Why using a reference formula can be super helpful!

BUT THERE IS A VERY WRONG WAY TO DO IT!!!!

In this post I am going to be talking about using formulations as reference to better understand how ingredients work in formulations. This is a very hot topic right now but, I think it is necessary for people to read and understand the right way to do it.

I made a Instagram post about using Sephora and Ulta to look for products to get information. Looking at products can get you an idea of what ingredients are used for certain types of products. Example: looking at a toner and seeing that it contains mostly water. So then you know that water is the first ingredients so that must be the diluent. It can also manly contain witch hazel for an astringent, rarely alcohol, as consumers don't want that in their product anymore. Towards the end you will find lots of humectants and extracts and then a preservative. The process continues after that and you get a better understanding of what toners contain. As you can see by looking at professionally formulated product, you can learn a lot! I do highly recommend having a basic understanding of formulations and ingredients prior, or else it won't be very useful. So now that we know that we can use formulas to learn a certain extent. We can dive into the other use. It can also be used as a reference point to develop your own formulations. This is the very controversial and hot topic right now and I am going in into detail about this.


I realize that I need to point out the differences of somethings. Using formulas form Sephora and Ulta and then Creating a product based on that is a dupe. Which is very different from a pre-made formula and then altering the formula to then post it or use it in a course. A dupe when you market it the consumer or reader can find the product and see where you got the information from. Not a huge deal. You are doing all the work so, no problem there. A formulation on a web, the reader would have no idea if it was your work or not. That would be plagiarism. Which is the problem. Using others peoples formulations and learning from them and then altering them to what you have is fine. However!!!!!! You need to give people credit. It is the right and moral thing to do!!!!


In high school they teach you that if you did not know the information before reading it then you need to cite your sources. This really applies to the real world! I don't care if you purchased a book form them and the formula is free. It is not right. You do not own the rights of them and their formulations. Just because you altered the formula does not mean anything. It is the idea that you gained knowledge from someone else.  You should give them credit. You are being convenience with the information. They did most of the work, the research, and effort, to get that information out. It is really frustrating for the person who did all the work and is not getting the recognition. I would argue that citing your source gives you more credibility as a formulator. It shows that you take extra time to do some research into your craft. 
How to cite your sources:
You can do this a number of ways that are effective.

1. (Proper way) At the end of the post or wherever you are sharing it. At the end add a work cited section. And add each source in MLA formatting. Any information that you directly add to the site needs to be in quotation marks This would be useful in courses to blog posts but, depending on how formal it is you can use other options.

Example:
Zack from Cosmetics Your Ways blog states, "Preservatives are necessary to any product that contains water or will have contact with water."
References


Kovac: Zachariah Luke. "Preservatives: ANTIOXIDANTS: Fragrance Oils: and Essential Oils."
Cosmetic Your KOs: 28 Dec. 2018: cosmeticyourway_weebly.com/blog/preservatives
antioxidants fragrance-oils-and-essential -oils

1. Directly state where you got the information and then the information is in quotes. You also add a link to the website.
2. List the tile of the formulation and then add a link to ether the book where you can buy it or the website it was published to.

• Legally with any published book or e-book you cannot publish it to anything without prior written permission.

1. If on Instagram, at the bottom before the hashtags add "Formulation Credit: @Cosmeticyourways_blog" This is if you are posting their formulation with no edits! It is necessary to talk with the person that you are getting the formula from to make sure you have their permission. It is always good to be nice and if they say not then just post a picture of what you did. Remember it is their work.

I hope this clarifies everything. I understand that this will still continue but, at least we can better spot out then things are wrong.