ProfessorHerb
Forum Replies Created
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Could it eventually dissolve? I don’t think I heated enough.
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I’ve been using it during the water heating phase but have tried it after the cream is combined too. I guess its a ghost in all of our closets.
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You need a soluablizer
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It’s not a great formula but good start.Steric acid should never be used for conditioning bars. The cationic emulsifiers already harden the bar enough. I guess that’s why you may have added the other unnecessary ingredients, to soften it and make it glide….Remove titanium dioxide, even small quantities. Imagine what happens when you accidentally get a drop of sunscreen in your hair, it gets very tacky..8% fragrance is a lot for some people so you can reduce that or use essential oils.I’m a beginner but I would suggest simplifying. Try making a small batch with just the lipids, emulsifiers, fragrance and then add other ingredients in. Your current formula seems to be more complex than necessary. An easy way to do this is to make a bar for a specific hair type and make sure each ingredient does double or triple duty so there’s no redundancy.
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40% with 20% water and 18% vegetable glycerine
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It sometimes crystalizes by cool down and I have to reheat to dissolve.
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Thank you all so much, I don’t know how to reply to everyone but I’ll try to remember using PE9010 during the hot water phase.
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I use BTMS and cetyl, any you would recommend with similar texture. Some of my clients have sensitive skin so they request BTMS 25. I’ve tried three others and the emulsion still did not hold up. I use hyaluronic acid as the base and its notoriously difficult to keep stable but can be done as commerically available proucts are not incorporating it into their formulas.
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That’s what I thought but I’m using a slightly higher than average emulsifier and coemulsifier. If I use anymore the formula will be too thick. But I’ll keep experimenting.
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It takes a lot of experimenting to come up with a formula like the one you describe. Usually, you wouldn’t want to rinse off magnesium so it adds a big challenge. However, salts have always been used in hair products so it’s not impossible. The biggest formulation challenge is to dissolve the magnesium which requires water. The shampoo bar I make isn’t anhydrous and neither are a lot of bars. Maybe you can experiment with aloe water, add magensium and then formualte the bar? Or if you use a liquid surfactnat you might be able to add magnesium and see if it dissolves.
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Hectorite. It’s expensive but the skin feel is unmatchable.
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One issue is that the term natural can’t be defined in a way that scientists agree on. But the GRAS is still a great alternative. But I agree that natural should be defined as best as possible for the scientific community since every scientist is using their own definition of the word and causing confusion. Practical for consumers and scientific for chemists. Also, natural isn’t a scientific term to begin with, its a social term. So there’s a lot of issues to sort out.
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Thank you!! I am looking to use just one preservative which I know is not always chemically sound..but it would mean that I wouldn’t have to reformulate my products either so I am being very lazy.
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Yes, I agree that we should eliminate the use of the term natural. Science is a difficult concept for scientists much less the average person. People who are sensitive or allergic are desperate for natural products. They don’t understand that in order to not die, most ingredients are lab made. There’s no description for nature identicals and synthetic products that work better than nature. So I also don’t think demonizing a natural claim is scientific either. We need a better approach to educating consumers. For example, when the social distancing came out 6 feet was not scientific. Lab studies confirm that viruses can travel in the air over 20 feet if someone sneezes or coughs. But it would be near impossible for the average person to calculate 20. It would have made the pandemic worse to suggest that people maintain that distance. So hopefully y’all can feel me on this.
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Thank you so much!
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Two are rinse off and one is leave in but a water based plant conditioner so not a traditional conditioner.No silicones.I make them all now but sometimes buy.The texture of vegetable glycerine in shampoo and conditioner is unparalleled. My hair products are very popular and get rave reviews. One secret is the humectants I use and the large proportion of vegetable glycerine.
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Yes this is a syndet bar, steric is a hardener it also softens and moisturizes a little. The tallow is a lipid derived from dead animals. Also SCI is very gentle so the “quarter moisturizer” is a bit of a marketing gimmick rather than real science.
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Its ok used in light serums but in emulsions I don’t think it would be efficient. In order to neutralize the drying of alcohol you would need a lot of vegetable glycerine and 1-2 film forming hydrator. I can’t give my formula but I made a non approved hand santizer during the beginnig of covid that was very moisturizing even though it contained 65% alcohol.
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What is your formula? And what kind of pomade? I really love guarcat. Its tricky to work with and I wouldn’t use more than .2% even though some people have used as much as .5%. I also like bio kelp ferment.
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Both and different kinds. My aging hair looks like it did in my teens. I use a lipid heavy conditioner (more than 10%) lipids before shampooing and then a very light conditioner after (less than 5% lipids but a higher than average amount of cationic ingredient as well as 20% or more humectants). Then after i spritz with a marshmallow hair mist with no cationic or lipid ingredient. The hsampoo bar I created is gentle, soft and hydrating so soemtimes I skip the conditioner after. I don’t have damaged or dry hair anymore despite going to a salon once a year.
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You don’t need to be lost in the formulation advice. Its much better to have a cake type shampoo bar where you mold it like play dough than a formula where you are using BTMS for conditioning and hardening. BTMS doesn’t do anything for a shampoo for any type of hair. Its a useless ingredient in shampoo, even in conditioning shampoo. There are humectants and hydrating ingredients you can use instead. Also, when using gentle surfactants, it will clean hair without stripping it. But I’m not sure what end product you are aiming for. The best thing to do is to use a min of 2 powder surfactants but ideal to use at least one more type solid or liquid which is looks like you are. Make a product that uses the maximum of each at its safest level and put it in a silicone mold. If it sticks to your hand you need less liquid. If it cracks you have too much powder.When doing the first experiement you can make a 10 gram bar and use it to wash hands or face. My bar is so gentle it can be used on skin. This is easier than taking a shower with each batch since you already have experience in formulating it and trying it. This first batch can be very simple, just your surfactants and 1-2 actives and 1-2 humectants and or colorant etc. You can work on making it pretty later.You can also make a wet formula so you don’t have to mold like play dough and sort of pour it instead. Its prettier too if you find a nice mold. You might need sodium lactate to help harden the bar and it’ll also serve as one humectant. And then you will need to cure the bar for 2-3 days. I don’t know if the recipe translated but it looks like you have up to 15% glycerine? I would recommend vegetable glycerine at well under 10%, although in shampoo at even 20% in a liquid shampoo is pure luxury. You can’t necessarily have too much since its water soluable and leaves a silky finish on hair.What do you want your shampoo bar to look and feel like and for what type of hair?What access do you have to ingredients because i can send you a formula that works.Also are you looking for “natural”?Will it be for men or women?For dry or normal hair?What scent are you trying to achieve?Is the water being used for the marshmallow? Otherwise you may be able to replace the water and have your liquid surfactant and or actives serve as the liquid component.What are you using the marshmallow for? Because of the marshmallow and BTMS I presume you are looking for something conditioning or softening. I also used to use marshmallow for my shampoo bar, its a great ingredient for everything. The downfall is the water needed for the marshmallow. You could potentially blend a marshmallow powder into the liquid surfactant. It’ll look like an herby bar with the marshmallow powder.
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You can experiment with different preservatives? If you have $50 you can get your product tested in a lab for microbial growth. Its a fairly cheap way of determining (sort of) if your preservative is working. Outside of a professional lab, you can’t have a sterile product. You can look for eco cert preservatives. There are many to choose from. Check the PH of your product. You may need to use more than one preservative but I don’t know enough about this to give advice.
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I love the cocoa scent for some products, so I wanted to cover the scent rather than use refined. I’m usually good at formulating scents but for the cocoa scent of cupuacu butter, would need some help. Besides cocoa absolute, and vanilla since it compiments it rather than covering it.
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You have to use more stabilizing ingredients with Optiphen. For most emulsions, it works better to use the min amount necessary. I use .75%. Then you have to ensure the emulsion is cooled below room temperature for at least 6 hours with 24 hours being the best. Then add a few drops at a time. Its the absolute worst for some emulsions. Optiphen has the widest and easiest range for beginners to use and it’s eco cert but it’s incredibly destablizing for some formulas. I don’t know exactly why but this is not the first complaint I’ve heard. I’d like to switch my preservative system away from optiphen but haven’t found an all purpose solution. But also, if it destabilizes a formula, don’t worry. Wait a few days and remix, it usually restabilizes but it doesn’t look as pretty.
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Bio Kelp Ferment will increase viscosity almost to the point where it won’t fall out. Have you tried a cationic thickener? I’m not sure it’ll work but it will thicken it and add some conditioning benefits. But I have not made a traditional hair gel before.