I was wondering if anyone knew of comprehensive guides on cosmetic clay types? It’s ready enough to find info on the more popular clays, like kaolin and rhassoul, comparing them by basically how gentle vs. Stripping they are. I’d love to know more in depth about their mineral compositions and a more wide variety of clays.

Also, when formulating a clay mask that is already hydrated, is it typically just an oil and glycerin needed? Any emulsifiers? Is water needed? And yes I know a preservative is needed

My lashes are falling off because I curl it aggressively. I have jojoba oil, sunflower oil, vitamin E oil, castor oil, and aloe gel, but I don’t know which of those to use to make lash serum. I also have know idea about the ratio. Please help. Thank youu 🥲

Hi everyone, I'm making a leave in conditioner for natural hair , and I've been advised to add a film forming . I learned that cationic gums have a similar effect to Polyquaternium-7 and 10. Now I'm confused between Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride. Which one should I use? I already have BTMS in the formula, but I don’t mind the extra conditioning from either of them. So, which one would be better?

After much scouring I found a somewhat niche ingredient on a website called escentialsofaustralia (https://www.escentialsofaustralia.com/). Their website honestly looks pretty sketchy and unfinished, but I don't know where else to find the ingredient I'm after (virgin green blueberry seed oil). Has anyone ordered from this company? I'm based in the US if that helps.

In the balm I have shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil, avocado oil, emulsifying wax. But not enough to make another batch. :( I have allergy issues and this is one of the few things my skin actually likes.

Will it go rancid?

I’m setting out to make a few different thing myself for the first time. One of which containing mango butter, raw unrefined shea and sweet almond oil.

When I know sweet almond oil is a carrier but should I be including the ml measurements of the two butters alongside the oil for my total ‘carrier oil’ measurement when calculating dilution?

Thank you in advance

Edit: I may have found my answer with a little more research before anyone’s had chance to reply. With the butters being counted as ‘soft solid’ and ‘brittle solid’ carrier oils, based on that I’m going to assume the combined volume of the butters and oil is my total carrier oil volume - rookie question I’m sure!

I understand that some surfactants are more potent, so 10% of a sulfate would be stronger than 10% of a non-sulfate. But what if I compare them at unequal use %s? Will the sulfate always be harsher in its own way, no matter the percentage it's used at?

It confuses me to hear people recommend sulfate-free shampoos because what if the formulator used a low amount of them?

I am making a body cream product which feels wonderful and all. But, it has this small problem of leaving an oily/greasy trace after you use it. It is absorbed after about 5mins, but I want to make it disappear quicker as it may bother people who work with keyboards/mice and other things like that.
I added 5% IPM (Isopropyl Myristate) recently and got a small improvement as it helped the creme get absorbed better.
I am using around 9% oils, 22% propylene glycol + distilled water to thin out the mixture, and the rest is base cream (and small amounts of preservatives/Vitamins)
Does anyone have any idea what I could add to fix up this formula ?
P.S thanks in advance for everyone!

I’m creating two products primarily for Afro textured hair 3a-4c. One is a sulfate free shampoo and the other is a conditioner. Im not a huge fan of silicones or waxes as to not cause build up.

My shampoo comes out too thin. My conditioner doesn’t emulsify and the centrimonium chloride smell over powers.

I’m open to suggestions

disclaimer: I’m no scientist. My formula was created from ingredient research and my unpaid personal assistant ChatGPT

shampoo

• Distilled Water – 63%
• Butylene Glycol – 3.5%
• Glycerin – 4%
• Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) – 8%–10%
• Alpha Olefin Sulfonate (AOS) – 6%–8%
• Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB) – 16%
• Polyquaternium-10 – 0.5%
• Euxyl PE 9010 (Preservative) – 0.8%
• Sodium Phytate – 0.2%
• Sepimax Zen – 0.8%–1%

conditioner

• Distilled Water: 75%
• Glycerin: 4%
• Butylene Glycol: 4%
• Polyquaternium-7: 4%
• Cetearyl Alcohol: 4%
• Glyceryl Stearate: 2-3%
• Cetrimonium Chloride: 1.5%
• Coco-Caprylate/Caprate: 3%
• Euxyl PE 9010: 0.8%
• Citric Acid: 0.25%
• Sodium Phytate: 0.2%
• Sepimax Zen: 0.5-1%

What could be causing my gel moisturizer to pill? It’s fine when I apply it alone. But it pills when I apply any product on top of it like sunscreen or makeup. I’m suspecting the dimethicone is the issue. It seems that gel moisturizers, like Neutrogena hydroboost or Clinique moisture surge, have dimethicone high on the ingredient list. I’ve used both of these products before and they never caused pilling. Am I using too much dimethicone? Should I not use both dimethicone 350 and el61? Is it the viscosity of dimethicone?

Here is the basic formula I’m testing out before adding any actives:

Water phase:

78% Water

6% Propanediol

2% Glycerin

1.5% Olivem 1000

Oil phase:

0.5% Beeswax

5% Squalane

2% Gelmaker NAT

2% Dimethicone 350

Cool down:

2% Lotioncrafter EL61

1% Euxyl pe 9010

I got a fragrance oil from Doop that is supposed to be just like indult from Tihota and I just wanna make sure I’m using it properly. I was intending to use it to mix in with body oil. Would that be OK?

Which one offers better conditioning benefits in a rinse-off conditioner: 1.2% Cetrimonium Chloride (CTAC) or 0.9% Behentrimonium Chloride (BTAC)?

Hi there,

I'm making my own creme and stuff and am looking for small jars in sizes like 3floz, 1,5floz and even smaller.

I'd like to avoid plastic.

There's glass, though for travel, that's not ideal either, also as I'm a clumsy person and things do drop.

There's a lot of Aluminum, though I'd love to avoid that as well.

Is there any source for affordable, small stainless screw top jars?

Anyone on the same hunt by chance?

Thanks!

I am looking at LotionCrafter site and wanted to buy Matrixyl synthe 6. I’m a complete noob so I apologize in advance for my cluelessness.

The specification data sheet seems to say that what they sell contains only 0.02-0.03% of the peptide??? Is this correct?

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0026/8317/5001/files/sds_lcpeptide_syn6_20240829.pdf?v=1724966989

How are their fragrance oils for hair/skin care these days? The reviews are pretty old. Are they very concentrated? What’s your experience? TIA

Made an emulsified body butter that I’ve made mannnny time (distilled water, glycerin, sunflower oil, mango butter, optiphen plus, fragrance oil). I made it about a week ago and just went to check the jars and almost all of them have this faint gray line/shadow in the butter. Is it mold???

There was a little bit of optiphen plus left in my beaker when I mixed it into the batch so I’m wondering if it could be a result of not getting it all in. This has never happened before so just want to try and sort out whether it’s an ingredient that’s gone bad or if it was a little short on preservative

https://imgur.com/a/ZFdAegg

Im looking for ingredient recommendations for a plant based, silicone/paraben free ingredient that will increase slip and provide good moisture retention for some a shampoo or conditioner.

I've been using all natural and biodegradable shampoo and conditioners but I miss that slippery silky feeling from silicones... any advice or recommendations??

Hello! I’ve just gotten started making my own beauty products. I’ve largely been inspired by my desire to provide low tox products for my family without spending a ton of money or being duped and finding out there are still questionable ingredients in items I buy.

I have made some body butters with success and have ingredients like shea butter, almond oil, aloe Vera, mango butter, jojoba oil, coconut oil, raspberry seed oil, carrot seed oil and beeswax pellets on hand. For a preservative I’m thinking of getting luecidal sf complete but I am open to suggestions!

I want a lotion recipe as I think that would be more hydrating and less greasy.

I’m also wondering if there is a way to get pure hylauronic acid to add to lotion?

So many suppliers but which are the best for skin products? Don’t want oils that smell “candle-ly” which a lot of them do.

Looking to add some pine rosin/resin (I think they are the same thing?) to my DIY moustache wax to improve the hold, but searching only returns sites I've never seen before.

If anybody has sourced this in the UK before, is there a specific type I need (e.g. refined/unrefined - is that even a thing with this ingredient?) and which supplier/site did you use?

Thanks in advance!

I tried Googling this question, but the only thing that came back was which is better for your skin in terms of hydration etc; obviously all important things, but I'm trying to find the best thing for hold.

I've got a long beard and I'm growing out my moustache with the view that I'll use a 60/40 Beeswax/something else to keep it out of my mouth.

Currently using that recipe with an ASDA-brand version of Vaseline, which works well, but there's lot of chatter online about it not being great for the hair itself. Before I apply the wax I use a balm with a much lower percentage of beeswax, all of the mentioned butters, jojoba, castor, and sweet almond oils to give the hair/skin the nourishment it needs.

Would Mango/Shea/Cocoa butter give as good, or better, hold with the 60/40 ratio wax? I've already tried Jojoba and it wasn't strong enough, and going a higher percentage of Beeswax results in it being very crumbly and not very effective.

Thanks in advance!

Ok forgive me but I am super new at this. I have done lip balms and scrubs. Here are my ingredients hyaluronic acid (with orange blossom water) snow mushroom powder(with distilled water) grapeseed oil(with emulsifying wax) Vitamin c powder(with distilled water) Niacinamide(with distilled water) and Opaphen preservative can I get some feedback on this

Hello all. I’ve been making my own face butter with Shea Nilotica, Jojoba oil and Rosehip oil. Gently melt the Shea butter, add the oils, let cool, start to harden then whip. Recipe and instructions here https://youtu.be/LY38N38uZAc?si=QpHJ2eR2vBbbtjhF

It is an absolute dream! Despite it containing so much oil and fat, I do find I need to apply a face essence or similar (basically some kind of ’wet’ moisture) and even a lighter gel skin product before applying the face butter in order for my skin to keep that ’glow’ one gets when one first applies it. I’ve also made a version with mango butter and it worked well.

I’ve been reading about cupuacu butter and its incredible water-binding properties. I thought I’d try using the same recipe but changing out the Shea butter for cupuacu and keeping the oils and seeing if that works well.

However, 2 thoughts/questions. I can’t seem to find ANY recipes for face butters using cupuacu butter, only body butters. Which seems odd. Do you have any you could share? And perhaps this next question explains why there is a dearth of recipes - the comedogenic score for Shea butter is 0-2 but for cupuacu a juicy 4. Which seems high. Is it too comedogenic to use on the face? I have dry and very sensitive skin.

Thanks for any experiences or advice (or recipes!) you’d be willing to share with cupuacu . Or any face butters you swear by for dry, sensitive skin.

I'm at my wits end.
I'm trying to find (as low viscisity as possible - anything below 350 cst) cosmetics-grade dimethicone in the UK. The ones I can find are prohibitably expensive (£100+).
Does anyone know anywhere I could source this from?

Since before I found this sub I have made some solid petroleum jelly lotion/emollient lip and hand balms. I did 2:10 parts food grade parrafin wax and petroleum. (16.7% wax, 83.3% PJ with the weights I used)

It worked well and I've been reasonably happy but have been wanting to add something a little more moisturizing, and possibly a scent/flavor for future batches.

If I add jojoba oil will I need to add a preservative of some kind? And what are some people's favorite scents/flavor oils that are completely oil soluble? I'm having a difficult time finding oil soluble compounds for scent and flavor.

I'm interested in these ingredients and have read that upscaling them can be difficult, and sticking to smaller batch sizes yields the best results. Does anyone have experience with this, and if so what kind of batch size remains suitable (in terms of grams or mls of final batch)? Would like to have an idea before I accidentally make too big of a batch and it fails and wasted product!

I’m presenting at a STEM night where I’ll be showcasing my career as a sterile compounder in pharmacy. I want to get the kids involved and thought I would have them join me non-sterile compounding of a “medication”. I thought that I could have them compound their own “medicated” cream but those supplies can get expensive when giving each kid a few ounces of carrier cream to add their “medication” to.

SO I thought maybe some lip balm instead. I can do a simple coco butter or Vaseline as a carrier but I need help with what my “medication” can be. I have mortar and pestles that the kids have loved using so ideally it would be something that they could crush and then add. I was thinking maybe having them refine some coco powder and add it or I can add some type of oil. Though I would need to do more research on that front because I would need to verify safety.

Just thought I would throw this question out there to see if anyone has some super simple lip balm recipes but that may include some cool additives. Or even any other awesome diy options that I can have them compound or mix together. Thank you!!

Been making my own beard balm for a long time, recently started growing out my moustache and making moustache wax (3:1 beeswax:joboba) but after 20 or so minutes it droops back over my lips.

What ratios are other people using to get a hold all day?

Hi friends! I’m making a glitter gel as I love glitter so much and I’ve tried the old hair gel version and aloe vera version but they’re a bit crappy long term.

I have put together this formula after doing lots of research and I was hoping someone could give me some feedback as I have no idea what doing really

My big deal breakers are that they have to be eco friendly/sustainable, I’m even spending the extra for eco glitter.

Water 60% bio glitter 25% Veg glycerin 10% Geogard Ultra 2% Leucidal SF 2% Hydroxyethylcellulose 0.5% Xantham gum 0.5%

Thought about adding an oil but I essentially want to make a gel so it doesn’t need to have any nourishing ingredients as such but happy to add if suggested.

Any feedback is appreciated ❤️

Hey

this is a really simple post really as I just want to know if anyone has a good resource for purchasing broccoli seed oil for a Canadian . I notice the current whole sale company I looked at sells it which is great but its literally 25.99 for just 100 ML of oil .

This is extremely expensive compared to all the other 7 oils I want to order up from them , this is not even in the same stratosphere . If I can't find a source I will have to swap it out for Abyssinian oil but if I can get broccoli seed at the same price or at least in the same neighbourhood , that is my ideal .

thank you in advance