Getting to know your lipids

When making anhydrous products it is important to learn as much as possible about the lipids that you plan to formulate with. The more you know about each lipid will drastically decrease the trial and error phases of formulation.

Below are a list of questions that I tend to ask myself when putting together an anhydrous product.

For Butters : Are they hard or soft buters? What is the butters melting point?

For Oils: How is the spreadability? How quickly does the oil absorb? Does the oil feel light or heavy on my skin? Does the oil have a greasy feel or residue? What is the color of the oil? Does the oil have an odor? How much does the oil cost? What is the afterfeel of the oil once absorbed?

I tend to make my own charts with answered to these specific questions so that I can always go back and take a look at my notes.

Tomorrow I will choose an oil to chart and share with you all :)

Happy Formulating!!!!

Full Product Development CONTEST

THE WINNER OF THE FULL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IS @Charity A. Jones.

Prize Includes: Everything from start to finish! From determining your target market, ingredient selection, custom product development exclusive to your brand, basic lab stability testing, sample sent out for approval, chosing proper packaging, correct information for the label, product photography to start marketing your dream product.

Certified Organic Ingredients

Organic ingredients have created quite the buzz in the cosmetic industry. Customers now more than ever want to know what they are putting on their skin, in turn creating a demand for certified organic ingredients. "Natural" and "Organic" are loosly used by many skincare companies as marketing for these in demand ingredients. So what makes an ingredient Certified Organic? How can we ensure full transparency to our customers to make sure that our certified organic prducts continue to be certified organic to match their values?

Every ingredient listed or advertised as "certified organic" MUST have documentation to support its claim. This enables a certifying body to trace the ingredient from the company selling the product, through the supply chain right back to the farm it was grown in.

PHYSICAL PROCESSING that would enable an ingredient still certified organic as long as the starting materials were organic are:

• Solvent Extraction (ethanol, vegetable glycerin, water)

• Squeezing

• Pressure

• Dessication/Drying

• Crushing

• Roasting

• Pastillation

• Cold Pressing

• Filtration

• Blending

• Decoction

• Centrifuging

• Sifting

• Sterilization with UV/Heat

• Distillation (Steam or Water)

• Grinding

• Deodorisation (if approved materials are used)

• Bleaching (if approved materials are used)

We will talk more about Certified organic ingredients later this week!