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In this post, I wanted to talk about mixing active ingredients in formulations. We want our formulations to do something. This leads to adding multiple actives to approach skin issues from different angles. It can be confusing on what we can add together or not. Everyone approaches this differently; however, I want to make sure that they are done in a way that makes sense. Looking at all the supplier data can really making you think that the active is going to change your life. I am being a bit dramatic, but it can feel this way. The reality is they are trying to convince you to use their active. Normally at the highest amount to be able to get the result that you are after. There is way more nuance to the topic than that. You really need statistics to be able to analyze the data. Businesses can lie with data, charts, and graphs. I have seen from not starting at zero to not having a control. Statistics is not my area of expertise. I do encourage people to find free resources' to learn more about it. In a world where everyone is an expert, it is important to be critical of peoples claims. Some chemists have said that not many actives work and there is not a lot of data behind them. I have personal not looked at a ton of data and can only go by personal experience, which we know is not evidence. I am not the one to say if this is true or not. This view is just not practical, we have to market our products. I try to find a balance in both or I we would go insane. I wanted to point this out, so you know others stance on this topic. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I do encourage you to try things out and see what work for you. Cosmetics do not get the same treatment as other sciences. Cosmetic studies are few and far between. This feeds into the lack of studies for cosmetics, I do need to remind people that we are formulating cosmetics and not drugs. Just because a supplier makes a drug claim does not mean that a brand can; it is the brands responsibility for their claims. Claims are very difficult when you cannot say they physiologically change the skin. We can only make claims that they alter the appearance of the skin. Big claims need substantial evidence. Every formulator has a different approach to adding actives to their formulations. That is totally fine, I do not think there is a right way. What can be a problem is when people add all their actives in one formulation. This is not what any good formulator would recommend. I am going to share what can go wrong, how to do it thoughtfully and my personal approach. This should be the first thing that you consider before adding any actives; have a stable base formulation. If not, you are going to be wasting a ton of ingredients. If it is not a stable product you can not get the benefits of anything. Yes, you are not getting the full picture of the skin feel without the active, but that you can alter later. Make sure you actually have the knowledge to formulate with the active you are trying to use. I do not what to come off as pretentious. It is not talked about enough formulating to your skilI set. I see way to many people try to formulate with acids a couple of formulations in without knowing the basics of acids, bases, pH and how to handle the raw materials. Related to not having the skill, It can also be an equipment issue. You may not know that you need better equipment to formulate a certain product. I learned this the hard way with color cosmetics. Either not an accurate enough scale, needing a homogenizer, or a special method that Doing research on how to formulate with actives and use them in a product that you want is also a skill. Let me know if you want a more indepth post about it. It can get sticky really quick. A lot of actives will also have humectants in them for better penetration. They could also be adding to your input of humectants you already have as well. So be mindful of this. You will get this sense when you formulate with an active for long enough of how it will affect the skin feel. Adding too many active can make a formulation become very low in water. All of our formulations need to be added to 100%. The more actives that you use the less water you have in the formulation. Especially if you are using a lot of powdered ingredients. This can lead to solubility issues, if you are not careful. A lot of actives can just be irritating. This is all depends on how you are formulating the product and the ingredients. You can use irritating ingredients at lower percentages and with ant-irritants and be fine. I find this is not the case, people are using them at the highest percentage. To then find that they are very sensitive to normal products. To reiterate, higher percentage does not mean better results. It can get hard to preserve a lot of actives. This all depends on the actives that you are using. Some are more prone to contamination than others. If you are using a ton of marine-based actives, you are going to need to consider preservation as a whole. If you find you are using a lot of them, make sure that you are adding a chelating agent (if applicable) and a robust preservative. If you are a brand, you want to consider your marketing. For marketing, you want to have a focus. I know it seems like a good idea to add more actives in hopes that it will work better or please everyone, but it can be confusing to consumers. Pick a few and use them at good amounts. This can also help with cost as well. I see a lot of skincare accounts make long lists of what actives can and cannot be used together. It is not that they can be together in a formulation. Encapsulations can allow that. It is that it may just be irritating. As long as your skin tolerates it, you can use it. It is also not just about adding it at the suppliers recommended usage rate; the other ingredients and the vehicle are also important. I will be the first to say that ingredients penetration is hard. The more you focus on it the more you are bordering a drug. That is not to say we do not what our formulations to work, but cosmetics can only alter the appearance of our skin. We cannot dose, treat, or cure anything. My approach to actives: Themes really do help with the selection of actives. For example, if you had a honey bee type of formulation, you could play on that. Actives and ingredients that come to mind are honeyquat, honey powder, propolis extract, beeswax, etc. Then I focus on the claims and what the type of product is. Honeyquat may not make sense for a balm, but would be great in a hair mist. If there is a specific concern, then I do research on the actives for that. I will also look at supplier catalogue and see what they have for the concern that I am formulating for. I will use the percentages that they use in the study. Keeping everything else in the formulation to a minimum. This is great for marketing too, I will reiterate you cannot make drug claims. I keep cost in mind as it is easy to go overboard. If I want to use a more expensive actives at a higher amount, I will make the base formula cheaper or just use overall less. Actives really can drive the cost up. Keep in mind the larger amount you purchase the less it will be. I encourage you to find out how you like to approach adding actives. There really is not a right answer. There are just considerations. Is there anything you would add? Let me know in the comments. Want to Learn More?Consider gaining access to the blog 1 Month Access to Diamond Level
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