pointed out in this discussion is that unfortunately this type of marketing works and marketing teams love it.  I would prefer to tell the customer what is great about our product rather than what it doesn’t contain. It is easy to claim my shampoo is better than all of the other shampoos because it doesn’t contain any of the “bad” ingredients that the other shampoos do. It is much harder to sell a shampoo by claiming that it cleans your hair and smells great.

    I believe that this type of free-from marketing does lead to chemophobia and plays upon peoples limited understanding of chemicals. People will refuse to use cosmetic products that contain parabens but will quite happily eat blueberries.

    The problem with a lot of this chemophobia is that it often comes about from a scientific study that has either been poorly conducted or misinterpreted and then propagated until it is no longer recognizable as the original study. It is then very hard to change peoples minds even with further studies that prove that the original study was incorrect or incorrectly interpreted.

    The biggest problem I have is with “chemical-free” claims because this is definitely leading to chemophobia. In these instances “chemical” is meant to represent toxic chemicals and/or synthetic chemicals. As we all know synthetic does not necessarily mean bad and natural does not necessarily mean good and nobody would purposely want to poison their customers with toxic chemicals as it doesn’t result in repeat business.  

  • ozgirl

    Member
    January 21, 2016 at 9:36 pm in reply to: shampoo and relaxer formulars

    Are you a member of Prospector (www.ulprospector.com)? There are lots of formulations available there.

    Other than that just look at suppliers websites for formulations.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    January 13, 2016 at 1:41 am in reply to: F.D.A. Preservative definition

    I think it also depends on your location as to if something is classified as a preservative.

    In Europe the cosmetics legislation has a list of materials allowed as preservatives in cosmetics. It does not say that you have to use one of these preservatives to preserve your product, it just sets out what is classified as a preservative. This list has allowed products that are self-preserved using multi-functional ingredients (i.e. ingredients with emollient or other properties and some antimicrobial activity) to be classified as preservative free because they do not contain ingredients from this list.

    In any case products should be properly preserved for customer safety. Nobody wants a product with bacteria and mold. :)

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