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Not had a problem with (high linoleic) safflower seed oil in other formulas, but could potentially be the lanolin or fish oil. If you apply enough you can rub it off your skin post application.

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In my experience different manufacturers/reps all have different very preferences, I’ve known reps who refuse to do any phone calls (not exactly ideal). There also seems to be a lot of rep-turnover in the business! I sometimes want to move things forward without being pushy, so I guess an email/call every 2 business days if not getting a response is kosher?

So e.g.1 month after receiving all materials is a reasonable max in terms of a deadline.

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I’d factor 2 weeks into getting all (in-stock) raw and packaging materials typically, personally I’d prefer to supply them myself to ensure being as close to the original prototype as possible.

Beyond those 2 weeks, what’s a reasonable deadline for production of 2000 units of a fairly standard emulsion? 2 weeks? 4 weeks?

If you don’t get a reply within 48 hours, should you ping through email or call? You want to keep things moving, but you also wants to be courteous and maintain a good relationship to your sales rep and manufacturer

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Thanks DavidW, coming from a manufacturer this is useful information!

I fully understand that manufacturers have limited bandwidth and will prioritize larger clients - personally I kind of see it as a favor when a manufacturer is willing to take on a small (say less than 3000 units) scale project - it doesn’t seem like it’d be that profitable for them, and it’s more with the hope that the client can scale sales later on. It also makes sense that there is more back and forth with samples with smaller, less experienced, clients.

What I was getting at is the best practise for going forwards once you’re past the sample stage, and what should you expect in terms of responsiveness to questions? 24 hours, 2 days, one week? 

Good to hear that a lead time is standard practise, are these usually enforced or incentivized in some way though? 

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I’m a big fan of sclerotium gum, goes great with low pH formulations, better skin absorption than xanthan gum in many formulas.

I’ve used konjac too, created a more granular gel, whereas sclerotium and xanthan gums create more of a slimy texture if that makes sense.

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@MarkbBroussard done! will see if she chimes in.

@heraklit thanks, also surprised how large % limonene a lot of EOs have.

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@heraklit That’s very interesting, what’s your source for the info?

In my case it’s the slight scent of lactic acid, smells a bit like ant pee. Any specific extracts that could compliment or help that?

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Yes for essential oils, but extracts are usually weaker in scent

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EO?

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I can definitely rule out sun, as a duck into the water without soaking in the sun first gives the same effect.

Sea water is 3.5% salt, so I’m guesstimating 2% added sea salt in the formula would give a notable effect.

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Yep, Sepiplus won out! Glyceryl Stearate was good in terms of stabilizing the lotion, but rub in was poor in all cases.

Sclerotium Gum and Permulen TR2 were both good thickeners, Cetyl helped a bit when added. MAS did not help stability quite enough.

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Thanks Elaine! Useful info, btw, how much lanolin would you use in a daily moisturizer type formula?

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Glycerin works fine in the current formula, but not sure whether I should leave Sodium PCA in or not, I mean, it’d depend on -how long- it takes for SPCA to be effective, no?

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Thanks, good comments, ideally I’d like to meet the movers and shakers (HBA andor Cosmoprof), but  how about if the focus is on skin care science?

Where would you meet a cross section of people making products and people doing the hard science? My background is in science so that’s of interest to me, beyond making solid topical formulations, I hope to help further the science in a real way (planning to launch and give full disclosure about it here by the end of the year .

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Why would you recommend HBA over the others? I’m completely green to this

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Bought Geritrex Lanolin Hydrous (72% Anhydrous Lanolin), and it doesn’t smell anything

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Maybe not odourless, but perhaps at different levels of refinement potentially removing volatile (smelly) compounds? 

There are companies selling “deodorized” lanolin: http://www.ulprospector.com/en/na/PersonalCare/Detail/3034/91705?st=10

And otherwise some people claim that hydrous lanolin smell less (1/3 water).

Guess I’ll have to sample a few different brands to find out

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Thanks guys, 

Royalties could indeed get complicated, you’d have to be contractually clear about reporting requirements of gross sales and add provisions for wholesale/private labeling etc.

Ideally I’d do a combination of a low hourly rate AND royalties, I think ~2% is common when dealing with large corporations, and that higher ~5% rates are reasonable with smaller outfits that won’t reach the same volume as quickly. Then you can add a clause stating that the percentage goes down after a certain threshold of gross quarterly sales to make the deal scale.

@Bobzchemist What’s industry standard range for a retainer? 

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Thanks! That looks like just what I need if it is what it says it is (a lot of squalane products have been mislabeled squalene).

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Bump! Still looking for a source for this, maybe one could be found in the food industry? 

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Hi @vitalys - can you tell us what skin conditions you tried it for?

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I assume you mean vs plant based lecithin.

I’m making a formula that intends to closely mimic composition of the skin, egg lecithin is closer to that than e.g. soy lecithin. Penetration enhancement properties also significantly differ between the two, so egg could be better for certain types of formulas.

Otherwise, viscosity and in turn lotion feel and rub in characteristics should be the same. Here’s a good review article looking at that: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867246/

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Anything that’s not? Doesn’t castor seed oil form a film to some extent? 

Open to using synthetics.

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Bump

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Noticed that the cream to powder formula used 25% microspheres, is this at all common? What are they?

Also 13% Dimethicone and 29% propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate - is this common practise?