SwiftCraftyMonkey

SwiftCraftyMonkey

Thickeners: Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC)

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Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (also known as hypromellose or HPMC as I’ll be typing from now on!) is a non-ionic, water soluble polymer derived from cellulose. It comes as a white or off-white odourless powder that we use to thicken our products. Because it’s non-ionic, it has many uses like shampoos, lotions, shaving gels, and pretty...

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Do we need preservatives in soap?

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In this post, Heidi asks…My question is this.They tell us we don’t need preservatives in soaps. Do you believe this is true? And if it is, why do we need a preservative in a solid shampoo bar (syndet)?And how about something without water like a body lotion bar? Great question! Let’s take a look at...

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Thickeners: Guar gum

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Don’t confuse guar gum with cationic guar gum – regular guar gum is non-ionic and does not offer any substantivity to your hair, and it’s a fine white powder, not a yellowy powder. It will, however, behave as a good thickener for our products. It’s water soluble and non-ionic, which means you can add it...

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A little chemistry on thickening…

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Here’s a little chemistry to start your day! Let’s take a look at colloids, hydrocolloids, and shear thinning. What is a colloid? A colloid is “a substance microscopically dispersed evenly through another substance.” It can be a gas, solid or liquid. It consists of two phases – the dispersed or internal phase and the continuous...

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Thickeners: Cationic guar gum

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I finally got around to buying some cationic guar or guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride (sometimes listed as GuarSilk) a few weeks ago from Creations from Eden (also available at the Herbarie) and I thought I’d try it out in a few surfactant based products to see how it compares to my other cationic polymers (like polyquat...

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