Thread of Bad Advice into Good Advice
HLB does affect formulations; I know a certain formulation school says that HLB does not matter, but that is not true. HLB tells you the type of emulsion that you make; you can calculate the extract percentage to create a stable emulsion and the rate needed for the oil phase that you have. It is limited, but that is not to say we should completely disregard it.
Use distilled or deionized water. The minerals in tap water will cause real havoc on your formulas. Your only time it is okay is if you use it for a single-use clay mask.
Use a suitable sieve and straining system for infusion, if you do them. I do not recommend them as it easy to get them contaminate.
The carbohydrates and sugars are bacteria food. If you can purchase them from a supplier, I would.
Create different phases. The number of phases that you have will depend on the product you are making; for example, for an emulsion, you might have 3. For a lip balm, you may have 2, and for a liquid toner, you may only have one. It all depends on the product that you are making.
You can measure everything in separate beakers, but as long as they are in the same phase, you can measure it all in one beaker.
@larryyyeo “Education is important for making products.” I could not agree with this more!
Do not just use free formulations, more on this later on another blog post. I have a lot to say about this topic.
Don’t copy formulations, it is obvious. Like really really obvious!
Cosmetics ingredients are safe in the proper percentages.
@swiftcraftmonkey: Get a thermometer. Please you can not tell if something is good based on previous experience like a hot tub. 🍯
@makingskincare: if a supplier adds a preservative, it does not mean that your product is preserved. Once it is added to another product it is just microbial food. You also don’t know if it has been deactivated by anything.
Organic acid preservatives are restricted by pH. You could also add a buffer to maintain the pH if your product.
@kilienma: Essential Oils are not preservatives. They may help some but only to a limited degree. We want broad spectrum protection.
@sommiesworld Don’t use more essential oil because it is natural. Fragrance oils are fine in the right concentrations.
Don't use all preservatives at a certain percentage, example 1%. You need to look at the supplier information and do the proper test.
Just because your formula is stable at room temp for one month does not mean that your product is safe.
@makingskincare Use stabilizers and thickeners in an emulsion.
Lots of aloe vera and proteins will destabilize a formula
Naticide is not as effective as it should be
Don’t use fresh squeezed products in your formulation. Same goes for apple cider vinegar and "magnesium oil" it is just magnesium and water.
Don't add drops to the end of the formulation, they should be included in the formulation.
Cosmetics cannot cure aliments.
You don’t need lots of infusions to make a products.
@nowiamnappy Get a scale!
@thebeautychemist Do stability testing. Just because other people use the same packaging does not make it okay.
Vitamin E is an antioxidant not a preservative.
@makingskincare You should not just add Zinc oxide to a formulation. It should be predispersed and coated with high shear. A buffer should be included to make sure that it is between 6.5 and 8 so that the zinc does not migrate to the oil phase which will lead to instability. It will create uneven coverage that will affect you SPF coverage.
@thelunareforgejewllery Testing a sunscreen formula at the beach will lead to mis leading results. You may not be burning but the UVA rays are getting you and you will not know until you are older and have skin cancer.
It is okay if you cannot pronounce things.
Chemistry is it's own language, just because you can not pronounce it,
mean it is scary and should not be used.
Do not mix aloe gel and shea butter.
Organic is not better
@swiftcraftmonkey do not heat your emulsions in the oven. 🍯
Make sure to take off your cap on your pH meter. PH is not as simple as 3 steps away and can be quite unpredictable
Vinegar is not great as a pH adjuster
"'4 drops of a 50/50 citric acid solution' will not take the pH from 8 to 7".
@stargemcosmetics Be precise with your scale
Make sure you equipment is clean you don't want to introduce bacteria from a previous project.
@gloria_the_kemist Color and fragrance need to be counted in the percentages of your formulation.
@seppicmisslucy Add heat sensitive active to the cool down phase.
Do not just add more oil to the end of the formulation to make it thicker.
@formulandocoseticos water-based face masks need to be formulated properly as they are hard to preserve.
@andreapeche Do not use beeswax as an emulsifier.
@vidhiagarwal1992 Buy at least the pH strips. Coconut oils will not solve your problems.
Method is important
You need a pH meter for acids
Make sure your preservative is broad spectrum. You do not need to use two preservatives like Liquid Germall plus and Germabien II in one product.
Thank you all who have participated, let me know if you have any more in the comments below. Have a wonderful day!
