Category: Uncategorized

Hello Everyone!

This post is about one of my new favourite emulsifiers: Emulium Mellifera. The INCI is: Polyglyceryl-6 Distearate (and) Jojoba Esters (and) Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax (and) Cetyl Alcohol. It is not a new emulsifier: in 2014 it won the In-Cosmetics Gold Innovation Award (btw, it is Ecocert approved 😉 ).

I have used it in many formulas now and I must say I have been quite impressed. The emulsions it makes leave a very light and, at the same time, velvety skin feel. Just to be specific: I used to struggle with light textured creams because they often made me feel like the cream was somehow “empty”: they would feel light, fresh and all, but after a short time from application, my skin would still feel quite thirsty. Well, this doesn’t happen with emulium mellifera: the skin feel is light, but the feeling is nourishing.

Continue reading Emulium Mellifera

Making cosmetics at home has become a quite common thing in the last years, there are more and more suppliers of cosmetic ingredients and more and more ingredients are becoming available to the DIY homecrafter.
However, while the will to make cosmetics has increased significantly, the same cannot be said about the will to understand and study  exactly what we are dealing with.

[I have written already a post on the most common mistakes people do when they start making cosmetics at home, you can read it here… repetita iuvant!]

The toxicity of common cosmetic ingredients can be extremely high so you need to handle ingredients with care: being too comfortable around cosmetic ingredients is a dangerous thing (even people who work in the cosmetic industry risk getting too comfortable around the ingredients, but at least they know about this risk… and they try to do something about it).

KEEP ON READING

This is a list of Fragrance Oils I have purchased from the website: Manske Shop with few words on how I liked them (or not 🙂 ).

Apfelzimt – Spiced Apple – I liked it sniffed from the bottle, but it didn’t behave well in cold process soap (it increased trace and it also created some discoloration). It could be used for other kind of cosmetic products.

Aprikosenkuchen – Apricot Cake: I didn’t find it bad but honestly I haven’t used it yet because I don’t know where to put it. It is not that sweet, but it is not that good either.

Bananensplit – Yes! A sweet (sweet!) banana fragrance oil with a vanilla note. I have used it mostly in my hair conditioners as it did give a few issues in soap making (discoloration + fast trace).

KEEP ON READING

Hello Everyone!

Today I made few tests to try and get an idea of Simulgel EG. 

Its INCI is: Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer/Isohexadecane/Polysorbate 80
and it is a liquid emulsifier.

This ingredient can be used:
– as a thickener: I haven’t tested this yet, but if you want to use it as a thickener you are supposed to add it after emulsification (it can bear up to 75° C) and mix as usual. The suggested concentration of use in this case is: 0.5%-2%
– as a sole emulsifier: in this case it can be added both to the water phase or the oily phase but Phase B seems to be the best option as the polymer is lipodispersible and therefore inversion and swelling are facilitated. The suggested concentration of use as a sole emulsifier is: 1%-5%.

Simulgel EG is supposed to be able to hold up to 40% oils in the formula and another great feature is that it can hold up very well silicone-based powders (this is something I will have to test very soon!!!). 😀
It can emulsify all oil phases (so no problems with natural oils or esters) and its ideal pH range is pH 5.5 – pH 11.

KEEP ON READING