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Zinc Oxide is not soluble in water\oils. It is usually micronized and evenly dispersed is some medium like silicones (especially in sunscreens). In homemade products your only option is to shake the bottle.

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It could be hydrolate reacting with some of the other ingredients into insoluble compound, which falls down to the bottom.

In any case you can exclude some ingredients and see if the residue occurs again. E.g. make the same formula, but without arbutin and observe. Or the same formula, but without hydrolate and observe

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There was a study recently discussed on reddit regarding stability of retinol in commercial products. The results are surprising since most expensive serums are most unstable and less expensive serum is more stable. So you can take a look at antioxidants used for that product (there is a table). Looks like Tocopherol Acetate is not enough, they used ascorbic acid + sodium ascorbyl phosphate + EDTA + BHT + tocopheryl acetate.

Surprisingly Granactive retinoid showed the best stability, so if you use it you can take a look at The Ordinary serum and see what formulation they used.

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Meemcha said:

Among my favorite ingredients are peptides, vit C (been playing with 3-0-ethyl ascorbic acid lately), ceramides and salicylic acid (not in a same product though). 

How do you like 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid? I played a bit with it, it oxidized even quicker than plain ascorbic acid ((

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https://beurre.ua
Ukrainian seller I buy from. If I am not mistaken they have EU shipment

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chemicalmatt said:

@GeorgeBenson, it would take an entire seminar here to explain the utility of butylene glycol in cosmetic formulation. A short answer: aside from freeze-point depression, anything propylene glycol can do, butylene glycol does better the only drawback is it costs 3X more than PG. Also, humectant and preservative booster are the two least important characteristics of BG; in fact it does not perform either very well at all.

So where it performs very well then? As a solvent?

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You can see Phospholipids in the ingredients. This means the retinol on encapsulated in Phospholipids and that’s probably how it can be miscible in water.
Also, they have surfactants Polysorbate 20 and Octoxynol-9 which can help solubilize oil soluble components 

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Graillotion said:

A lot of people globally get their material from a Thai site.  They ship DHL…and can pretty much hit any spot on the globe in 5-7 days.

They have a massive selection.  Sometime things are a little hard to find….as they might list all their emollients under the name: ‘LipidSoft _____’  But once you learn their idiosyncrasies, nothing but fun.

MySkinRecipes.com

Did you try to order there? Is it legit? I heard some of this sellers just send you a fake ingredient (e.g. plain ascorbic acid instead of 3-o-ethyl)

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2. Lets say i want to have a waterless skincare line;

You don’t want to. You don’t have even basic knowledge of chemistry. Skincare is not food, it is not like you can mix ingredients and see what happens.
This is just dangerous for those who will buy it. I though you are just a DIY person you does it as a hobby, but now I see you gonna make products for sale. I will not answer your questions anymore. Please live real products to professionals. 

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1. I have been wondering if inactive ingredients really play a role in formulations?

It depends on what you mean by “active” or “inactive”. Same ingredient can either or both in different products. But short answer is yes - “inactive” ingredients do play role in formulation. The simple reason: if you can make product without them - you will do it because it is cheaper.

2. so does this means that 10% is enough to deliver result?

There is no rule on what percentage it should be, it depends on the ingredient itself. For example retinol, it is used up to 1%, but tretinoin is less than 0.5%. Whereas niacinamide 1-5%, but L-ascorbic acid 10-20%. All ingredients are different and recommended dosage is usually based on studies.

3.  to have potent product we need a mix of 90%of inactives and only 10% of actives? 

No, tretinoin for example will be very “active” at <1%. There is no rule, it all depends on the ingredient. Also, delivery system matters.

4. So tHIS MEANs that an active can be at the bottom of the INCI deck and this means it is low in dosage right? 

Yes, but only till 1%. Ingredients lower than 1% can be in any order (if I remember correctly). I would not recommend you to guess on percentages based on INCI list. Because next INCI lists are the same, but percantage is different:
INCI 1: Water, Lactic Acid (10%), Glycerin (5%), Preservative
INCI 2: Water, Lactic Acid (2%), Glycerin (1%), Preservative

5. How many actives should there be in a product? 

No rules here, all you can put together to have a stable product for selling.

6. Is it possible to formulate a waterless face scrub?
Yes, scrubbing particles can be dispersed in any liquid which is non-water: oil, soft butter, glycerin, glycols, silicones etc

7. Are all waterless skincare products in the form of powder?

No. I already mentioned oils, glycerin and glycols. Take The Ordinary products, for example. Their Vitamin C products are waterless. Waterless != solid. It means explicitly no water

8. And by waterless does it mean it cant even be replaced with rose water or aloe vera?

yes, they have water inside.

9. I’ve read that water helps to dissolve many ingredients that are beneficial to skin.

True, it is the best solvent, but not all ingredients can be dissolved in water alone or at all, e.g. oils. You need to check each ingredient for solubility.

10. Can I replace water with fruit water or simply aloe vera jucie

It depends on your formulation.

11. Can the sunscreen be anhydrous and thus can i replace water with rose water?

Yes, it can be waterless. No one knows if you can replace something if you don’t specify the whole formula. It doesn’t matter anyway, because sunscreen is very difficult product to make, you need good ingredients which hard or costly to buy, a lot of knowledge and testing lab. You should never DIY sunscreen if you are not a professional (assuming from your questions you are not).

12. Will it dissolve the ingredients and also is it good for the planet? 

No one knows your formula to answer this question. 

Although I answered to some degree, I would suggest to take school chemistry classes first, then read Perry’s book and listen to podcast. It will answer most of you questions in details.
 

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marimaster_3991 said:

Hello, guys! 

I was told that carbomer could jellify glycerin to create a sort of “glycerin gel” but I’ve never heard about carbomers or other polymers becoming hydrated in other system but water. 

I read that lecigel (Sodium Acrylates Copolymer (and) Lecithin) could thicken glycerin-based gel.

Does anyone ever heard of it? or maybe have worked with this kind of formulation? 

There is a video on youtube where they put Lecigel to glucerine and steer. Maybe it will give you some idea of how they interact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_PWxJdrHmc

And there is a formula of the product here:
https://www.lucasmeyercosmetics.com/sites/lucasmeyer-corp-v2/files/formulation/2022-05/Enchanted%20Gel-to-Milk%2016.320.01%20C185.pdf

They have 1.5% of water in the formula to have final viscosity

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MarkBroussard said:

@Abdulla:

I do indeed make my own AHA Serum and use it in rotation with a Retinol Barrier Repair product that I make.  In terms of products that I use … Vitamin C Serum, Retinol Barrier Repair, Lactic Acid Serum, Moisturizer … I make all of these DIY.  Nice, simple routine. 

I wonder if it is some kind of fancy derivative (like THD) or plain ascorbic acid? Waterless formula?

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Perry said:

I suppose I have too much knowledge about formulation and am also incredibly skeptical about marketing stories. 

Like I said, I’m a terrible cosmetic consumer.

That’s why you are a chemist and not a marketing guy. Good magician ought to believe in his magic))

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Another one trend would be to sell not only products but formulas and ingredients to make them. The Ordinary did a step towards it by selling niacinamide and ascorbic acid powders. I suspect some brand will go even further - provide a formula and detailed instructions of how to make their already selling product and will sell you ingredients kit. This will be seasoned as “your product will be fresh” or “less plastic because you don’t buy it and reuse” etc

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Inspire by invisible product trend, I expect new trend of waters. E.g. thermal water in the product, or infused water, or some other water, like ionized or whatever, which means nothing but makes fancy labels

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You are actually might be wrong. I checked my supplier and CO2 extract, for example, of Aloe is actually oil-soluble.
I used the word “might” because from the name in INCI list you can’t know if it is a CO2 extract or glycerin one.

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moomin said:

Thanks for all your ‘supporting’ advice! NOT! 
I thought I might make something similar as a sellable product, not using milk of mag but using the stuff in it. I’m not a chemist, don’t have a clue about chemicals

You are wrong. The fact that you are not a chemist and don’t know basic chemistry, but you want to sell your DIY product is actually ridiculous. Skincare is not food. 

moomin said:

I misunderstood this site for support and help!

Indeed, this forum is for people who is real professional and work in skincare field as chemists. Or for passionate people having skincare formulations as their hobby. All of them spent a lot of time to read and learn.
The reason you get such answers is just because you think that making a product is just as easy as to chop a salad. This is insulting for people who spend years and a lot of effort to get education in this field.

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Dr Catherine Pratt said:

Just trying to help. You said in the message the questions were for pH adjustment. Like Mark said you knew the answer & I just told you what to do. The strong base works and it’s easy to buy in small quantities. 

If you are make a diy product and you need to have a final pH of say 6 then NaOH will work so use it. 

Wear gloves & dilute it so it’s again safer to use. That’s all. 

Thanks Abdullah you knew I was just being helpful. 

Yes, I know, thank you for that. Sorry if I sounded rude, I didn’t mean to. But I want to understand not inly what should I do, but also why I should do it this way and not another.

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Thank you all for the answers!
Unfortunately NaOH of cosmetic grade is unavailable in small quantities (only household grade for pipes), baking soda is the most available option since you can find it in any food store. 
I don’t need high pH, I usually need to raise pH a little bit in water solutions of acids. So bubbles shouldn’t be a problem. I guess the most important question is will it fully react with e.g. Citric acid if I add the right amount, or some soda will be staying unreacted because it is a weak base? Or will it react slowly with time? That’s my concern

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My bets:
- The trend will be to follow the Ordinary trend because of inflation. So companies will try to make cheap one-two ingredient products
- Another trend will be charity. E.g. each cent from the cost goes to refugees. 

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GeorgeBenson said:

This body oil i found on sephora seens to be doing it somehow:

Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Parfum/Fragrance, Camellia Japonica Seed Oil, Polyglyceryl-10 Pentaisostearate, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Wood Oil, Squalane, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Water, Saccharomyces/Rice Ferment Filtrate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Cladosiphon Okamuranus Extract, Prunus Persica (Peach) Leaf Extract, Ceramide NP, Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Tocopherol, Tremella Fuciformis Polysaccharide, Aqua/Water/Eau, Citronellol, Geraniol, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol.

any idea how they are accomplishing this?

Polyglyceryl-10 Pentaisostearate
If you google the name you’ll see it is an emulsifier.

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MarkBroussard said:

@toketsu

Baking Soda in water will form Carbonic Acid that in water will revert to Carbon Dioxide and Water … hence all the gas produced when using Sodium Bicarbonate.  You don’t have that issue with Sodium Hydroxide.

But, if this is DIY for your personal use, Baking Soda is fine.  But, you would not want to use it in a product for commerce. 

It looks like you already knew the answer, but weren’t completely certain.  

Thank you for the input! Yes, I tried to understand myself the reasons, but I wanted to have a confirmation from someone who is from the field. Thanks a lot!

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ketchito said:

@toketsu Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is a weaker base than Sodium hydroxide, so that is one reason. Also, Sodium hydroxide is cheaper (although in some countries you need to ask for a permit and declare your annual consumption, since it’s also used to make Breaking bad kind of drugs). You mentioned the CO2 release and that carries an aereation issue (especially in emulsions).  

Thank you! I didn’t know about the cost… 
If baking soda is a weaker base does it mean it doesn’t fully react or something? 

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Abdullah said:

Do as Dr catherine said.

Dr Catherine Pratt said:

Use NaOH and make up a dilution before you add drops for pH adjustment 

Thank you both for your input, but can you elaborate a bit more? NoOH of cosmetic grade is not easily available in DIG quantity.. Could you tell why better to use it instead of baking soda? 

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Dr Catherine Pratt said:

Use NaOH and make up a dilution before you add drops for pH adjustment 

That’s not what I asked