[raiyana]

Graillotion said:

Are you saying that niacinamide reduces shine?

i’m only saying that it might be good for claim. a lot of times niacinamide is being marketed to reduce facial sebum, and other benefits like help visibly minimize enlarged pores, improve uneven skin tone, soften fine lines and wrinkles, diminish dullness, and strengthen the skin. in the skincare world (at least from consumers perspective), the benefits of niacinamide are endless.. there’s nothing niacinamide cannot do 

[raiyana]

you might wanna add 2% niacinamide for claims.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14764170600717704

although i agree, it’s the choices of emollients, emulsifiers and fatty alcohols play the most important part to make the final product feels matte to the touch.

[raiyana]

i’m not sure if this would help, but you might want to take a look at butterfly pea extract as suggested by others. it’s blue. but sometimes it can be purplish.

i actually bought a bottle of this butterfly pea extract a couple of months back, and the one i got was very deep blue. i also bought butterfly pea flower petals, infused it in my tea and it turned blue. 

paulas choice has a product that uses butterfly pea extract to produce a lilac color. 

SKIN PERFECTING 25% AHA + 2% BHA Exfoliant Peel

[raiyana]

Paprik said:

Are you having problems with syneresis? Looking at your oils, you’re mixing polar and non-polar lipids? 

actually that’s just a list of oils that i usually use. it’s not exactly all in one product

[raiyana]

@MarkBroussard @Pharma

You guys are amazing! Thank you for these tips. I will try and update it here❤

[raiyana]

I dont make lipsticks, but i do make diy cleansing balms and cleansing oil for my friends and family. Water free formula.

I used to have issues like this but now my cleansing balms dont go rancid as fast. The one i made 2 years ago still smell okay.

What i did, i changed most of my plant oils to synthetic ingredients. The products mostly made of:
Caprylic capric triglyceride
Mineral oil
C12-15 Alkyl benzoate
Isododecane
Some sunflower oil and castor oil
Other plant oils (i limit to 1% max)
BHT as antioxadant at 0.1%
Fragrance and essential oils (max 0.05%)
For natural wax, i only use white beeswax

I dont use preservatives as long as the product is kept away from water and stored properly (not in the bathroom!) Never had any mold. But my “clients” are just friends and family and i always remind them to keep the products dry.

[raiyana]

@MarkBroussard actually that’s a valid question in the skincare and beauty world. there are many people asking should they give a buffer time after using low pH products like ascorbic acid serum or AHA toner (<pH 3.9) before using products with higher pH like Niacinamide (~pH 6).

some skincare brands / beauty influencers say, you should use these products 30 minutes apart for both of them to effectively work in their ideal pH range.

i’m interested to know what chemists think about this :#

[raiyana]

Some questions that a lot of beauty influencers like to talk about:

Can we use products with ingredient A and ingredient B together.

For example: can we use products with AHA / BHA / LAA together with Niacinamide?

And then, another famous question:
How frequent can we use exfoliating products per week?

Every beauty influencer has their own opinion and sometimes they fight on social media because they are always right. 

It gets even funnier when dermatologists join in the conversation.

And then, only chemists know they are fighting over a product with 0.02% salicylic acid in it.????

[raiyana]

@Abdullah It has strong but acceptable minty scent. Cant smell the lavender though. I like the smell

[raiyana]

hmmm the pandemic forces many people in the world to stay at home, work from home, in front of the screens at least 12 hours every day.

i’m expecting to see a lot more people with pigmentation issues, particularly on the face area (if they dont use blue light protection skincare products)   

[raiyana]

Thank you very much everyone for sharing your thoughts on this.

some interesting things i realized from this post:

1) cooling essential oils trick the brain to focus on that cooling effect. like putting ice pack on the forehead to ease headaches. 

2) cosmetics should never make any kind of drug claims, and that include consumer perception of the product. personally i think a “whitening serum” or a “tummy trim lotion” are just not right. i remember i have a friend who used a tummy trim lotion and she lost a few cms in just hours. The product feels hot on the skin to promote sweating.

3) there will always be good demand for cosmetic products with therapeutic claims. in my country, cosmetics can’t make drug claims just like the FDA. but these products are everywhere and small companies are making big money from selling them. if the authority gets them, no problem, they will set up a new company with a different brand name. and the cycle goes on and on…. :# 

[raiyana]

and if you dont mind, @ngarayeva001 , i have 1 more question  :#

My order c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer just arrived and i’m excited to try it. i read from an older post in this forum its one of your favourites.

If i were to swap aristoflex avc with c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer in the same formula, should i do a 1-1 swap to achieve the same viscosity? which one would generally give a thicker viscosity if both used at the same percentage?

i know i can experiment myself to get the answer, but i just bought very tiny amount (to save cost! ) so i wanna be more confident before experimenting. 

[raiyana]

ngarayeva001 said:

This is a first time I hear someone describing Aristoflex as sticky. It’s probably something else in the formula not aristoflex.

I tried aristoflex avc in water and tested it on my skin. it felt a bit sticky, not as sticky as glycerin, but i felt like i had to do something to get rid of that. its probably worth to mention that i dont prefer sticky, moist finishing.. really dont like it. i like smooth, matte finishing on the skin  :#

i have tried this formula instead:

dimethicone 350 … 1
cyclopentasiloxane … 2
arlacel 165 … 2
cetyl alcohol … 1.5
aristoflex avc … 0.35
the rest is water, preservative and butylene glycol.

I like the result of this one better. it’s been almost 2 days and the emulsion looks okay.

but i’m wondering if arlacel 165 at 2% enough to hold 3% silicones?

Thanks @ngarayeva001

[raiyana]

PhilGeis said:

Chemicals can have effects - in “essential oil” or otherwise.

 e.g. vicks VapoRub  https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=53518

Thank you for sharing this.

“VVR is a petrolatum-based ointment to be either applied topically to the chest, throat, and back or added to hot water and the aromatic vapours inhaled. When used topically, the actives are evaporated by body temperature and inspired. The main therapeutic effects are the feeling of relief from nasal congestion and relief from cough.“

So these “medicated” topical products work by inhaling the aromatic vapours to get “the feeling of relief”, not by rubbing them on the skin. Or just open the bottle and smell the product would work too. Dont have to apply on chest, throat, and back.

[raiyana]

Pharma said:

By preference, you should use the same production means for trial formulations as will be used for upscaling.

Hi Pharma, I followed your advise and it worked. Trial formulations and upscale production using mixer, both give the same results.

Thank you

[raiyana]

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts.

I live in Asia and yes, Bird’s nest extract has been popular for as long I can remember. We have it in drinks, skincare products, supplements and food.

I do agree with you @Graillotion . The power of placebo effect! And I believe the experience of using a product can vary too. You can love it one time, and hate it another time.

With everything in this world, the dose makes the poison. Same with essential oils, too much can harm you, too little does nothing. I still dont believe essential oils can work when applied topically (maybe they do more harm than good, or they work by “sensitizing” you). But I’m being more open minded about how the aroma of essential oils can affect us, and most of the time (at least for me) artificial fragrances dont come close to essential oils.

abierose said:

 This is a good point. I’ve tried using Peppermint oil diluted with a carrier oil for my headaches but it just isn’t effective…I have to use undiluted Peppermint oil, directly on my forehead, neck, or wherever the pain is coming from and try my best not to get it in or even near my eyes ???????? 

@abierose , hehe.. maybe you dont have to “apply” that peppermint EO on your skin. just open the bottle and smell it! 

[raiyana]

Pharma said:

The white colour of emulsions isn’t actually white colour of the emulsion but kind of an optical illusion resulting from light being reflected and diffractioned in any which way by the inner phase. This means: droplet size is what gives ‘colour’ to the emulsion. Rough emulsions tend to have hints of the inner phase (>100 um), fine emulsions are white(maybe 5-50 um), very fine ones become opaque to translucent (<1 um), and ultrafine ones would be transparent (in the nm range). Droplet sizes are out of memory and approximations.

Thank you Pharma for the reply. Much appreciated. I’m trying to understand your explanation, so based on that, does this mean the homogenizer makes the product very fine that it becomes almost transparent? The target of this formula is a thin emulsion, it has only 1.5% total of cetearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol & cetereth-20 with a bit of silicones.

and will increasing the % of silicones impact the color of emulsion?

[raiyana]

Adding a stabilizer like xantham gum at 0.3-0.5% can help keep the emulsion from separating.

Why add cetyl alcohol at 0.1% though? You can just replace that with ceteayl alcohol since you already have it in your formula. 0.1% cetyl alcohol does not make much difference.

[raiyana]

I live in singapore and its very hot, humidity above 80% most of the time. Thick lotions or creams make me sweat. I can use a toner (with high levels of humectants), but wont sweat. So i guess oil + ewax must be the culprit for my case.

I made thin liquid lotion and i didnt get this sweating problem.

[raiyana]

Belassi said:

Just divide by 10,000. At a guess, it sounds biGGER.

Thanks @Belassi. Yes, i do agree 10,000ppm sounds bigger than 1% when in fact both are the same amount.

[raiyana]

lmosca said:

Well, it is just another (fancier) way to produce bleach in the same way it was produced for a century via the chloralkali process. The process seems to mention to be able to control the pH of the final effluent, but it fails to me to understand why, as at the cathode you will generate sodium hydroxide. 

So yes, bleach is definitely one of the most poweful sanitizers out there (I love bleach!). As for its use as hand-sanitizer, I would not, unless it’s the only liquid available in a 25 miles radius.

Thank you for the reply. But if you can share with me why wouldnt you use it as a hand sanitizer? Is it not safe to use on the skin, or is it not effective?

[raiyana]

One of the suppliers informed me that it can be taken orally (10% anolyte + 90% plain water).

Can be used with an air dehumudifier at 100% concentration to disinfect the surroundings.

I have a 1L sample with me now and the ingredients on the bottle says Klori 300-500mg/L, ORP 700-900 mV and pH is between 6-8.

Can someone with more knowledge advise if this is something safe to consume? Or everyone is just trying to come out with a “solution” for covid 19?

[raiyana]

50% is way to much polysorbate80. Try from 5%-10% and see which formula you prefer the most.
Mixing plant based oils with polysorbate 80 will separate, but the product will work. You just need to shake the bottle before use. For personal use, i dont think that’d be a problem.
However, oil cleansing using rosehip oil is just not worth it, coz it’ll be washed away during cleansing. Rosehip oil is expensive. I’d rather use that as a facial serum or moisturiser.. 

[raiyana]

@Doreen @Pharma @ngarayeva001  Thank you all! This is very helpful. I will have to reconsider. maybe glass would be a better choice for me.

[raiyana]

i’ve seen natural deodorants with zinc oxide and/or magnesium hydroxide before and claim to be more gentle compared to baking-soda deodorants. baking soda due to its high pH is like an evil ingredient in deodorants. Thats what i see some brands claim anyway. But magnesium hydroxide solution has a high pH too.
For a person who has been using own-made deodorants for about a year now (a combination of MCT oil, beeswax, arrowroot powder, magnesium hydroxide and sometimes Diatomaceous Earth or zinc oxide), i have to say these natural deodorants can really work to combat body odour (but you will still sweat, not like antiperspirants).
BUT, they also increase the chance of having pimples under your pits, yeast infections, rashes… I started getting these tiny pimples under my left pit after months of using natural deodorant which i thought was totally working. i stopped using and no pimple after that. 
The pits arent well ventilated like the face. It’s a dark, sweaty place, a nice place for microbes to live happily. homemade deodorants contain lots of food for microbes, hence the pimples.
Now i’m using natural deodorant only when I’m going out because it works. But i hate the pimples after prolonged use. Maybe it’s just me. My husband uses the same deodorant and he never got any pimples. He actually likes this natural deodorant that I make and thinks it’s performing better than antiperspirant. (we dont use anti-perspirants cuz I like making and testing my own personal care stuff, some people like DIY. hehe)
One more thing, these natural deodorants like to include a nice blend of essential oils like peppermint that can be sensitizing to some people. I’ve tried making mine with menthol before. Just a very tiny amount of menthol for that cooling sensation. I had the biggest rash a few hours after applying that deodorant for the first time. My husband didnt. I never had issue with menthol before, but somehow when i used it under my pits, I got a rash.
Sharing this because these are the things you need to consider when  formulating your natural deodorant for sensitive skin. You can put whatever claims. but when a customer complaints about a rash = big problem.
Maybe you can start with a standard nappy rash formula (with zinc oxide) and add deodorizing ingredient…. food in the kitchen like cornstarch isnt a good idea (speaking from experience, pimples…) and some people can have yeast infection! Thats why it isnt a good idea to use cornstarch for nappy rash powder - same concept for underarm products. Sorry for the long post!