Have been looking for a one stop shop for ingredients (mainly to make balms and cuticle oils) and came across this website.

Anyone purchased from them before?

Also recommendations for stores are welcome (i am from Singapore)

I’d like to make a magnesium lotion without an emulsifying wax. Can water, shea butter, and maybe a carrier oil be whipped together to create a lotion?

Hi, I recently formulated a shampoo and conditioner which works really good for me and its all natural and not harsh. However I'm not sure if it's as effective for other hair types. I'm looking for a way to bottle my products for sale. Does anyone know where I can do this while being affordable and in the UK

I need a recipe for a dual phase toner, I also want to add color to both phases and have them mix together,use hydrosols, and use essential oils.

I’d like to try and make https://www.thesoapery.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-make-leave-in-conditioner but it says if the pH isn’t between 4.5 - 5.5 then you need to use sodium hydroxide.

I don’t really want to do that, due to my comfortableness, so I’m wondering how important the pH is?

Would it matter all that much if I didn’t measure it and it wasn’t between 4.5 - 5.5? If it does, I think just scratch home made conditioner from the things to try haha.

Thanks in advance!

Many places say 6 month but I’d guess more like 3 days max.

Hi everyone, I had some unopened products including cupuacu butter, Sal butter, Cheryl alcohol flakes, jojoba wax. How do I know if these things are bad?? I’ve had them for I would say possibly 2 years. Do you think I can still use them?

Hi all, I used a TON of orange EO and still smell the shea butter (nutty scent, not rancid - I just really don’t like the nutty scent but love what Shea does for my skin). Do I need to use a mid and base note EO as well to strengthen the scent or maybe a different brand Orange EO? My goal is for the body butter to be just orange scented (which does aromatherapeutic wonders for my brain 🙏🏼) but I’m willing to try adding a different note if it means it will mask the scent of shea. Recipe below for reference -

1/2c Shea Butter (NOW brand) 1/4c Coconut Oil 1/4c Sweet Almond Oil 90 drops Orange EO (NOW brand)

Any insight would be much appreciated!!

Thank you 🙏🏼

I have a deep icepick hole scar on my forehead and I am thinking of getting TCA Cross or Phenol Cross done. I have heard TCA Cross can make the scar wider and leave hypopigmentation and I have heard Phenol Cross has a less chance of doing that. I have also heard Phenol Cross can cause cardiotoxicity issues. I asked a dermatologist about that and they said only when used on large amount of the body not a small amount, but it is still scary.

First off I want to thank all of you for the help you have all given me these past few months in this sub. You guys were a major helping factor in my formulation journey and still are. I really really appreciate it.

I created this conditioner because I wanted a softness and slight refatting to my hair without much slip as I feel it makes my hair flat. I am still figuring out which preservative system I want to use so that is the only thing I left out.

Water - To 100%

Sorbitol - 4%

Sweet Almond Oil - 4%

Hydrolyzed Rice Protein - 3%

Squalane - 2%

Jojoba Oil - 2%

PolyAquol™-2W (Polyglyceryl-2- Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate and Stearyl Alcohol) - 1.50%

Cetearyl Alcohol - 1%

Glycerin - 1%

Niacinamide - 1%

Cationic Guar - 0.6%

Malic Acid - To pH 4.5

What should I add/remove/alter in this formula? Thoughts?

"PolyAquol™-2W emulsions decrease in viscosity when electrolytes are included. 5% sodium lactate is enough to take a formulation from a semi-solid cream to a fluid lotion."

I'm wondering if a thickener like Guar Gum can prevent a formula with this emulsifier from being too liquidy if electrolytes are added, or if it just ruins the stability of the formula.

I apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong area. I'm wondering about dimethicone 350. Is it possible to just add a few drops to my existing conditioner and leave in conditioner?

I'm extremely, extremely sensitive to scent. My hair just isn't thriving without silicones, but for the life of me, I can't find any fragrance-free leave-in conditioners that DO contain silicones, anywhere in Canada! Everything available in Canada that is fragrance-free is always silicone-free.

Can I just add some dimethicone to my existing commercial hair products? Or is there a different, water-insoluble silicone that I can purchase and simply mix into my leave-in conditioner?

Hi all!

Please be kind as this is my first time formulating.

I am trying to formulate a 10% Mandelic Acid Serum.

This is my formula below, however it is foaming upon application. Any tips on changing up the recipe/percentages to avoid this from happening?

Purified Water 63%? Propanediol 10%? Mandelic Acid 10% Glycerin 5% Sorbitol 5%? Sodium PCA 2%? Hydroxyethylcellulose 1%? Lactic Acid 1.5%? Sodium Lactate 1.5%? Caprylyl Glycol 1%?

Thank you! 🙏

I'm completely new to conditioners, so I'm just trying to understand how they work to make my own. There's oils in almost every conditioner I see, so how does that work? Do cationic surfactants work any different than regular surfactants other than that they give off a positive charge? Are they added solely for marketing, or do they actually help with the softening of the hair.

Could someone please give me some feedback for this formulation. I've been making simple creams for a while (just water, glycerin, oils and emulsifier and maybe 1-2 extra active ingredients) but I would like to make a more "luxurious" cream with antioxidants and anti-aging (preventive) properties that will sit well on my combination skin.

Do you think that these actives are "too much"? I've seen matrixyl and q10 combination in a brand serum but I don't know how well they will combine with the other ingredients (niacinamide, panthenol etc)

Water phase:

• Water (56.7%)
• Glycerin (3%)
• Niacinamide (3%)
• Hydrolyzed oat protein (5%)
• Pentylene glycol (3%)
• Allantoin (0.3%)

Oil phase:

• Btms(4%)
• Cetyl alcohol (3%)
• Caprylic/ Capric Triglycerides (5%)
• Grapeseed oil (4%)
• Shea oil (liquid shea butter) (4%)

Cool down phase :

• Preservative (1%)
• Matryxil 3000 (3%)
• Panthenol (liquid form) (2%)
• Q10 (liquid form)(3%)

My daughters have lovely blonde hair that grows in brown and once they spend some time in the sun gets light. A friend told me about chamomile shampoo (I'm brunette) to even it out between going to the beach but everything I've seen is either $30+ or has artificial colors.

Has anyone just added chamomile extract to regular shampoo? what ratio would I do?

TL;DR: I want to make a suuuper simple cleanser, without any oils, esters, fatty alcohols etc. Just an oily part and an emulsifying part. Can a silicone like dimethicone be used for the "oily" part? Or will crommolient sce or polysorbate 80/20 not dissolve in it?

I don't know how to not give too much information, as there are so many moving parts here, but let's start with what I want to do.

If I could use a cheap, whatever oil and some PEG hydrogenated castor oil, I would, trust me, but sadly I break out in cycts from things like that. The reason why I'd like to try dimethicone or another silicone is because my skin seems to not be able to handle any oils, fatty alcohols, esters etc. Especially anything from coconuts. Even olive squalane is breaking me out. So my next plan of action for the oily part would have been neossance hemisqualane, as it's from sugarbeets and couldn't possibly be contaminated with any fatty acids, but if I could use a silicone, that might end up being much easier. Forgive my ignorance, but as far as I know most silicones don't dissolve in water and feel oily, so my mind immediately went this route. I might be absoluetly wrong, but when I googled these questions, nothing came up, so the smart people here educate me please.

For the emulsifying part I was thinking crommolient sce or polysorbate 80 or 20. Basically, the super simple oil-to-milk cleanser from humblebee & me recipe.

Also I am suspecting a possible reaction to coconut. I know it's very, very rare, but very simple, few ingredient cleansers with coco-betaine or cocamidopropyl betaine for the main base without any of the oily parts mentioned before still irritate my skin. Like, sometimes it'd get reddish, sometimes itchy, just not comfortable. Not how it is when I do nothing. And so far, only the coconut part is overlapping... And sadly most of the skincare is derived from coconuts :(

A worthy mention that I've found is sunflower betaine as a surfactant, but I haven't been able to track it down as a single ingredient to buy and also then I would have to make a water based cleanser, so I'm gonna try this oily formula first.

I made my own hair oil using herbs and Mustard oil, the first time I made it I put in a plastic bottle which wasn't clean with water but weeks went by and there was no mold or anything, the second time I put it in a plastic bottle which was cleaned with water snd soap and left to dry for a whole day and after a few weeks I noticed mold growing at the bottom. Can anyone help me, how am I supposed to clean bottles in a way that it doesn't grow mold?

I am looking to make a leave-in conditioner type product for curly hair, I have read that leave-in conditioners specifically have certain agents that make them condition hair. I really have no idea how any of this works so bear with me. I am concerned that anything I combine will then separate and make layers, not just from water, oil, or butter-based products but also anything else that I want to add to it like a powder. I assume there is a process for combining certain products together. Any resources you guys can provide or advice would be great! Thanks!

I’m on the journey to find the most menthol like lip balm I can find. I’ve tried almost everything on the internet but I’m not a huge fan, so I decided to make my own so I can control the tingle level. The only issue is that the menthol I have tried tastes really gross if you lick your lips. Does anyone have any recommendations for menthol that won’t taste gross?

Side note: I also use peppermint oil in combination with the menthol

Formula is a mix of fractioned coconut oil, castor oil and mango butter, about 30:60:10, but I will definitely be altering the next batch to be thicker. (Second take on my formulation)

I got the idea/suggestion to use liquid stevia on various older posts here and on other similar subs, back when I was starting out. Thing is, I love the flavour it gives but I had started adding the Stevia back on my first try at this formulation, and while I’m still new, I was newer then. Now, in a moment of clarity, on a hunch, I thought to check the ingredients and found the Stevia is water based. Live and learn I guess, just wished I had learned sooner.

Since Stevia is out, at least this kind, does anybody have any tried and true sweeteners that will work?

*I have also tried: -TKB flavour oil specifically designed for lip products but unfortunately the one I received arrived spoiled. Ruined a whole batch because everything tasted like mold. -Loranns baking flavour oil. Added drop by drop but it either had no effect or made the stuff just taste horrible. Can’t remember where I read to use that but big mistake.

I admit to winging this one, It’s based off Weleda’s face and body oil.

Euxyl PE 9010 is soluble in oil and propanediol but insoluble in water. I'm planning to add it to my water in oil emulsion but don't understand how that'll work to stop microbial growth when it won't interact with water at all...

I am trying to make a serum using the ingredients listed below and store it in a dropper (100 mL) with the following formulation:

50% Rose Water

24% Raw Aloe Vera

24% Glycerin

0.5% EDTA

0.5% Potassium Sorbate

1% Phenoxyethanol + Ethylhexylglycerin

Please do tell if I should lower any percentage of any ingredients listed above. Any help would be appreciated!

It is possible to formulate a cold-process hair conditioner using Cetrimonium Chloride?

I’m trying to make cosmetics without any petrochemical crap, and I’ve read Ethanol preserves formulations when used at 20% or greater. I also store my formulas in an airless dispenser that I’ve rubbed with Isopropyl alcohol for disinfection. Will this be ok if I’m only making the cosmetics for myself?

Has anyone used Fixate Freestyle Polymer from Lubrizol while formulating moulding wax?

Someone recommended that I incorporate it at 5% to the formation. I am using ceteareth 25 at 30% and peg 40 at 4%

I'm new here and far from being any sort of chemist, so hopefully my questions aren't too juvenile for this sophisticated lot...

So I was using a body wash/shampoo that has the following ingredients: Saponified Organic Oils of Sunflower and Coconut, Distilled Water, Organic Vegetable Glycerin, and Rosemary Extract. 

Here are my questions:

- Could I make something similar to this myself?

- What is keeping this from going bad? It seems there's no preservative in it.

- What is the pH of a concoction like this? As I understand it, soaponified oils are quite basic and can be drying to the skin.

Hopefully my questions are appropriate. I'm fascinated by this stuff and want to learn more.

I have seen on the internet that cetyl alcohol is moisturizing to hair, but I have rarely seen people using it in hair products while it is extensively used in skincare products.
I wanted to add cetyl alcohol in my DIY leave-in treatment as a thicker and a co-emulsifier.

Is that a good idea?