Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Cosmetics Chemistry

Cosmetics Chemistry

ShotBored - 28-5-2020 at 11:18

So recently I've taken a bit of (monetary

) interest in cosmetics chemistry, as the contract chemistry world has a LOT of work for the potential chemist looking for a side gig.

My wife has been really big on getting me to make makeup for her to use currently, so that's where I've started. It's a bit of chemistry I'm not used too, but I've been working on some cream formulations for use in eyeshadows and other makeups and have been struggling on consistency. Maybe someone here can help me out?

I'm trying to make a cream using carnauba wax, shea butter, hemp seed oil, vitamin E oil, glycerin, and DI water. The following formula is one of the first ones I tried (w/w%)

10% Carnauba Wax
20% Shea Butter
2% Glycerin
14% Hemp Seed Oil
1% Vitamin E Oil
53% Distilled Water

I know that beeswax is usually used here, but my wife wanted me to try the formulation with carnauba wax instead. She thinks if we ever end up selling it locally, that it will entice the vegans

I heated the oil phases together until the shea butter and carnauba fully melted, then heated the water and glycerin. I added the oil phase into the aqueous phase while stirring. Initially while cooling, the formula made a great cream, however water slowly began to fall out. I'd approximate that about 10-20% of the water came out of the cream and was decanted out. The cream was still of good consistency though until I let it sit overnight. In the morning it was around the consistency of a light chapstick.

My first hypothesis is to back off the carnauba wax a bit and add more shea butter. This is because carnauba's melting point is in the 80-85C range, which is much higher than most beeswaxes. But I do wonder if it would be better to use some emulsifying wax in order to retain the water better or if I can fix this problem by upping my glycerin? I guess this is likely the biggest issue facing the formulation currently...I need to keep that water retention up in order to keep the creamy consistency around. Sorry if this isn't typically the type of thing we talk about on here hahaha. As we figure this out, I'll try and share some pictures of my successes in case any of you are interested

mackolol - 28-5-2020 at 13:12

Try nigella oil (black cumin something like that), It's very healthy to drink and very good for making face creams, it disinfects your face and removes pimples. For me it works very well.

Bedlasky - 28-5-2020 at 13:13

Hi.

I can't advise you with this problem. I only once at school made simple hand cream from lanolin and glycerol, nothing hard. But my girlfriend also like idea that I make for her some cosmetics

. So I am interested in your work

. These kind of thinks are also good gifts for someone.

53% of water? Isn't it too much?

I plan make some perfumes from esters diluted by isopropylalcohol. So I'll can share with you my experiences with this. But now I don't have condenser for simple distilation - so for now I can only use butyl acetate which I can easily buy. Fery post on this forum few nice ester synthesis which I can follow.

[Edited on 28-5-2020 by Bedlasky]

RogueRose - 28-5-2020 at 16:01

Quote: Originally posted by ShotBored

So recently I've taken a bit of (monetary

I've never used carnauba wax but I've used bee's wax w/ shea butter and it works well. You might want to look into kokum butter, I think it's great all by itself and is a great moisturizer that isn't greasy. A nice mix of the 3 I mentioned + a little glycerine works extremely well, the only thing I'd like to add is an emulsifier like polysorbate or something to keep them from seperating if they melt, but if you stir them as they cool it stays mixed up nicely.

Take a look at the fatty acid make up of the different oils, fats and butters. You can get some great products by using just the acids alone as there is often nothing special in the plant/animal fats that aren't available as the acid alone. It's great to supplement a mixture as well.

Ubya - 29-5-2020 at 01:54

i've never done cosmetics, but looking at your formulation i only see 2% glycerin as a "binder", everything else is oils and water that ofc won't mix. maybe increase the glycerin or add an emulsifier

Syn the Sizer - 29-5-2020 at 04:18

Quote: Originally posted by Ubya

i've never done cosmetics, but looking at your formulation i only see 2% glycerin as a "binder", everything else is oils and water that ofc won't mix. maybe increase the glycerin or add an emulsifier

I was thinking more glycerine might work, it would hold the water and allow it to mix better with the oils.

draculic acid69 - 29-5-2020 at 17:25

I second the more glycerol suggestion.

karlos³ - 29-5-2020 at 18:01

Quote: Originally posted by mackolol

Try nigella oil (black cumin something like that), It's very healthy to drink and very good for making face creams, it disinfects your face and removes pimples. For me it works very well.

If you are going to put that oil into any cream, you can sell it as tick-deterrant and maybe increase the price somewhat due of this.
It is actually proven that this oil has this action.
"Biological tick-deterrant", I mean, that has some weight in terms of advertisment, no?

RadicallyStabilized - 29-5-2020 at 23:08

Hand creams are considered the holy grail of home cosmetics for a reason. I have made some a few times, and there are some things you have to know, otherwise you will mess up.

First of all, a good hand cream will enter the skin quickly and leave little fatty residue on the outside. You don't want greasy hands. Your recipe has too little water and especially too much wax. The wax will not enter the skin but form a sticky layer which is ok if you want to apply it to irritated skin or overnight perhaps but not for a general hand cream.

Second, as others have pointed out, you will need an emulsifier. Emulsifier selection is somewhat tricky because it depends on the pH (which plays a role in conservation as well), and the relation of the fatty phase to the water phase. If you don't use an emulsifier your cream will not be stable, period. Glycerin is not enough.

Third, you absolutely have to use some kind of preservative, especially if you want to give the cream to others. I wouldn't use unpreserved cream after a week even if stored in the fridge. With a preservative you can expect a shelf life of three months maximum. I have kept some in the fridge for a year and it was still ok. Creams are an ideal breeding ground for molds, and what's worse, you can't sometimes detect bad cream by sight or smell; still the mold toxins will irritate the skin, so please use a preserving agent and work as sterile as possible.

There's obviously a lot more to that, so I highly recommend looking at the literature. My go-to recipe for a hand cream (praised by friends and family) is this:

Fatty phase:
15 g oil (e. g. a good olive oil)
2 g cetyl alcohol
7 g emulsifier (there are lots of products; mine consists of hydrogenated palm glyceride with 5% of sodium stearate)
4 g beeswax

Water phase:
85 g distilled water

Additional ingredients (these are optional and can be varied as you please):
D-Panthenol (a few drops are enough, it's very viscous)
20 drops vitamin E, F or others
Allantoin or urea
Other skin care products such as silk protein, hyaluric acid etc.; there are lots of them and very little is needed so they don't influence the consistency of the cream
Perfume (I prefer essential oils of orange, citrus or mandarine)

Preservative:
I use a preservative based on methyl- and propylparaben and benzyl alcohol which works at a neutral pH. You can also use something phenoxyethanol-based like Optiphen (potassium sorbate only if pH << 7). Dosage according to instructions.

Instructions:
In a water bath in a well-cleaned beaker, dissolve cetyl alcohol, add the rest of the fatty phase ingredients, warm to 65 to 68 °C. Temperature control is important and depends on the emulsifier. Slowly, with hand stirring (use a long spoon), add (ideally sterilized) water of the same temperature. Let cool while stirring. When below 35 °C add the rest of the ingredients. The cream will still be quite liquid at this point. Stir until room temperature is reached by which time the cream will have optimal consistency.

Try to follow this to the letter before making changes. You will soon get a feel for what works.

brubei - 30-5-2020 at 00:33

there is plenty of cosmetic and formulation textbook on libgen

Bedlasky - 31-5-2020 at 08:35

I did little research on google and I found this web, which have nice list of ingredients which should cosmetic contain (with some examples from each category).

https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/chemistry...

Most of recipies on hand cream is only about mixing few kinds of fats and waxes (e.g. shea butter + cocanut oil + beaswax) with some essence. But I don't know how durable it is.

Quote: Originally posted by RadicallyStabilized

Preservative:
I use a preservative based on methyl- and propylparaben and benzyl alcohol which works at a neutral pH. You can also use something phenoxyethanol-based like Optiphen (potassium sorbate only if pH << 7). Dosage according to instructions.

I read that benzoic acid or salicylic acid can be also used as preservative.

Panache - 1-6-2020 at 03:28

i think you are not supposed to mix them, rather apply them to your face separately, one at a time.
That was a joke.
I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if someone already told to you to go get an emulsifier. 20,000rpm, huge shear, there's no other way.
Apparently Omar from The Wire is selling one. That was also a joke.

ShotBored - 1-6-2020 at 05:31

A wealth of good information on this board. I appreciate all the feedback! The first topic I want to address is one of the more interesting ones to me which is preservation. I used Vitamin E oil as an antioxidant for the oils in the formulation to prevent rancidity. As far as an actual preservative, I've had a lot of interest in these "probiotic" preservatives that are becoming popular....Leucidal SF uses Lactobacillus to create a hostile environment for microbes and molds via acidification/antimicrobial peptide production. Take a look and let me know what you guys think https://www.formulatorsampleshop.com/Leucidal-SF-Complete-p/...

As far as emulsifying is concerned, I definitely agree with Radically Stabilized. I am looking to incorporate some emulsifying wax (www.makingcosmetics.com has a lot of oil-in-water emulsifiers). Particularly, I think the CreamMaker Green Coffee would be a good fit for this "vegan" formulation. I'll be trying one more formula tonight with an increase in glycerin to try to get something that works, but will likely be ordering some of this emulsifying CreamMaker stuff. I will detail my next tries with more pictures and better procedures so we can critique the entire process!

andy1988 - 1-6-2020 at 11:09

This website has been helpful for me in finding information on possible ingredients: http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/, eg pinene. Different isomers will likely have different scents and data/safety associated.

Alpha-lipoic-acid in topical creams interest me. It is a difficult supplement to consume being water insoluble, so my thought is that perhaps transdermal application is of interest in the context of supplementation given it is added to commercial creams at present. I mix supplemental doses manually with lotion.

Good luck!

pneumatician - 20-6-2020 at 08:26

holy shit! I worked some days in a famous makeup co. and the guy collecting and mixing the chems make it at random quantities!! I say: he guy this is better to do with a mesuring cilinder no? and the loser looked at my like I are totally crazy!!!

ShotBored - 23-6-2020 at 06:27

Just an update everyone, I went with the CreamMaker Green Coffee (CM-GC) off of MakingCosmetics.com and had some success, although I still have a little ways to go. This was the formula:

40% DI Water
6% CreamMaker Green Coffee
20% Shea Butter
16% Carnauba Wax
2% Glycerin
14% Hemp Seed Oil
1% Vitamin E Oil

The cream consistency was a little pasty, but considerably better than my first attempt. I think an increase of 15-20% water will fix this issue with a reduction of the Shea Butter, Carnauba Wax, and Hemp Seed Oil respectively/proportionally.

I added colorants in order to do a stability/microbe test on the samples....one sample got about 0.75 tsp of blue mica per 10 grams of cream, the other got about 1 tsp of Spirulina per 10 grams of cream (natural products, vegan, blah blah blah lol). They both made great blue and green creams respectively and the Spirulina, despite my concerns, did not create a fishy odor!

The 10-day RT stability tests though definitely showed the continued necessity of a preservative. The uncolored and the blue each had one spot of apparent mold, while the spirulina seemed to be releasing some sort of funky reddish-orange pasty material around the edges of the sample. As previously mentioned, I want to go with the Leucidal SF, but I'm becoming more convinced after seeing the Spirulina Green that I may need to use a heavier duty Antimicrobial such as Potassium Sorbate or Caprylyl Glycol. If anyone has any more natural sounding antimicrobials for branding purposes, I'd love to hear them.

Bedlasky - 24-7-2020 at 11:49

If I want to use benzoic or salicylic acid as a preservative, how much I should use?

ShotBored - 28-7-2020 at 05:18

Quote: Originally posted by Bedlasky

If I want to use benzoic or salicylic acid as a preservative, how much I should use?

@Bedlasky What I've seen for salicylic acid, you should use 3% max, otherwise the product becomes really irritating to the skin. I've also read that above 2% SA, you need to use a solvent of some sort, such as propylene glycol or octyldodecanol.

I'm not 100% sure about Benzoic Acid. I think the EU says the maximum BA in a formula can be 0.5%, so I'd probably not push too far past 1.5% if you're operating in the US.

AJKOER - 8-8-2020 at 01:45

A bit while back (more like four thousand years), the Egyptians apparently used to carry water from the river in copper kettles and reported that the water no longer was slimy and more suitable for consumption. I do know someone who actually acquired from India, a copper drinking cup that's rough/unfinished on the inside surface. He swirls spring water in the copper cup for 60-90 seconds to produce a micro-copper water concoction.

Apparently, from what I know of copper toxicity, even micro quantities of any dissolved copper in the form of bicarbonates,..., are extremely effective against microbes/viruses/fungus, etc, so I would suggest replacing your distilled water with copper treated spring water and forget the usual preservative additive. Note, Copper is also claimed to promote the action of vitamin C and in small amounts, a vital nutrient.

Here's another suggestion, as my view is to promote healthy products in general, there is concern about ploysorbates, like even some big brands have removed it in their peanut butter, and now market themselves as all natural. I like the brand, so I just stir it on occasion as the oil has a tendency to separate out. Perhaps, just add a small stirring rod and market your cream as emulsifier free!

[Edited on 8-8-2020 by AJKOER]

ShotBored - 30-6-2021 at 06:40

I realized i never followed up on this. "O" indicates ingredient was pre-mixed in oil phase, "W" indicates pre-mixing in aqueous phase. The formulation that I found worked the best was (% w/w):

DI Water - 55%, W
Shea Butter - 15%, O
Carnauba Wax - 11%, O
Hemp Seed Oil - 9%, O
Cream Maker, Green Coffee - 6%, O
Glycerin - 2%, W
Vitamin E Oil - 1%, O

1. Gather all materials and pre-sterilize all glassware and mixing equipment with rubbing alcohol (>90%). This is extremely important for maintaining a hygienic environment. Always used gloves (latex or equivalent) when mixing; a facemask, hair covering, and apron or lab coat is recommended as well.
2. To one of the glass measuring cups, add the Oil Phase ingredients (labeled as “O” in the ingredients list). In the other measuring cup, combine the DI Water and glycerin.
3. Initially microwave the oil phase cup for 2 minutes. Look for the mixture to be mostly homogenous (well-mixed) after the time has elapsed. Typically this mixture has a tannish-green hue.
4. Place the water phase cup in the microwave with the oil phase cup (DO NOT MIX YET) and microwave both mixtures for an additional 1-2 minutes. The oil phase cup should be completely homogenous and the water phase cup should look like it is close to boiling (small amounts of bubbling). Use oven mitts, preferably silicon, to handle the measuring cups.
5. Begin stirring the oil mixture with a mixing spoon and slowly add the water mixture into the oil. Continue stirring fairly vigorously during this process while taking care not to spill or splash the mixture. Mix for 1-2 minutes.
6. Using the immersion blender, blend the cream continuously for 10 minutes during the cooling process.
7. It is at this stage that I’d recommend adding in colorants so that transfer to the applicator can be seamless and easy. You would also look to add any potential preservatives at this stage as well. For probiotic preservatives, you want the temperature of the mixture to be around 80 degrees F. Any hotter may kill the probiotic.
8. Transfer the cream into the applicator tubes while still warm and liquid-like.
9. Allow the cream to settle for 24 hours or until consistency is correct.
10. Clean all equipment and re-sanitize with rubbing alcohol.

Colorants: typically 1/2 to 2 tsps of colorant per 10g cream base seemed sufficient. Colored mica worked the best, and I never fully achieved the "vegan" green eyeshadow with Spirulina as the algae seemed to turn yellow and red over time and I could not stabilize this. Seems obvious that it would always be a problem when I look back at it.

I also never came to a full conclusion on preservation. I never got to try Leucidal SF, though I think a probiotic preservative like this would work well while still achieving the "vegan" end goal. I found that a little bit of a lighter cream could be achieved by replacing 5% of the carnauba wax with 5% more water; both of these formulations seemed to be useful in different applications.

ShotBored - 30-6-2021 at 06:41

Has anybody been gobbling up the contracts on UpWork? There seems to be a TON of cosmetics formulations contracts right now that hardly required ANY chemistry knowledge; a skilled baker could probably do a lot of it

There's definitely a market glut of people wanting cosmetics and neutraceutical formulations chemistry in the contract market now. I hardly have the time anymore, but wasn't sure if anyone else was taking advantage of the cash cow?

Sulaiman - 30-6-2021 at 23:32

Definitely not my area but
I've noticed that benzoic acid and parabens are undesirable to many consumers.

ShotBored - 1-7-2021 at 05:32

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman

Definitely not my area but
I've noticed that benzoic acid and parabens are undesirable to many consumers.

There is definitely being a shift in what modern consumers want. I don't necessarily agree with the necessity of "vegan" formulations (I don't believe harvesting beeswax is innately cruel), but I DO agree with the increased scrutiny of certain ingredients that have been used in the past without scrutiny. Parabens, the vague term "fragrance", pthalates, TiO2, etc.

Herr Haber - 1-7-2021 at 08:08

I always thought this could be a business for Cou given his interest in smelly molecules.

There are a couple of shops in town where you can buy everything for DIY cosmetics, gels, creams etc.
Business is booming by the looks of it. Population: 90% female. Best part ? If they're there, they might not think of your hobby as silly, cookery, dangerous etc.