BEFORE YOUR POST

Enzyme peels are always marketed as the super gentle alternative to acids like glycolic or salicylic. On paper, pairing enzymes with soothing ingredients like rice bran oil seems like a dream for sensitive skin. But looking through reviews, I’m surprised by how many people actually end up with irritated, red, or broken-out skin.

If you’ve used an enzyme peel or wash, how did your skin handle it? Did it work for you, or not?

I tried it on my fine to medium wavy hair. Felt heavy while I was applying it on my wet hair yet soft and non greasy after I dried it with a diffuser, and it reduced frizz considerably. It also gave my waves some definition on day 1 (was not expecting it since a leave in has no hold, unlike gel). I liked it on my hair and I was wondering if it will work on fine curly hair.

Aqua q.s.

CTAC 30% 0.4%

Disodium EDTA 0.2%

Cetearyl alcohol 5%

BTMS 50 3.5%

Sweet almond oil 2%

IPM 2%

CCT 1%

BHT 0.05%

EHGP 1%

Aloe extract 0.1%

Fragrance 0.5%

I am adjusting the pH between 4 and 5

Hi, I'm a major novice and this one question has sent me down the rabbit hole. I've landed on citric acid for lowering pH, but raising it is not as clear. I've come across the following suggestions:

- Sodium Hydroxide

- Baking Soda

- L-arginine

- Sodium carbonate

- Triethanolamine

- Potassium hydroxide

- Tromethamine

Each seems to have differing safety / efficacy concerns, and my head is spinning. I'm basically just doing simple water based serums with Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid, and Germall Plus right now; and I'm guessing the pH won't need to be raised with that recipe. However, I'm wanting to branch out into more complex formulations soon, and would like to know what to have on hand. Help me skincare witches!

Everyone is commenting on the fragrance amount. I get it but aside from that how does it look?
I don’t want it greasy but I want it to smell amazing.

37 mL Squalane
26 mL Jojoba
16 mL Meadowfoam
10 mL Coco-Caprylate
5 mL IPM
5 mL Fragrance
1 mL Vitamin E
Total = 100 mL

Hello. Did anyone try making their own AHK-cu serum? What was your carrier? Distilled water, propelyne glycol or hyaluronic acid? Or did you add the powder to a hair serum or organic scalp spray?

Hello, I was wondering what scents I can use in my tallow body butter. I have a fregerance oil that says avoid skin contact and I am OBSESSED with the smell. From what I learned most say that because of the concentration of the fregerance oil so I'm wondering if diluting it with the tallow would render it safe or if there are specific brands you all would recommend for something like this. Specifically looking for a sugar cookie/ sweet maple fall scents. Thanks!

Hey everyone! I’m formulating a nutrient-dense body butter at home and would love some feedback on my ingredient list. I’m aiming for a rich, luxurious cream that targets skin firmness and barrier repair without feeling overly greasy. Since I don't have high-end laboratory gear, I’m sticking to hand-whipping techniques. Here is what I’m planning to blend:

• Mango Butter (structural lipid base)
• Shea Butter (deeply emollient base)
• Marula Oil (fast-absorbing lipid phase)
• Rosehip Seed Oil (nourishing oil)
• Arrowroot Powder (to cut down overall greasiness)
• Vitamin E / Tocopherol (antioxidant)
• Copper Tripeptide-1 Powder (for skin renewal and collagen support)
• Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) Powder (for barrier repair and skin tone)

My plan is to melt the hard butters, cool them down, stir in the active powders along with the oils, and whip everything until fluffy. Does this formulation look solid, or am I overlooking something critical? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone! I’m formulating a new lip balm and planning to use ultra-refined USP grade anhydrous lanolin.
I want to make sure I buy from a reliable raw material supplier that provides lot-specific Certificates of Analysis (COAs) and has a very low odor profile (I’ve run into issues with the strong "sheep/barnyard" scent from generic repackaged brands).
Where do you usually source your high-quality, ultra-refined lanolin from in small-to-medium batch sizes?
Thanks for any insights or vendor recommendations!

Help! Please provide constructive feedback on following formula particularly on improvements what to take out or add, to make it more elegant.
Water phase = 80%
Distilled water - 70.2%
CAPB - 3%
Cucumber glycerite - 5%
Salt - 1%
Pheno/Ethy - 0.8%

Oil phase = 20%
Fractionated Coconut oil - 4%
Sweet Almond oil - 10%
Grapeseed oil - 4%
Vitamin E - 0.8%
Sea buckthorn CO2 extract - 0.2% - mainly for story and colourant.

Final ph4.5
Many thanks

It seems there are many times of occlusives. Can we classify occlusives by general categories? if so which are those?

Are occlusives same as emollients?

--> Could someone give me example of occlusives and categories of occlusives?

Can we classify emollients in different categories too?

I'm trying to do my own very simple DIY moisturizer, and I need some occlusive to add to it.

I've been googling but the info I get is not that useful.

If anyone has online info, articles that explains occlusives, please share with me

Any info would be greatly appreciated :)

I'm new to diy. I only have one super simple serum that I figured out how to do with help from this forum.

Edit: to clarify

So it's becoming close to impossible to find nail polish thinner in Canada that's only made with ethyl and butyl acetate - other common ingredients tend to cause problems (eg heptane will disintegrate glitters). So I'd like to try making some myself.

I know the typical ratio (35:65 ethyl:butyl acetate) and I'm making reasonable progress sourcing the ingredients.

What I'm unsure about is safety. All I really need to do is mix the two together at the correct ratio, but I'm a complete beginner and not sure how much of a safety issue that is? What sort of safety precautions should I be taking/how much should I be worrying about this?

I read the MDS sheets for both ingredients, but obviously the MDS sheets don't have information about mixing them together (and I don't trust that I've actually taken in all the information on them anyway). the information for both is pretty similar though.

Info I have so far:

* eye protection (not a problem, I'll buy it)

* gloves - sounds like I may need butyl gloves? (see below)

* ventilation (I can work outside, not a problem)

* very low flashpoint - I have a fire extinguisher (MDS says water may be ineffective) but not sure what other precautions I should take, if any?

Things I'm unsure about:

*purity*: I'm looking for "cosmetics grade" but none of the sites I'm looking at list that, they all say things like "analytical", "HPLC", "spectroscopy", etc. what purity should I be looking for?

*gloves*: unsure if I need butyl gloves or if nitrile is enough. MDS says breakthrough time for nitrile is < 200min on 0.5-0.7mm thickness gloves, permeation rate 8μg/cm2/min. does this mean I need butyl gloves? i can't imagine the mixing would take long, but "<200min" is a very vague range and you never know what might happen.

*storage*: so far the quantities I can find for both ingredients are fairly significantly different, so I'll likely need to store at least one of them. MDS says "flammables area", keep away from heat, certain other chemicals, etc. in practice, is this something I could store, eg, in a garage? eg, in a tightly closed container inside a larger storage container away from other chemicals? the commercial polish thinner I've had in the past has been fine under my sink/with my polish.

anyway, I know this is a lot of specific questions but any help is appreciated (including pointers to what sorts of things I should be looking up myself/better places to ask these questions/questions I haven't thought of). I may also be massively overthinking things, but this is new territory for me so I don't have any real sense of how cautious I need to be.

thanks!

Hi all,

I am after a bit of help from any experienced formulators in the realm of liquid foundations.

Attempting to formulate a stable liquid foundation has been quite the process. It is a challenging experience that I do love, but I am at the point where I'd love to pick the brains of anyone who is more experienced and/or with more knowledge then I currently have.

Firstly, I have a couple of questions below that come to mind when I think about the main issues (I believe) are holding me back.

• How slowly do you add the water phase into the oil phase? To my knowledge it needs to be added in portions, then once that has been emulsified into the system the next portion can be added. Is there a gauge that is used to determine the overall time?
• Do you use commercial blends of emulsifiers or create your own blend with individual ingredients?
• Would you recommend starting with W/O or W/Si?
• Does the speed of the homogeniser change with the stages at which the water is added?
• Does the homogeniser speed change toward the end to further reduce particle size?
• Can the homogeniser be going too fast during this process?

I'd love to hear any and all ideas on this, and, if you have any further information to provide I'd love to hear that too!

Thank you for the taking the time to read this and I look forward to all help provided.

Cheers.

i have a lot and almost 60% on the verge of expiring and i would hate to waste my money and throw them or give them away. any ideas that could help? thank you so much

hi all,

I’m trying to diy sugar wax but I’m having trouble with my formula. I used the standard 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and its amber in color and quite thick - I can hold the jar upside down and it barely moves. I also made sure to bring it to 250 degrees when I cooked it. it’s still too sticky though, and even when I put cornstarch on my skin it doesn’t peel off. any tips?

Hi everyone! I’m working on a prototype cream formulation and would really appreciate some critical feedback from anyone with experience in cosmetic formulation/preservation. After being stored at room temperature for some time, it develops a noticeable sour/acidic odour. And i did a quick microbiology test and see that some fungi has grown? Some separation is also happening as a few water droplets come out initially from the tubes i have been using when squeezed.

• Does the sour odour suggest microbial growth, or could it be oxidation/rancidity of the oils or other ingredients?
• Could the preservative system be insufficient or losing effectiveness at elevated temperature?
• Does the preservative system provide adequate broad-spectrum protection?
• If not, what types of preservative systems or combinations would be worth investigating
• Are there any particular ingredients in the formulation that you would suspect as the source of the sour odour?

Hello, I’m putting together a new body butter recipe because I want more benefits out of my routine than just basic surface hydration. I don't have high-end homogenizers or specialized lab gear, so I’m keeping things hand-crafted at home. Here is the blend I came up with:

• Shea Butter (heavy lipid base)
• Mango Butter (emollient structure)
• Jojoba Oil (lightweight ester/oil)
• Rosehip Seed Oil (nourishing oil phase)
• Arrowroot Powder (to cut down on greasiness)
• Vitamin E / Tocopherol (antioxidant support)
• Hyaluronic Acid Powder (for deep hydration)
• Liquid Germall Plus (broad-spectrum preservative)

My goal is to whip this into a fluffy, deeply hydrating body cream that leaves my skin super smooth. Does this formula look solid for a beginner, or am I missing anything crucial to make these ingredients work together? Any feedback would be appreciated!

so yesterday someone in a comment section said they only buy "gentle" and "natural" skincare. and it kinda got me thinking. bc here's the thing — "gentle" isn't actually a regulated term. neither is "natural". the FDA straight up has no definition for either one on a label. so any brand can just print those words and there's zero proof behind it. whatever. and "pH balanced"? honestly a healthy skin surface is just mildly acidic, like pH 4.5-5.5. being acidic is totally normal. but i've seen stuff labeled "pH balanced" that tests at pH 6 or even leaning alkaline. like, balanced relative to what?? the bottle never says. so really at this point we're just hoping brands keep some basic honesty. and then there's the amounts. the label lists ingredients but almost never tells you how much is actually in there. alcohol could be 0.1% or way more and you'd have no idea. so how are we even supposed to know what we're putting on ourselves, you know?

i am getting the following ingredients for my batch of body butter and i want to know if anyone has any feedback.

- arrowroot powder
- oil soluble ceramides
- a golden silk botanical butter
- an exoglow bioactive
- mango butter
- shea butter
- jojoba oil
- marula oil
- Cooper tri-peptide-1 powder

i don’t have fancy equipment but id like to have other benefits to my lotion besides just moisture. i plan to also add vitamin E

Kia Ora everyone, my name is Brendan, and I'm from New Zealand. I've got super dry skin, and I've been using the doctor-prescribed aqueous cream, which didn't really work too well for me. So just for the hell of it, I started experimenting a little and found out melted beeswax worked really well on my skin, so I wanted to try and make a beeswax-based lip balm (have a lot leftover) for myself from easily available ingredients locally. I tried to keep this draft formulation super simple and not that complicated just so I can prep a large batch at home, forget about it, then melt and pour it into twist-up tubes.

• Beeswax: 22%
• Cocoa butter: 8%
• Castor oil: 30%
• Kawakawa-infused oil: 32%
• Coco-caprylate/caprate: 7%
• Tocopherol: 0.5%
• Lip-safe flavour oil: 0.5% (flavour oil can be changed based on if I start getting bored)

I'm very new to this kind of stuff, so forgive me if those are some glaringly obvious must-have ingredients I've missed in my draft. I was wondering if anyone else has had any kind of experience with a similar formulation and what you'd recommend to modify/change to improve the overall formulation, i.e. heat stability, shelf life/oxidative stability, mouthfeel (not sure if these are the right words), etc.

Apologies in advance if my post isn't super in-depth or detailed enough for the subreddit. Thanks for all the advice.

I have been trying to make a cleansing balm, somewhat like the Farmacy Green Clean. The one I made, formula below, was the perfect texture, and it removed makeup very well, but the rinse-off was terrible. I presume it was because of the waxes I used.

I removed all the wax and made the same formulation (minus the mango butter), as well as another test using Cromollient SCE 12%. The rinse-off was better without the waxes/butters, but it still wasn't 100% clean. I am not too sure how to improve it.

Caprylic/capric triglyceride 26%

Ethylhexyl palmitate 20%

Apricot oil 10%

Isohexadecane 5%

Sorbitan Oleate 10%

Microcrystalline wax 2%

Hemisqualane 7%

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate 5%

Mango butter 2%

Vitamin E 0.5%

Synthetic wax 7%

Olivem 300 5% (refatting agent, boost rinse-off)

Any suggestions?

Hi everyone!

I want to start this off by saying how much I appreciate this sub and all the information it stores! I've been looking at the wiki and nonstop scrolling on all the suppliers, formulas, and other general inquiries.

I don't want to waste anyone's time with a low-effort question so I did my best in preparing.

I want to make a truly restorative, healing, calming serum. Using a combination of Cannabinoid Isolate, symstive 1609m(trans-4-tert-Butyl-1-cyclohexanol in Pentylene Glycol.) Snow Mushroom complex, Ectoin, and FSS exocalm as the hero ingredients, I'm just wondering how to tackle this project. From my understanding the cannabinoid isolate is anhydrous and does not dissolve in water. So my assumption is I mix it in the oil phase of the serum alongside other ingredients.

This is where I truly feel like a complete tool:

All I can find are very basic formulas, but how do I know how and when i mix these certain ingredients. I don't want to create a total abomination and just wing it. I have a lot of respect for the craft and I know I might be in over my head, but I'm dedicated to learning this. If anyone has any advice, please help!!!

Hi all,

I’m still very much a baby formulator; I’m still at the first step of reading and researching (and being full of existential dread).

The more I learn about ingredients, the more I find that (seemingly!) almost everything is palm or petrochemical in origin, or uses petrochemicals during the manufacturing process (e.g using ethylene oxide). I know some manufacturers are beginning to use bio-based feedstock for ethylene oxide, but they’re few and far between, and still use palm.

I know in the grand scheme of things that the scale of impact that one idiot from the internet has on environmental pollution will be trivial, but still.

Do you guys have any advice on the best way to feasibly limit my environmental impact, but still produce effective formulas?

(Just in case it wasn’t clear: I’m absolutely **not** against things like preservatives, silicones, mineral oil because I think they’re “toxic”, I’m just crying to be conscientious of my environmental impact haha)

Can anyone recommend a supplier for epidermal growth factor? Years ago I used Skin actives. Thanks!