Techniques

Q&A: How can we avoid incorporating air or increasing the volume of emulsions?

by

In this month’s Q&A, Michael asked, I’ve got a question about equipment or technique. I’ve been enjoying the Newbie Tuesday and Formulating Friday series, however I notice I’m incorporating air into my thicker creams, I don’t mind the air but sometimes I want to reduce it. What I am doing is firstly using a stick blender to emulsify the...

This content is for Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation members only.
Subscribe
Already a member? Log in here

Tips & techniques: Quick look at active surfactant matter (ASM)!

by

What’s active surfactant matter (ASM)? This is the percentage of the surfactant as presented, the actual foamy, bubbly, lathery™ surfactant in a liquid or solid ingredient. Liquid products can range from 10% active to 60% active, but most fall in the 25% to 40% range. The rest of the ingredients will consist of water and...

This content is for Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation members only.
Subscribe
Already a member? Log in here

When making lotions, should we pour the water into oil or oil into water?

by

This is a question that’s been asked for longer than I’ve been formulating: When we combine the heated phases when making lotions, do we pour the water into the oil or the oil into the water? How fast should we add one phase to the other? And why does any of this matter? The short...

This content is for Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation members only.
Subscribe
Already a member? Log in here

Q&A Quickies: Let’s talk about water – distilled, spring, mineral, alkaline, and reverse osmosis

by

For the love of all that is good and holy, do not use tap water in your products! It’s full of all kinds of things – chlorine, fluoride, metals, bits of soil, and so much more – that can mess up the clarity, stability, preservation, and general goodness of your products. Check out this post...

This content is for Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation members only.
Subscribe
Already a member? Log in here

A few thoughts on how much fragrance oil to use in my formulas…

by

I’ve been formulating since 2006 and writing this blog since 2009, and fragrance oils have changed a lot during that time, becoming much, much stronger, so we need to use far less. Products into which I would have used 1% are now a bit strong at 0.3%. – so my recommendations are to use 0.1%...

This content is for Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation members only.
Subscribe
Already a member? Log in here