OldPerry
Forum Replies Created
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Glycol monosterate is a more reliable pearling agent
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@PhilGeis - in his defense he’s an Australian based formulator with a focus on sunscreen testing. This is why formulators still need the input of microbiologists.
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Can we assume that the unlisted ingredient in your formula is water?
If this is the case, the reason is probably because you are at 15% solids with all the ingredients considered. Cut the total down to 10% or even 5% solids and see what happens. This would involve reducing the concentrations of Niacinamide, 1,3 Propanediol, Polyquat 7, and PEG-12 Dimethicone.
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Yes, it can be used but only in nail products. The FDA only allows specific ingredients to be used as color additives. If your intent when using an ingredient is to color your formula, it must be listed on the official, approved list. Silver is only approved for nail products.
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One of the biggest problems is your method of making it. Manufacturers have machines that can press powders together using pressures that can’t be achieved by hand. You can’t expect comparable performance to products you might buy.
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This is an interesting look at preservatives used in sunscreen.
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Heat protecting products do have ingredients that they claim have heat protection. And they’ll have lab tests that prove something they can use to support the claim.
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If you don’t make drug claims, you should be alright. As long as you use the ingredients at safe levels.
thanks for listening!
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It depends on your claims.
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To be a successful marketer it Helps to believe your own BS. So it’s unsurprising to me that marketers think having a peptide in the formula is necessary.
No, I’ve not seen any new information about peptides that convinces me they are an improvement over the performance of a good moisturizer.
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@vitalys - Perhaps it is semantics but pH is a measure of the amount of [H+] ions in a water solution. For something to have a pH it has to be liquid by definition. Skin is not a water solution, thus it does not have a pH any more than a chair, a table, or a refrigerator has a pH. Am I missing something?
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The old fashion way still works - paid advertising.
But direct to customer, online selling will work better for a small brand. Here’s a strategy.
1. Create a website with content relevant to your product. What problem does your product solve?
2. Create an email list of potential customers by giving away an information product that they will find useful.
3. Then do email marketing where you give great content while also pitching your product.
4. Rinse & repeatI will add that trial is not a particularly effective way to make a loyal customer. Everyone can make a good performing product. Consumers are not particularly good at noticing subtle differences so often they just go with products for which they like the fragrance.
If you are relying on product performance to sell your product, you will not be successful. You need to create a compelling story that makes people identify with your brand and want to support it. Of course, the product also has to solve their problem.
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Glycerin would be your baseline performance target. If combining glycerin with an “active ingredient” doesn’t lead to an improvement, then doesn’t that demonstrate the new ingredient isn’t worth using?
This has always been my problem with the studies that are done by raw material suppliers. They often demonstrate an effect versus nothing. But we already have ingredients that do something. If a new ingredient is going to be worthwhile, it should be able to out perform the current technology.
While a dial-up phone is great compared to no phone, it pales in comparison to a mobile smart phone. Why even bother?
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Somewhat related, there was an interesting podcast about food expiration dates. https://overcast.fm/+YsPSDVMLw
Basically, they say even food expiration dates are not reliable and generally not based on any real scientific standards.
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@chemicalmatt - Interesting. I see they have the Red, Yellow, Green highlighting of ingredients. Is that like the EWG skin deep database?
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To start, use less honeyquat, less panthenol, less glycerin, and get rid of the castor oil.
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@MarkBroussard - True. But I think as someone else pointed out, it does have the effect of (minimally) protecting IP. It’s quite possible that at the time the rules were written, a compromise had to be made. I don’t really know.
Similarly, it makes zero sense that soap is not classified as a cosmetic. But to get the FD&C Act passed, they needed to work out a deal with the well-organized soap guilds.
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What is B-Corp?
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@Anca_Formulator - it’ll be a humectant. That’s about it
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Ingredient lists are meant for one purpose, to inform people of the existence of an ingredient in the formula. That way if they are allergic to something they know to avoid it. The 1% line just helps guide people as to how much exposure they need to worry about in case they are allergic to an ingredient. The rationale of the 1% line is that 1% & below is a low enough level that the order doesn’t matter.
Its arbitrary but it makes some sense to me.
But the bottom line is that ingredient lists are not meant for marketing. -
@MarkBroussard - I agree with your assessment however, they may be breaking the labeling rules set up in California. And there are lots of lawyers there willing to pursue lawsuits. https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/california-case-law/you-can-now-sue-over-organic-labels-in-california/
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You have to understand what it means for an ingredient to “expire”. First, read this https://chemistscorner.com/if-oils-expire-soon-will-my-cream-also-expire/
The expiration date is not a moment when the entire sample goes bad. It’s not like a day before an ingredient was good and then the day after expiration date it goes bad. Cosmetic ingredients are not like food. (Although that’s not even true with food)
On some level, expiration dates are arbitrary dates put on by the suppliers to give you a reasonable guess for how long an ingredient will keep working and not cause any stability problems. They also like to make the date short enough so you’ll buy more of the ingredient. Suppliers only make money when you buy more.
Since most natural extracts don’t really have a noticeable impact on a formula, unless there is microbial contamination, color or odor change, you can probably ignore the expiration date and use them for as long as you like.
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Parabens are the best mild preservative for leave on products
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Technically, in the US in regards to cosmetics “organic” has no legal definition. The FDA does say you have to also follow USDA guidelines https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-labeling-claims/organic-cosmetics
The USDA gives ways you can get certified but doesn’t have authority over products that aren’t claiming certification. https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/OrganicCosmeticsFactSheet.pdf
The state of California however, has specific rules so a company could get sued there for claiming organic.Basically, they can get away with this as long as they are not sued.
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Thanks for posting. Quite useful