tips and tricks to improve your cosmetic formulating

Tips and Tricks to Improve YourCosmetic Formulating Skills

Handbook ofPractical

FormulatingA collection of articles to help you

make better, more effective, cosmeticformulations

Perry Romanowski

Copyright 2015 1 ChemistsCorner.com

http://chemistscorner.com/members

Introduction

Creating cosmetic formulas is not something most people learn in college. Typically, you spend most of your time learning about theoretical principles of molecules, how to classify them, analyze them, and perhaps how to make them, but you don't learn what to do with those compounds you make.

Creating cosmetics is all about combining different molecules and turning them into a mixture that has some useful application for the people who use them. For this reason you need to know what compounds to use, how to put them together, and how to create formulas. You also need to be able to test the finished formulas so you know whether you have a successful formulation or not.

This book was put together to provide some tips and tricks to the cosmetic formulator. It includes four different sections categorized by where you are in the formulation process. The first part of the book relates to the prep work you need to do prior to formulating. The second section focuses on being in the lab and the prototyping process. The third section covers what you do with your prototypes after you've created them. And the last section covers various evaluation methods.

Hopefully, you find this collection of articles helpful in your formulation career.

Perry RomanowskiCosmetic Formulator

http://chemistscorner.com/




Table Of Contents

Introduction..............................................................2

Table Of Contents.......................................................3

Section 1 : Before Batching...........................................5Philosophy of Minimalist Formulating.........................................5

Making Cosmetics the Scientific Way..........................................9

Essential Lab Equipment.......................................................12

Why cosmetic chemists must remain skeptical............................13

How to pick a Benchmark......................................................18

Using the 1% Line for Formulating...........................................20

Converting a formula from ounces to percent.............................23

How to Determine Cost of a Formulation...................................24

Switching Sources for Cosmetic Raw Materials............................26

5 Steps for Getting Replacement Raw Materials...........................28

Section 2 : Prototyping...............................................31The 10 Different Types of Cosmetic Formulas.............................31

Working with Base Formulas..................................................35

How to Test Raw Materials....................................................39

What is the best ingredient to use?..........................................43

Evaluating Raw Material Marketing..........................................46

Conducting a Knockout Experiment.........................................49

How to Reduce the Cost of a Cosmetic Formula ..........................53

Three Ways to Make Surfactant Free Emulsions..........................56

So you want to formulate sulfate free?.....................................57

Strategies for formulating green products.................................60

Becoming an excellent cosmetic formulator...............................63

Section 3 : Post Batching.............................................65What are cosmetic product specifications?................................65



Controlling Cosmetic Product Quality.......................................68

How to save a cosmetic batch................................................70

7 Tricks for Saving a Bad Body Wash Batch.................................73

Salt Curve Analysis..............................................................76

Section 4 : Product Evaluation......................................78Cosmetic Chemists Should Always Try Their Products...................78

Becoming a cosmetic evaluation expert....................................81

When should you reformulate?...............................................85

How do you know if a cosmetic raw material works?....................87

Demonstrating a cosmetic benefit...........................................90

Cosmetic formula testing – Triangle Test...................................93

Section 5 : Resources.................................................96Cosmetic Formulating Checklist..............................................96

Formulation tool kit...........................................................100



Section 1 : Before Batching

Philosophy of Minimalist Formulating

I was once discussing a formula on which another cosmetic chemist was

working. Without getting into the exact details, she was working with

another cosmetic chemist to develop a moisturizing shampoo. She showed

me the list of ingredients (LOI) and it had over 20 ingredients. This included

a half dozen cleansing surfactants, a dozen extracts, multiple conditioning

ingredients, and multiple solvents.

It was astounding that a cosmetic chemist could create such a formula. In my

estimation, the formula could have and should have been made with fewer

than 10 ingredients.

But then it occurred to me that perhaps my formulation philosophy is not

typical in the cosmetic industry. However, it should be because it leads to

the best performing and safest products in the most efficient manner

possible. So before going further in this book, it makes sense to explain this

formulation philosophy. It basically influences everything else written here.

Cosmetic formulating philosophy

I'm a formulation minimalist. That is, I believe that the best formulas are the

ones that use the least amount of cosmetic ingredients at the lowest level to

produce noticeable differences.

“Use the least amount of ingredients at the lowest levels that produce noticeable differences”




This philosophy has a number of advantages including

1. Low inventory of ingredients

2. Low chemical exposure

3. Low production of environmental waste

4. Low cost of final formula

5. Low complication during scale-up

The biggest advantage of this cosmetic formulating philosophy is that it

allows you a way to determine whether one formula is “superior” to another.

I'll explain this in a moment.

Not just the cheapest formula

Before getting into the specifics of the philosophy, you should know that

Formulation Minimalism is NOT a philosophy of just creating the cheapest

formula possible. Instead, it is about creating a formula with the greatest

value for the consumer. In this philosophy, PERFORMANCE and safety always

trumps cost. However, superior performance has to be demonstrably

noticeable by the consumer. Unfortunately, this is rarely true.

How to be a formulation minimalist

Here are the 6 primary principles of minimalist formulation. Throughout this

book I think about these principles to inform formulation choices.

Principle 1: Less is more

The basic tenet of formulation minimalism is that fewer ingredients at lower

concentrations are superior. So theoretically, the best formulation will have

one ingredient at a low level. Of course, this can't be the only thing driving

your formulating efforts as it would lead to formulas that perform

significantly worse than ones that have multiple ingredients. Remember that

performance is a major consideration. But this idea of fewer ingredients

being better can help you decide whether to add another ingredient to your

formula.



Principle 2: Know why you add any ingredient

This naturally leads us to our next principle. Always know why you are adding

an ingredient. As a cosmetic formulator you will frequently inherit a formula

from another chemist or you might have a starting formula from someone

else.

Before trying to improve the formula, you should conduct a knockout

experiment to determine which ingredients are most important and which

aren't necessary. You should also have a set of standard tests and run the

formulas through them to determine exactly which characteristics you want

to improve. How will you know that a formula has been improved with the

addition of an ingredient? Testing!

Principle 3: Blind test your products

Richard Feynman said it best when he was describing how science is done in

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.

Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principleis that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

When you are formulating you will naturally feel some affection for your

creations. Formulas are like works of art. It's how we express ourselves as

cosmetic chemists. But don't fall in love with your own work unless it is

warranted. Doing blinded tests on formulas is the ONLY way to ensure that

your work is as good as you think and deserving of your love. If you remain

rational and continue to make judgments about your work based on results,

you'll create a demonstrably superior formula. That is the goal of formulation

minimalism.



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Principle 4: Always compare to a standard

This is related to principle 3 but I state it separately because it is critical.

Whenever you begin a formulating effort, you should always have some

target that you are trying to beat. Find a similar product or use your best

performing prototype. Then when you find a prototype that beats the

standard, make this the new standard. Comparing to the best standard is the

only way you are going to know you've created a better product. And

changing standards when it's warranted should be done. Use caution

however, as single experiments should never be taken as definitive evidence

against a well-tested standard.

Principle 5: Start with high levels and cut back as needed

When creating a formula, don't worry too much about using low levels. In

fact, I suggest you use high levels. Use the levels that the supplier suggest

and see how the product performs. The initial prototype should not be the

place to start optimizing. This happens after you have something that

performs well. However, at this stage you should minimize the number of

ingredients you are using. This way it will be less complicated to figure out

which ingredients are actually having an effect.

Principle 6: Make lots of prototypes & adjust

The final principle is all about making and testing lots of prototypes. If you

want to create a great formula, the odds that you make it in one try are

practical nil. So often people create a formula, then stop right after the first

successful batch. Don't fall into this trap! I know it will take longer but at the

end of the process you'll have a superior formula. Make at least a dozen

prototypes to start and then a dozen more after you've tested those. The

process you used should be make, test, adjust, repeat. Keep doing this until

you've gotten to the least number of ingredients at the lowest level to still

achieve the performance that you want.



Making Cosmetics the Scientific Way

Making cosmetics can be done by almost anyone whether you have scientific

training or not. Certainly, it is easier for cosmetic chemists to create new

formulas because they won't need to take as much time figuring out the

science behind everything, but making cosmetics is not brain surgery. In

fact, it is closer to cooking than anything else. If you are able to follow

recipes and have an interest in cooking, making cosmetics might be just the

perfect hobby or business for you. Here is a 10-step, science based method

for making cosmetic products.

Step 1 - Learn about the existing products

when someone gets the notion to make their own cosmetic the first thing

they usually do is to ask for a formula. But this is the wrong place to start.

There are hundreds of different types of cosmetic products and they have

lots of different names. So, first you want to learn what is a cosmetic. Next,

you'll want to learn what are the different types of cosmetic products. With

this background you'll be able to narrow down to the exact type of cosmetic

that you want to make.

Step 2 - Get a formula

There are lots of sources for formulations that are freely available on the

Internet. We have previously put together this list of free cosmetic formulas.

Go there to find a starting formula.

Step 3 - Learn the rational behind the formula

Unfortunately, just getting a formula then making it right away will not do

much to help develop your skills as a formulator. What you have to do is go



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through and look at all the chemicals used in the formula. Figure out why

each raw material is used in the formula and why it is used at a particular

level. This will take a little investigation but you can find it out. And if you

can't find the answer, you can always ask one of the experts in our cosmetic

science forum.

Step 4 - Get the needed equipment

Before you can begin making cosmetics, you'll need to get the equipment to

do it. It is unlikely you'll have much of this stuff on hand but you can get the

equipment via eBay, laboratory catalogs, or even at your local science shop.

Here is a list of all the key cosmetic lab equipment you'll need for making

cosmetics.

Step 5 - Get the raw materials

One of the things that makes making cosmetics harder than cooking is that

you can't go to the local grocery store for raw materials. But there are

sources for these things. Here is a list of where to find cosmetic raw

materials.

Step 6 - Make your first batch

After you've got your equipment and raw materials, the fun begins. Find a

lab bench, set up your equipment, weigh out your raw materials and begin

mixing. Follow the instructions and be sure to write down in a lab notebook

everything that you see. Note how much of an ingredient you put in, what

the temperature is, how the batch changes, and anything else you can think

of. These notes will be helpful for when you make the cosmetic in the

future. And they will be extremely helpful if you are going to try to make

even bigger batches. I would suggest you start small with your first attempt

(maybe 500 - 600 grams). Also, be sure to use preservatives and make the

product in as aseptic conditions as you can. You do not want to injure

yourself with contaminated cosmetics.



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Step 7 - Evaluate the finished product

When you are finished with your batch, evaluate whether it came out the

way you expected. Typically, you will have a benchmark formula that you

are trying to create products against. If you did, great. If not, try to figure

out what went wrong.

Step 8 - Test the finished formula

The next step to making your cosmetics is to test them out. I recommend

always trying your own formulas. If you aren't going to try your own

products, why would you think anyone else would want to use them? And if

you have plans to sell your cosmetics be sure to do all the testing required to

ensure you are producing a high quality, safe product. This article on

cosmetic testing will be helpful.

Step 9 - Figure out how to make it better

It's unlikely that you'll make a perfect cosmetic right away. Figure out where

your product doesn't match up to expectations then adjust the formulation

to compensate for the problems. If you are not getting enough foam,

increase the surfactant. If it is too drying increase the moisturizing

ingredients or decrease the ones that might be causing dryness. This is done

through trial and error so it takes experience to get it right.

Step 10 - Repeat the process

Once you've figured out refinements to make, create another batch. See if it

is better and keep repeating until you've made the best cosmetic you can

make. After that, congratulations! You are a cosmetic chemist.

Follow these steps to making cosmetics you will be on your way to creating

makeup formulas which you can proudly sell to the world. Of course, if

you're working for a company, your company owns them, but if you ever



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want to start a makeup line, you'll have some excellent formulations to

start.

Essential Lab Equipment

To be a cosmetic chemist and make cosmetic products, there is certain

pieces of equipment you’ll need. Here is a list of the basic equipment for

setting up a cosmetic lab.

Weighing equipment. To make proper measurements of the raw materials,

you’ll need a good balance. Be sure to get one that can measure up to at

least 500g. Other weighing equipment that helps includes disposable

pipettes (for measuring liquids) and weigh boats (for measuring solids).

Containers. The most common container you’ll use to make a cosmetic

formula is a beaker. You’ll need a variety of sizes because you’ll be making

different sized batches. Be sure to have a number of 500mL, 800mL,

1000mL, 1500ml and 2000mL beakers. You really want 400g to be the

minimum size batch you make.

Mixers. In college, you most frequently used a magnetic stirrer to mix your

creations. These are rarely used in a cosmetic lab. For mixing, you’ll want an

industrial type mixer, something like the Lightnin mixer. It is like a single

blade hand mixer with a variable speed control. Quite handy.

Controlling Temperature. Most cosmetic formulas require heating and

cooling so a good hot plate is a must. Sometimes you can air cool batches but

for things like emulsions, you’ll want to have a water bath for cooling it

down quickly. This could simply be a tub you fill with cold water and ice.



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Testing equipment. After you’ve finished a cosmetic formulation, you’ll

need to test it to ensure that it meets specifications. For this, you’ll want to

have a pH meter and a viscometer (for measuring rheology).

Raw Materials. Of course no cosmetic lab would be complete without a good

stock of cosmetic raw materials. Which of these you have will depend on the

type of formulas you make. Everyone will want to have a supply of deionized

water. Most will also want to have a stock of common preservatives, acids,

bases, and dye solutions.

Fortunately, if you work for a company they’ll have this equipment for you.

They’ll also have more specific equipment for the types of formulas you’ll

mostly be working on. However, if you are setting up your own lab or helping

your company get into the field of cosmetic science, be sure to stock your

lab with the proper equipment.

Why cosmetic chemists must remain skeptical

In a recent discussion on our cosmetic science forum about functional

cosmetic ingredients a commenter complained that my positions were too

demoralizing. I suspect my skepticism about the effectiveness of certain

ingredients came off a bit harsh, but also my message was misunderstood. In

this post I'll try to clarify my meaning.

In reading through the entire discussion I'm struck by the lack of skepticism

that many of the scientists and formulators display. Although we are people

like everyone else, I would think our training should make us less prone to

non-skeptical positions. And though skeptical thinking is not how humans

naturally evaluate the world there are excellent reasons why scientists can

benefit from being most skeptical.



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What is skeptical thinking

First, we should cover what is meant by skeptical thinking. Skepticism just

means following a specific logical process when evaluating the validity of

claims. It involves keeping an open mind and questioning whether a claim is

supported by empirical research and has demonstrable reproducibility. The

scientific method is a critical tool in the evaluation of these claims.

It is extremely difficult to evaluate everything in life skeptically, but it is

crucial if you want to avoid following fallacious beliefs. And when you are

formulating, striving to create the best products possible you will only be

able to do this by critically examining all your beliefs about the functionality

of any ingredient.

How can formulators benefit?

While the benefits of removing from your mind unsupported or erroneous

beliefs seem obvious, not everyone would agree. There are some things that

we want to believe or our gut tells us is true even if we can't prove it. This

is the philosophy of people who are staunch supporters of the precautionary

principle. For them, you just need a gut feeling that an ingredient is bad to

ban it. As a skeptic I find this philosophy mistaken and irrational. But even

if you support that kind of philosophy there are still other reasons for a

formulator to be skeptical.

Make Functional formulas

One of the primary benefits of being skeptical is that you will be more likely

to make formulas that work. You will not waste your time chasing after

technologies that have no chance of working. Having a skeptical mindset

when creating your formulas will force you to review your formulations with

a critical eye. You will not fall in love with your ideas or technologies and



exaggerate positive results while ignoring negative results.

Find real innovations

There is so much opportunity in cosmetic formulation to create products that

out perform the ones that are on the market. However, you will not find

real innovations if you spend all your time chasing after technologies you like

and ignoring ones that you don't. Petrolatum is currently the best skin

moisturizer from a functional standpoint. Any innovation that you are

pursuing has to outperform petrolatum on a blinded basis. If it doesn't,

move on and look for the next innovation. Being skeptical allows you to find

these innovative technologies because it prevents you from becoming

enamored with ones that just aren't going to pan out.

Inspire supplier innovation

In addition to your own innovation, being a skeptical formulator will also

inspire raw material suppliers to become more innovative. If they are not

selling ingredients that have a good story but don't work in practice, they

will be more likely to find or develop technologies that actually work in a

demonstrable way. When you take a supplier's technology that doesn't work

as they say you are contributing to the dearth of innovative technologies in

the cosmetic industry. Being skeptical will inspire supplier innovation.

How to be skeptical

Verify all results. As a cosmetic scientist you will be inundated with

marketing information from cosmetic raw material suppliers. They will

present you all kinds of impressive claims which may even be backed up by

actual lab studies. However, remember they are trying to sell you something

so you need to be highly skeptical of any data that they show you. If you

didn't run the study you should doubt that it is true. Now this doesn't mean

you completely reject any study you didn't perform, it just means until you



verify the functionality of an ingredient you should assume that the data

you've been shown is highly suspect.

Reject anecdotal evidence. This is probably the hardest one for people to

do. Just because you've experienced a positive result using a technology

doesn't mean that it works or that other people will experience the same

results. Your experience or anecdotal evidence can guide your research and

help you in developing hypotheses however, it is a terrible thing to base your

conclusions on. You (and all people) are easily fooled.

We want to believe that our experiences are correct. This is not how science

works. Unless you can validate the performance of a technology on a

double-blinded basis you should be highly skeptical that there is a positive

effect. I know it's difficult to conduct these tests but this is the only way to

know. Don't trick yourself and you are the easiest person to trick.

Question your beliefs. The best way to be skeptical is to ask questions and

conduct blinded experiments. When a supplier shows you a technology and

the evidence to support it ask for the data or method they followed. Better

yet, ask for a sample and conduct some blinded studies yourself. And just

because you read about a technology that worked in the lab that does not

mean the technology will work when applied on skin from a topical

treatment. You need to test it in your base, with your raw materials,

produced by you. And do this on a blinded basis.

Reality based formulating

Remember science is science and reality is just how it is. If things are not

the way we want them to be we shouldn't pretend that they are. As

scientists it is up to us to have the highest standards when it comes to proof

of effectiveness.

Be willing to believe, but before supporting a specific ingredient in a formula

at a certain level because it's going to have some effect on the skin, you

need to demonstrate whether it's noticeably functional or not. If you can't



demonstrate that an ingredient used at a significant level is superior to using

a drop of that ingredient then there is really no reason to use a high level.

You owe it to your



How to pick a Benchmark

Whenever you start a new project it is a great idea that you find an existing

formula that will serve as a benchmark for your formulation efforts.

Typically, your marketing person will propose a benchmark for you but you

should also have your own benchmark that you try to outperform. Here are

some guidelines on picking a cosmetic product benchmark and using it to

guide formulation.

What is benchmarking

Before picking a benchmark it's helpful to know what it is. A benchmark is an

existing formula that has many of the same characteristics that you want in

your future formulation. It doesn't have to be exactly what you are trying to

create, but it should give you a target for your formulation to meet or

exceed.

Factors in picking a benchmark

There are a number of things to consider when picking a benchmark but the

most important things include.

1. Market Position - While the best selling product is not necessarily the

best performing product, you still want to make sure that your new

formulation performs as well as the most popular product. No matter what,

you should always be sure you compare favorable to the market leader. Use

market data to find out which is the market leader. If you don't have access

to that, go to your local store and see which of the products they stock the

most of.

2. Performance - The best benchmark is the one that performs the best and

you should look at the market to find this. To find the best performing

benchmark you should get samples of all the competitive products you can

find and run them through a series of lab / consumer tests to figure out



which is best. When I was working on hair care products, the Pantene

formula consistently scored highest on both our lab and consumer tests. It's

important to note that these were blinded tests so as to not bias the results.

When you are trying to identify the best performing product in your

category, always do blinded testing.

3. Aesthetics - For some products, the performance is not equivalent to the

aesthetics. For example, a body wash could perform great on a foam test but

preform terribly on a consumer evaluation. Therefore, you should also find a

benchmark that is aesthetically the strongest product on the market.

4. Cost - While you would like to compare yourself to the best product on

the market, sometimes you don't have to. If you are competing in the 99

cent shampoo category, you don't necessarily have to create a formula that

beats a $5 a bottle shampoo. The final cost of your own product should be

considered when finding a good benchmark.

5. Manufacturing - Sometimes your marketing people will direct you to pick

a benchmark that clearly requires some special manufacturing equipment to

create. You should shy away from this kind of benchmark unless buying the

equipment needed to make it is a possibility. There is no reason to create a

final formula that your company can't mass produce.

6. Patents - The final thing to consider when picking a benchmark is to find

formulas that have patents and ensure that you avoid infringing on them.

You can endeavor to copy them but remember you can't sell anything that

might infringe on another company's patents.

Using a benchmark

Once you've picked your benchmark you need to come up with a battery of

tests to quantify how well it performs. This will be highly dependent on the

type of product it is but it should include a mix of lab tests and panel tests.



You should use the product yourself too to get a good sense of how it

performs. Be sure to conduct blinded tests so you can't easily pick the

samples. And also repeat tests multiple times to see if you get consistent

results.

For something like a shampoo you might run the following tests.

1. Foam test (with and without oil)

2. Tress combing test

3. Tress washing test

4. Panel test

Use the scores from these tests to set benchmark levels for you to meet or

exceed.

Benchmarks are a great way to help guide your formulations and also show

data to your bosses that the formula you created is every bit as good as the

competition. You should use a benchmark for every product you formulate.

Using the 1% Line for Formulating

A fun activity for any cosmetic chemist is to look at a list of ingredients (LOI)

and try to determine where is the 1% line. If you don't know the 1% line

refers to the place in the LOI which indicates where the concentration of

ingredients is less than 1%. According to cosmetic labeling rules everything

in the formula that is used in a concentration higher than 1% is required to

be listed in order of concentration. At 1% or below, you can list it in any

order.

So, if you can figure out where the 1% line is a formulator can get a pretty

good idea of the concentration of the main ingredients in the formula.

Let's look at an example. Here is a color-enhancing hair conditioner.

Water, Cetearyl alcohol, Glycerin, Behentrimonium chloride, Cetyl esters, Isopropyl myristate, Quaternium-80, Polysorbate 20,



Fragrance, Methylparaben, Polyquaternium-37, Mineral oil, Benzophenone-3, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate

Where is the 1% line?

In doing this exercise you want to start with the last ingredient and work

your way up the list to figure out where the 1% line might be. Once you

figure this out you can guess at what the formula concentration of the other

ingredients might be.

It also helps to know what most of the ingredients do and some of their

approximate use levels. Since I know that Methylparaben is a preservative,

there's no reason it would ever be used as high as 1%. So, we can figure that

everything after that ingredient is also used at a level of less than 1%. That

brings us to our first principle...

Preservatives are almost never used at a level of 1%

Other ingredients like colors (except for color cosmetics) and fragrances are

rarely used above 1%. So in this list, fragrance is also probably under 1%.

That brings us to Polysorbate 20. This ingredient is used as a solubilizer

typically for fragrance so it is like that it is not used at a 1% level either.

Usually a 1:1 ratio of fragrance to solubilizer is used. Ignoring everything

we've looked at thus far we are down to the following ingredients...

Water, Cetearyl alcohol, Glycerin, Behentrimonium chloride, Cetyl esters, Isopropyl myristate, Quaternium-80

Educated guess at the formula

Now that we've narrowed down the number of ingredients we can guess at

what a reasonable percentage might be for the remaining ingredients. I

know that conditioners are mostly water so this formula contains at least 90%

water. If we figure that the last ingredients, Quaternium-80, is used at just



about 1% we can start to fill in reasonable guesses for the other ingredients.

Here is a reasonable starting formula.

•Water 90%

•Cetearyl Alcohol 4.5%

•Glycerin 1.5%

•Behentrimonium Chloride 1%

•Cetyl Esters 1%

•Isopropyl Myristate 1%

•Quaternium-80 1%

Remember the total formula should equal 100%.

This would just be a guess and I know it is not exactly the formula because

we've left out all the other ingredients that are less than 1%. But this

formula should get you reasonably close.

Incidentally, I could be mistaken and both Quaternium-80 and Isopropyl

Myristate might be used at levels lower than 1% (say 0.75%) but it seems a

reasonable guess.

Next steps

After creating this approximate formula, the next step would be to make a

batch of it and see how it turns out. Then you try tweaking the levels and

adding some of those ingredients that we ignored at levels under 1%.

Eventually, you should be able to create something that performs similar to

the product you are trying to emulate.

This is a fun exercise and I would encourage you to go find other cosmetic

ingredient lists and try to see if you can figure out where is the 1% line.



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http://chemistscorner.com/where-to-find-the-list-of-ingredients-for-a-cosmetic/

Converting a formula from ounces to percent

Converting your formula from ounces to percentages is an important skill for

cosmetic chemists to learn. So here we provide the simple steps for anyone

who might not know how to do it.

Step 1 — Add up the common mass termsIf you have the mass of formulas you can simply add up all of the like terms. So, if you have something in ounces, you can add up those. If you have other masses in grams, add those up separately.

Step 2 — Convert masses to gramsSince it's easier to do calculations in metric units it is useful to convert the ounces into grams. This is done by multiplying ounces by 28.3495231. So, 2.0 ounces = 56.7 grams.

Step 3 — Convert volume measurements to masses (grams)The challenge comes when you have some values in volume rather than mass. Volume units have to be converted to mass before you can add them. To do this, you have to know the specific gravity of a liquid. This website gives some helpful values.

Step 4 — Find the total mass of the formulaOnce you've changed all the units to grams, you need to add up the total amount of grams. This will give you the formula's mass total.

Step 5 — Figure out individual percentagesThe next step is to figure out the individual percentages. To do this take the individual gram mass and divide it by the total gram mass.

Step 6 — Double check your figures

To make sure you've got everything right add up the individual percentages.

They should equal 100%.



http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/weight2volume

How to Determine Cost of a Formulation

Deciding on the use level of raw materials in a cosmetic formula is an

important aspect of formulation. However, product performance is only one

factor that you should consider when formulating. Additionally, you have to

consider the cost of a formula. But before you can consider the cost, you

have to be able to figure out how to determine the final cost. In this short

post we'll show you how.

Step 1 - Start with a formula

We are going to assume that you already have created a formula. Use this

cosmetic formulation spreadsheet to make it easier for you. The key is that

when you make your formula you have to know what % of the ingredient is in

your formula. This means you have to equalize your formulas by weight. For

example, if you are following a formula like this that calls for cups,

teaspoons, and tablespoons of ingredients, you have to convert those units to

% weight.

The best way is to weigh all your ingredients and determine the number of

GRAMS that you are using. Once all the ingredients are in terms of grams,

you can figure out what % in the formula they are. The cosmetic formulation

spreadsheet does this for you automatically.

Step 2 - Get your raw material costs

To get your formulation costs, you need to know the costs of each of your

raw materials. This is something you should be able to get from the

supplier. Although if you work at a large company you might have to go to

your Purchasing department because they will have the real prices that your

company pays. All the costs should be in the same units.



http://www.makingcosmetics.com/recipes/12-Body%20Butter%20with%20Shea%20Butter%20and%20Cacao%20Butter.htm

http://chemistscorner.com/cosmetic-formula-spreadsheet-template/

Since I formulated in America, we took all the costs in terms of Dollars per

Pound. Most other places in the world you are going to use Cost per

Kilogram. It doesn't matter which you use as long as all the raw materials

are consistently in the same units. Also, the final number that you get will

be in the same units as the cost of the raw materials.

Step 3 - Multiply formula % and cost

Next, multiply the % of the ingredient by the cost and divide by 100. So, if

your ingredient is in the formula at 20% and it costs $4 per pound, you

multiply 20 * 4 / 100 = 0.80. The partial cost of that ingredient in the

formula is $0.80. This is what I call the residual cost.

Step 4 - Add up the residual costs to get total formula cost

Then it is just a matter of adding up all the residual costs to find the final

formula cost. Pretty easy (especially if you are using the cosmetic

formulation spreadsheet).

There you have it. 4 steps to calculating the cost of your formulation. No

complicated math required. If you have any questions, leave a comment

below.



Switching Sources for Cosmetic Raw Materials

How do you go about switching ingredient vendors? If you want to switch

vendors because of lower prices and lower minimums what do you do?

Why switch cosmetic ingredient sources

Before we answer, it is a good idea to explain why you would want to have

an alternate source for a raw material. There are a number of reasons.

1. Price - You can get the raw material for lower cost. An excellent reason

to switch suppliers.

2. Lower minimums - You can buy less of the ingredient. This is particularly

important for small businesses.

3. Insurance - If you have a single source, you are at the mercy of your

supplier. You should have other sources just in case something goes wrong.

4. Reliability - You need to have a supplier who will be able to reliably fill

your orders.

Changing cosmetic raw materials sources

Unfortunately, changing from one source to another is not so simple as just

buying from a new source. The primary problem is that just because

ingredients have the same name, that doesn't mean they are the same

material. INCI names cover a wide range of mixed materials. Another

problem is that suppliers often make raw materials in a different way which

can lead to different residual materials in the finished product. These

residuals can wreck havoc with your formula.

The bottom line is that you can't just switch raw materials from one source

to another without testing.



How to approve alternate suppliers

To approve a new supplier there are a number of things you need to do.

First, you need to make sure the specs for the ingredient match. To do this,

you can look at the certificate of analysis (C of A) that the new supplier

provides with samples. Compare this to your current spec and note where

there are differences. Then you can tell the new supplier changes in the

specs that you can make. It may also be easier to just give the new supplier

your specs. Remember, specifications are negotiable.

Once you have the specs for the new material, you'll need to make batches

and run some tests. The first test is simply to see what happens to your

batch when you use the new raw material. Check the pH, viscosity,

appearance, order, and anything else that might be different. You should

also conduct performance tests. Finally, if things look good you'll have to

conduct stability tests of the formula in your final packaging. Once you are

satisfied that you can't tell any differences you can start using the new raw

material.

Note, it may make sense to make a batch where you blend the new raw

material with your current source just to make sure that you can safely

blend the two ingredients in the future. Sometimes when you are making a

batch you may run out of a raw material and be forced to use something

from a different supplier.

Testing depends on material

There are some ingredients where it's not too risky to use an alternate

supplier. Things like Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, and Salt will be so similar

that there is little risk in using a different source. But materials like natural

ingredients, fatty alcohols, and surfactants are much more risky. For these

you'll want to do a full battery of tests.



5 Steps for Getting Replacement Raw Materials

There are a number of reasons why you might want to find a replacement for

a raw material you currently using. It could be because the supplier can't

get you the ingredient, you can save money on your formula, the product is

no longer stable, or for marketing reasons you want to change.

If you're going to switch out a raw material you can do it in the most

efficient way by following these 5 steps.

Understand what the ingredient does in the formula

If you inherit a formula as most formulators do, there are probably

ingredients included for which you are not sure the function. You need to

figure this out before you switch for something new. Also, you may think you

know the function of the ingredient but it could have multiple functions in

your formula. To best figure out the importance of an ingredient for which

you want to find a replacement, do a cosmetic knockout experiment,

comparing your full formula versus the formula without the target

ingredient. This will give you an idea of the performance impact of the

ingredient plus the aesthetic impact on the formula.

Find potential replacements

Once you know the full impact of the ingredient on your formula you can find

potential replacements. The easiest thing to do is to ask your suppliers for

their suggested replacements. Certainly, you should get samples of those

ingredients. But a single ingredient replacement might not work. You may

have to find multiple materials to replace all the functionality of a single

ingredient. For example, Guar Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Chloride has both a

conditioning effect and some thickening effect. Instead of finding a single

ingredient to replace it you could find a new thickener (e.g.

Hydroxyethylcellulose) plus a conditioning ingredient (e.g. Polyquat-7).




Sometimes it's not a simple replacement.

Create prototypes

Once you get your potential ingredients start making your prototypes.

Ideally, you can make multiple formulas at the same time using the same

ingredients. When you compare replacements you should keep as much the

same as possible. Also, be sure to create a control sample so you know how

your new formula compares to your current formula. Take special note of

any manufacturing changes you have to make to incorporate the new

ingredient. This will be important when you write the manufacturing

instructions later.

Test prototype functionality

After you've made the prototypes you'll want to test them to see if they

function the way you want them to. See how they compare to your control

formula. Of course, you only need to test the formulas that hold together

properly. If they separate or don't look right either try again or reject that

replacement alternative.

The specific tests you run will depend on the type of formula you are

making. Foam tests for cleansing products, moisturizing tests for

moisturizing products, etc. For all your formulas you should have a standard

battery of tests that you routinely conduct and compare your prototypes to

those standards.

Test prototype stability

Finally, if any of your replacement ingredient prototypes look promising

you'll want to do a stability test to make sure it stays together. Having a

great functioning product is great but if it isn't stable you won't be able to

sell it. I recommend doing functionality tests before stability tests however

because there is no point in finding a stable product that doesn't perform the

way you want it. Plus, you can always fix a formula that has stability issues.



http://chemistscorner.com/how-to-stability-test-a-cosmetic-formula/

You can't improve a functional deficit without having to repeat your stability

test. Remember, stability tests should always be the last test you do.

Much of your time as a formulator will be spent finding replacement

ingredients either for cost savings reasons, marketing reasons, or just trying

to improve your formulas. Following these 5 steps will help make the

process more efficient and effective.



Section 2 : Prototyping

The 10 Different Types of Cosmetic Formulas

While there are literally thousands of different types of cosmetic products, there are actually only 10 different types of cosmetic formulas. Here is a brief overview of those types including what they are, how they’re made andwhen you might use them. As a formulating chemist, you should make it a point to learn to make each type (even if your company currently doesn’t make these particular products).

10 Cosmetic Product Forms

The basic categories for cosmetic formulas include

1. Solutions

2. Creams / Emulsions

3. Lotions

4. Ointments / Pastes

5. Suspensions

6. Tablets

7. Powders

8. Gels

9. Sticks

10. Aerosols

Solution Cosmetics

These are the simplest type of cosmetic formulas and are used for a wide

range of products such as shampoos, body wash, hand cleansers, colognes,




etc. They are homogeneous mixtures of soluble ingredients. To make them

you simply fill your container with the main diluent (usually water) then mix

the rest of the ingredients into it. Sometimes warming the system slightly

will increase the speed at which you can make them.

Creams / Emulsions

The majority of cosmetics use raw materials that are not compatible so a

cream or emulsion is used. Emulsions are pseudo stable mixtures of

immiscible liquids dispersed in another liquid. They are used for products

like hand moisturizers, make up, hair conditioners, sunscreens, etc. To

create them you need three formula components including an oil phase,

aqueous phase, and an emulsifier. The formulas are made by heating up the

oil and water phases separately, mixing them together (along with the

emulsifier) when they are hot, and cooling them down with thorough mixing.

The result is a cream with tiny particles of dispersed in the diluent phase.

See this article on emulsion HLB for more information on creating emulsions.

Lotions

Creams are not always appropriate for some applications because they can

be too heavy or greasy. In these cases, the lotion form is used. Lotions are

essentially thin creams. They are used for facial moisturizers, leave-in hair

conditioners, and moisturizing cleansers. Since these are emulsions, you

make them the same way you would a cream. They are generally easier

because you do not have to worry about the emulsion getting thick enough as

it cools down.

Suspensions

Suspensions are another product form for delivering incompatible

ingredients. Unlike creams, they are typically clear products with visible

particles like gelatin beads or inorganic minerals (e.g titanium dioxide)

suspended throughout. They are used for sunscreens, hand washes or

shampoos. To create them you need to include a polymer or clay that gives



http://chemistscorner.com/hlb-the-easiest-way-to-create-an-emulsion/

the formula some internal suspending structure. Ingredients like Carbomer or

bentonite clays are useful.

Ointments / Pastes

These are super thick products used for things like hairdressing and

medicated skin products. Usually, they are anhydrous (contain no water) and

are sticky & greasy. Some common ingredients used to create pastes include

petrolatum, lanolin, or dimethicone. Making them is a simple matter of

heating up the raw materials and rapidly mixing them until they are

dispersed.

Tablets & Capsules

Another product form that is often used for creating color cosmetics is the

tablet. These are physically blended solids that are held together by being

pressed into shape. You’ll need special equipment to create these products.

They are also generally more expensive.

Powders

One of the most common types of product forms for color cosmetics is

powders. Powders are also used for products like baby powder & foot

powder. They are just mixtures of solid raw materials blended together into

a fine powder. Some typical ingredients include talc, silicates, and starch.

Special equipment is needed when making these products as the fine powder

can be dangerous.

Gels

Another common form of cosmetic products is gels. These are thick products,

typically clear, and have a property known as “shear thinning”. This means

they stay thick until you apply a force which makes them thin and flowable.

Anyone who has tried to get ketchup out of a bottle knows what we’re

talking about. Gels are used for hair products, body washes, shaving



products, and in toothpaste. They are made by using a gelling agent such as

an acrylic polymer, a natural gum or a cellulosic thickener.

Sticks

Sometimes you need to create a product that the consumer won’t

necessarily want to touch, for example, lipstick or underarm deodorant. In

these cases you’ll use a stick product form. Sticks are solid delivery forms

that deliver active ingredients through a rubbing action. The way you create

them is by using mostly materials that are solid at room temperature. The

ingredients are heated until they melt, mixed, and poured into either a mold

or the final container. When they cool, they take the shape of their

packaging.

Aerosols

Aerosols are more of a packaging product form than a specific formulation

type. You could actually create an aerosol out of almost any cosmetic

formulation if you have the right can, propellant, and nozzle set-up. Aerosols

are any cosmetic delivered from a pressurized can. They are composed of a

concentrate and a propellant. You first make the formula as you would any

other cosmetic, then fill it into the can. You seal the can and pressurize it

using the appropriate propellant. Recent VOC (volatile organic compounds)

regulations have reduced the use of aerosols in cosmetic products.



Working with Base Formulas

When you start out as a cosmetic formulator you will not be asked to come up with your own formulas. There may be some exceptions at small companies or contract manufacturers but at companies that have establishedbrands and products new cosmetic chemists don't get to be terribly creative. Instead, you will be working with base formulas.

Cosmetic base formulas

Base formulas are in-house or stock formulas that your company owns.

Typically, they are recipes which have been developed over a number of

years and have a lot of testing behind them. They also have a proven track

record in the market and are easy for the production people to make. New

chemists are assigned base formulas primarily because they are a great way

to learn formulating without being too risky. Also, there are a lot of

financial incentives to using base formulas

How are base formulas used?

In every cosmetic laboratory there is a list of all the formulas you create for

producing products. What you will notice about these formulas is that while

there may be hundred of variants there are often only a couple of dozen

"different" formulas. To see the base formula in action, let's take a look at

how a company like Suave uses base formulas.

Suave has a line of products called Suave Naturals. In this line they have a

number of different varieties (or SKUs) such as Coconut, Sun-Ripened

Strawberry, Wild Cherry, and more. Here is their Coconut Shampoo with the

following ingredient list.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002FCCH2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0002FCCH2&linkCode=as2&tag=theeuchreuniv-20&linkId=36X56FB5X4Z4AGB4

Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide Mea, Ammonium Chloride, Glycol Distearate, Fragrance (Parfum), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Tetrasodium Edta, Dmdm Hydantoin, Citric Acid, Ammonium Xylenesulfonate, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate [Vitamin E Acetate], Isopropyl Palmitate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Silk Amino Acids, Honey, PPG-9, Urtica Diocia (Nettle) Extract

It's a pretty standard formula with featuring Sodium Laureth Sulfate,

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamide MEA and thickened with Hysroxypropyl

Methylcellulose. Now take a look at another Suave Natural formula Waterfall

Mist.

Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide Mea, Ammonium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Tetrasodium Edta, Dmdm Hydantoin, Citric Acid,Tocopheryl Acetate [Vitamin E Acetate], Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Ppg-9, Spirulina Maxima Extract, Mentha Aquatica Leaf Extract, Nymphaea Alba Flower Extract, Blue 1 (Ci 42090), Red 33 (Ci 17200).

See the similarities? They have the same detergent system, same thickener,

same preservative and same adjusting ingredients. So their base formula

is...

Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide Mea, Ammonium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Tetrasodium Edta, Dmdm Hydantoin, Citric Acid,Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

So every time they want to launch a new SKU of the Suave Naturals formula,

they start with the base formula and add a new fragrance, color, and feature

ingredients. As a formulator, you spend a lot of time adapting this base

formula to the new marketing concept.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W30RP8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000W30RP8&linkCode=as2&tag=theeuchreuniv-20&linkId=U2FCQAFYZTPONJGI

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W30RP8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000W30RP8&linkCode=as2&tag=theeuchreuniv-20&linkId=U2FCQAFYZTPONJGI

Benefits of creating a base formula

While working with a base formula can be a dull exercise from the

standpoint of a creative cosmetic formulator, there are a number of benefits

to using them.

Speeds up product development - In the cosmetic industry there isn't the

luxury of taking multiple years to create new products. At a large

corporation the product development cycle happens over the course of one

year at the most. This means you have to come up with ideas, validated

concepts, prototypes, testing and first production runs all within a year. If

you had to create a new formula every time you launched a new product,

there just wouldn't be enough time to get everything done. Stability testing

alone takes 2 months minimum.

Optimize performance - Since base formulas are used year after year, there

is time to tinker with the levels on ingredients to find which percentages

work best. And with optimization comes optimal costing. Using a base

formula allows you to reduce the cost of your formula to the lowest level

possible.

Cost savings is easier - Speaking of cost savings, in addition to optimizing

the cost, it's also easier to find much larger cost reductions when a single

change will have an effect on your entire line. In the Suave example above

if they can find a savings in the price of their SLES they can save money

across their entire line. If they had a different base formula for every

shampoo formula then a cost savings in one ingredient wouldn't have nearly

the same impact.

Reduce testing requirements - Testing cosmetic formulas can be a time

consuming and expensive process. However, when you have a base formula

that you simply modify you don't have to conduct as many safety tests as

tests done on the base formula will typically qualify as being applicable to all

your derivative formulas. It also gives you higher confidence in stability



testing success.

Can be used in multiple brands - Not only does using a base formula work

within a single brand but some companies actually do the same thing across

multiple brands. I remember when P&G bought the Herbal Essences brand

they quickly switched all the formulas over to the Pantene base shampoo and

conditioner formulas. This gave them more leverage with their raw material

suppliers and resulted in a less expensive way to produce two brands instead

of just one. I believe they have subsequently gotten away from this strategy

but you can see there are still significant similarities between the two

brands.

Useful for testing new raw materials - From a formulator's point of view a

base formula makes it easier to test new raw materials. I had a base

shampoo and conditioner formula in which I would post add any new raw

material that was presented to me. I would test it at the highest level that

the supplier suggested and compare it to the base formula without the

ingredient. It was amazing how many ingredients had no impact on the

performance of the formula. But it did let me screen lots of new raw

materials.

While base formulas aren't the most creative way to make new cosmetic

formulas they are the most efficient and the way that most cosmetic

companies launch multiple product SKUs under the same brand. I would

suggest that every formulator create their own "base formulas" so you get

comfortable with making them, testing them, and improving them. When

you move around this industry you'll be expected to be able to make your

own base formulas.



How to Test Raw Materials

As a cosmetic chemist you will likely be inundated with new raw materials and sales people encouraging you to try out their latest and greatest offerings. If they have an interesting sales pitch you might even request a sample. Unfortunately by the time you get the samples a few days later, you often forget why you were interested in the first place. You're left with unopened samples which will pile up on your lab bench only to be moved andpitched the next time you have lab clean-up day. This is a complete waste ofeffort for both you and the sales people.

To prevent this from happening you need to create a system obtaining and

evaluating raw material samples. Here are some tips for setting up a system

to evaluate new cosmetic raw materials.

Write down your ideas

During a meeting with a sales person be sure to keep notes about the

meeting. Specifically write down raw material names and the reason you

might want to get a sample. Note also whether you requested a raw material

& if you received it. This way when you get a sample a few days later you'll

know why you wanted it in the first place.

It's useful to keep a list of raw materials and ideas related to the material on

a separate sheet from your meeting notes. So when you receive a raw

material sample you can consult the list and quickly remember why you

asked for it.

Have a place for your samples

After you receive a raw material sample, you should put it in a designated

space. Leaving it out on your lab bench or randomly putting it on a shelf

makes it less likely that you will ever do anything with it. Keep only new raw

materials in this space. Also, don't make the space too large as this will only




encourage you to put off doing something with the sample.

You should also have a policy where you can't get a new sample if there isn't

room in your designated area for it. This will make you do something with

old samples before filling the cabinet with new ones.

Oh yes, be sure to put a date on every sample you receive. If a sample is

over 1 year old, THROW IT OUT and get a new one. But remember, if you

haven't done anything with a sample in over 1 year it's not likely you are ever

going to do something with it.

Have a plan for your cosmetic raw materials

In addition to labeling your new raw material sample, you should also put a

short Post-It Note on the sample indicating what you plan to do with it. This

can be a simple sentence like “test in body wash” or “evaluate in skin

cream” depending on what idea you had for the sample. These reminders

will make it easier for you to remember why you requested a sample and

what you plan to do with it.

Create blank base formulas for testing

The best thing you can do with most samples is to evaluate them from a

standard cosmetic base. If shampoos are your area of work, create a gallon

of a shampoo base that contains only the surfactants, preservatives, and

other critical ingredients. Leave out ingredients like fragrance, color, or

conditioning ingredients. You want to keep the system as simple as possible.

Pick areas for evaluation

You should record various characteristics of the blank base such as foam

level, moisturizing levels, viscosity, pH, etc. This will give you something to

compare to when your new raw material is added to the blank base. Perhaps

most critical is to use the blank base yourself in the manner in which the

consumer would use a finished product. Get familiar with how the product



works and feels. You have to become an expert evaluator of the base before

you can determine whether the new raw material improves the product or

not.

Create your test samples

Often the hardest thing about testing new cosmetic raw materials is figuring

out what level of the ingredient you should use. You can get some direction

from the supplier but realize that they are going to tell you a higher level

than you actually need. (The more the sell, the better). At this stage of

development however, I like to use the highest level of an ingredient that

seems reasonable. You can always cut back on the level if the initial tests

are promising.

In general, put any new ingredient in at at least 1% of the formula when

evaluating it for effectiveness

Record your results

After you've created a sample with the new raw material in your base, check

the appearance for any effect the ingredient might have had. Note clarity,

color, and odor differences. Try the test sample and the blank sample one

after another. Ideally, you will do this on a blinded basis so you won't be

biased in favor (or against) a new material. In your first evaluation just

answer the question, “do I notice any difference between the sample with

and without the raw material?” If the answer is 'no' then you can probably

stop further evaluations. Don't waste your time on ingredients that don't

have a significant, consumer-noticeable effect. If the answer is 'yes' then

design a more rigorous test to evaluate further.

Focus on consumer important raw materials

Since there are lots of different raw materials out there, spend your time

evaluating ones that can have a consumer-noticeable effect. There is

certainly a place in the world for new emulsifiers but the truth is consumers

don't care about emulsifiers. No one will create the next greatest cosmetic

formula by changing their emulsification system. Look for ingredients that



can effect feel, moisturizing effect, foam levels, etc. These are the areas in

which the best new formulas will be found.

Take action

Perhaps the most important thing about getting a new cosmetic raw material

sample is to do something with it. Put it in a formula, evaluate it, then

either get rid of it or ask for more. No one benefits from a sample sitting

untouched on your lab bench.

One final point, it is also nice to provide feedback to the sales person who

gave you the sample. Even if you tested something and didn't like it, this

would be helpful for a sales person to know. They can communicate back to

their lab and maybe, just maybe, the lab will be inspired to make

improvements and deliver new cosmetic ingredients that chemists can really

use.



What is the best ingredient to use?

On a few occasions we've gotten a question that goes something like this....

"What is the best preservative to use?" or "What is the best ingredient I can

use for moisturizing?"

A question like this is incredibly difficult because the answer depends on so

many different factors about what you consider important. To illustrate,

let's look a little more deeply at the question of preservatives.

What is the best preservative to use?

Preservatives are added to cosmetic formulas to prevent microbial

contamination. They are hugely important and nearly every cosmetic that is

sold should have some kind of preservative. But the best one to use will

depend on a number of factors including...

•Effectiveness

•Formula type

•Manufacturing conditions

•Raw material sources

•Cost considerations

•Marketing considerations

Ingredient Effectiveness

Probably the most important consideration when you're looking for the "best"

ingredient. This is the one that will best give you the effect for which you

are looking. In the area of preservatives there are many ingredients that will

kill microbes. Some work better than others and combinations typically work

better than any single ingredient.

In my opinion as far as efficacy goes the best preservatives are Parabens and

Formaldehyde donors. Methylisothiazolinone blends are also quite effective.



Certainly, other ingredients work but they aren't as broadly effective as

these. However, since other ingredients can work, effectiveness is not the

only factor to consider when choosing the "best" ingredient.

Formulation

While ingredients can be effective alone that doesn't mean they will be

effective in your particular formulation. Some ingredients are known to

deactivate preservatives and some preservatives won't work at certain pH

levels. Also, the oil content in your formula or the structure of your

emulsion can all have an impact on whether the ingredient is effective.

Since you generally can't know whether something will be effective just by

looking at the formula on paper you have to test preservatives in your

formulas. And it makes sense to try different options. Without giving

information about the exact components of the formula, you can't answer

the question of which ingredient will work best.

Manufacturing conditions

The preservative system that you use will often depend on the

manufacturing conditions under which you create your products. Some

plants are just cleaner than other plants and some facilities have tougher

resident microbes than others. I know one hair care manufacturer had to

put Kathon in all their formulas because their manufacturing lines had a

biofilm which was resistant to everything except Kathon. The "best"

preservative in their case was that one because it was the only thing they

knew would work.

Raw Material Sources

This is similar to the manufacturing conditions but the quality of the raw

materials that you are starting with will impact the decision of which is the

"best" preservative to use. If you are using ingredients from natural sources

which haven't been decontaminated from natural microbial residents you'll



have to use a stronger preservative. If you use clean raw materials you

might be able to get away with a less broadly effective preservative.

Cost Considerations

Of course you can't figure out what the "best" ingredient is if you don't have

some sense of how much cost you are willing to absorb. Sometimes the most

effective ingredient also costs hundreds or thousands of dollars a pound and

if you are selling your end product for one or two dollars you'll never be able

to afford the most effective ingredient. In your case the "best" ingredient is

the one the performs adequately within your cost constraints. Ideally, you'll

get an ingredient that performs the way you want it to at the lowest possible

cost. For preservatives the ones that work the best also happen to be the

ones that cost the least...parabens and formaldehyde donors.

Marketing Considerations

Sadly, there is a trend in which these marketing considerations get more

attention than the more important factors I've already discussed. But these

are real considerations and sometimes you aren't allowed to use the most

effective, least expensive ingredients because your marketing position does

not allow it. If you are trying to sell a natural brand in Whole Foods you

won't be able to use parabens or formaldehyde donors. You just can't. In

that case the "best" preservative then becomes one of the organic acids,

phenoxyethanol or other alternative, less broadly effective, and more

expensive ingredients.

So, when you ask what the "best" ingredient is for your formulation

remember to consider all the other factors before finding your answer.



Evaluating Raw Material Marketing

The annual Suppliers Day for the New York chapter of the SCC is always a

huge event. You can find thousands of raw materials from hundreds of

different suppliers. And to convince you to try out their materials, cosmetic

raw material suppliers employ marketers. You'll get all kinds of promises

what an ingredient can do but as a skeptical cosmetic chemist you won't

know what to believe. Here are a few of tips on how to evaluate cosmetic

raw material marketing.

Are the claims supported with studies?

The first thing you should look for when presented with a new raw material

is whether there have been any studies done at all. Is there any data for you

to look at that supports the claims they are making about the new

ingredient. Often, a raw material will be touted as better because of the

source of its starting ingredients. Unless you are going for an all-natural or

sustainability angle in your formulation, the source of the raw material

shouldn't matter much to you. But it's crucial to know the claims made about

the ingredient and the studies done to back them up.

Was the study size large enough?

Fortunately, most cosmetic raw material suppliers have done studies to

support their claims. This is where you have to be a curious chemist. The

first thing to ask about is the size of the study. Were there enough samples

used? They often do not give this information to the sales person but it is

always worth asking. A study in which one sample was compared to one

other sample is much less impressive than one in which multiple samples

were compared. Ideally, at least 30 runs or samples should be done to

support a claim. For you to be interested in a raw material however, the

study should have been run at least two or three times.



http://www.nyscc.org/suppliersday2013.html

Was it compared to a control?

One of the most frequent problems I see with cosmetic raw material

marketing is that they present data of a material compared to no control or

to a water control. For example, they'll claim the ingredient is moisturizing

then show you data of the subject done with and without treatment. This

might be fine for commercials and products directed towards consumers but

for scientists this isn't good enough.

At the very least you should ask for data of the product compared to a

placebo control. It's great if you can get a formula compared with and

without the raw material. But perhaps the best thing is when you can see a

material as compared to the best material out there. Raw material suppliers

love to compare their product to no control or a placebo control. However,

what you really want to know is how does the raw material compare to the

best technology out there for solving the problem you are trying to solve.

Was the study done by an independent lab?

While you should expect that all the data presented to you by a supplier is

biased (they are trying to sell you something after all) some data is more

biased than others. The best studies are the ones that are produced for the

supplier by independent labs. Presumably, the independent lab will be paid

no matter what the results of the study so they are not inclined to skew the

data in a specific direction.

When you see truly data produced by a truly independent lab, you should

take more notice of that raw material. Although, it's worth pointing out that

just because you are seeing positive data and it came from an independent

lab, that doesn't mean it isn't without bias. The raw material supplier

wouldn't show negative data if there was any, so always remember no matter

what data you get from a supplier about their raw material, it is likely

biased.



Will it make a meaningful impact on your formulation?

The most important thing to look for when trying to find new raw materials

is whether something will have a significant impact on your formula or not.

The best ingredient choices will have an impact that your consumer will

notice. The second best ones are ingredients that can save you money.

Finally, some ingredients can provide you a new story for your formula that

can help boost sales. But if the new ingredient can't do any of these or can't

be a reliable secondary supplier, then there is no need to look at the

ingredient any further.

Although we are scientists, we are not immune to the power of marketing. If

you maintain a healthy level of skepticism and objectivity, you'll be able to

avoid being fooled and still find the new raw materials that will help you

make the best cosmetic products possible.



Conducting a Knockout Experiment

There are many different routes you can take to learn to become an expert

formulation chemist but few are more powerful than conducting your own

knock-out experiments. These type of experiments can help you learn a

number of things such as,

1. The function raw materials

2. The performance effect of raw materials

3. The formula effect of raw materials

It can also potentially lead to the discovery of a new formulation and cost

savings ideas.

Formulation Chemist Knockout Experiment

The term knockout experiment was taken from the field of genetic

engineering. In it, scientists create organisms in which they remove or

“knock out” a specific gene. Then they see what effects the removal of a

certain gene has on the organism.

In the cosmetic chemist’s version of a knockout experiment, you take a

known formula and “knock out” a specific raw material. You then see what

effect the absence of that raw material has on the final product. It’s a

simple yet powerful study that can quickly get you familiar with any formula.

What will a cosmetic knockout experiment teach you?

When you first start your cosmetic formulating job, you will often start new

projects with a formula that your company had previously developed. I

remember the first formula I ever made (a shampoo) was originally

developed by the guy whose notebook I inherited. My boss asked me to make

samples to give to our Marketing group for evaluation. I had no clue about

why any of the raw materials were used, what they did, or even how hard



http://www.iscid.org/encyclopedia/Knock-out_Experiment

they were to work with.

You will undoubtedly be in the same position if you are just starting in this

industry. Even if you’ve been around for a long time, it’s impossible to know

the effect of raw materials in any formula you haven’t personally made (or

observed being made).

Knockout experiments can rapidly tell you when making a batch exactly

which ingredients have the most effect, which ones can be removed and

which ones interact. When you’re done making the formulas, you can learn

what raw materials have the most impact on the final specifications and the

product performance.

The amount of information you can learn from a single knockout study makes

it well worth doing on every new formula you are asked to work on.

How to conduct a cosmetic knockout experiment

Running a knockout experiment is fairly easy. All you have to do is take your

initial formula and make a series of batches in which you remove one

ingredient. If it’s a water-based formula, you simply add water to replace

the missing mass.

Here is an example batch sheet for conducting a knockout experiment on a

shampoo formula. As you can see, each subsequent formula has a line where

the value of one ingredient is supposed to be.



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In this formula there are 8 unique ingredients which means you will need to

make 8 different batches. The first batch is the control batch which should

be made first. This ensures that you are able to successfully make the

formula.

You should try to control as many variables as possible such as temperature,

mixing speed, mixing time, etc.

Simplifying the knockout experiment

While it is best to make a new formula for each ingredient, this can become

impractical and unproductive if there are dozens and dozens of different raw

materials. In these cases you can minimize the number of batches to make

by ignoring ingredients not expected to significantly impact the end

performance such as

•1. Fragrance

•2. Dye

•3. Extracts

•4. Preservatives

If you don’t know which ingredients are superfluous, ask one of your more

experienced peers. But be careful. It is wrong to make any assumptions

about a formula. There could be ingredients you expect not to have any

effect that do.

It’s worth noting that more complicated versions of this knockout experiment

can be conducted using DOE (design of experiment) software. These

experiments can give you much more information. Unfortunately, they also

require many more batches to be made. In future articles we will discuss

DOE further.

Evaluating your cosmetic knockout formulas

After you’ve made your batches you will end up with a series of formulas

that need to be tested. At the very least you should take pH and viscosity

measurements. You can then correlate the presence of any ingredient with



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an effect on those variables. This can be extremely useful if you need to

help make adjustments on the production level in characteristics like pH,

viscosity, texture, odor and appearance.

You should also conduct appropriate lab tests to see how the removal of a

certain ingredient affects performance. For foaming products, conduct foam

tests. For skin lotions, do a moisturizing test. Perhaps most important is to

try the product out on yourself. Try to experience the product like a

consumer. This will give you excellent clues about how important any raw

material is to the overall effect of the formula.

Knockout your cosmetics

The knockout experiment is not a perfect way to learn all you can about a

formula. There are important synergistic effects it will miss. That’s why DOE

is often superior. However, you can’t beat knockout experiments for speed

and ease. And you’ll definitely learn a lot about raw materials quickly. To

become a great formulation chemist you have to make a lot of batches and

try many different ingredients. The knockout experiment helps get you there

faster.



How to Reduce the Cost of a Cosmetic Formula

In your career as a cosmetic chemist, you will undoubtedly have the

following experience. After months of prototyping and testing you create the

most inspired, most incredible cosmetic formulation of your career. You

present it to your marketing group and they absolutely LOVE IT! The project

starts to move forward and everything is going great, but then they make a

simple request.

“We love it, but can you make it less expensive?”

While your first inclination will be to answer “No” this is not always an

option in the world of the cosmetic industry. But fret not, there are certain

strategies you can follow to turn your excellent, expensive formula into an

adequate, reasonably priced formula. Here are 5 tricks you can try.

Reduce the fragrance level

In most formulas, the fragrance is the most costly ingredient. It's also often

put in at a level that is much higher than required. To get a quick cost

savings, you can cut the fragrance level in half and see if a panel of users

can tell a difference. You will be surprised how few people will notice even a

50% reduction. If people do notice a difference, try lowering it by only 10 or

20%. You probably have more fragrance than necessary and when you're

looking for a quick cost savings, that's the first place you should start.

Reduce the level of Claims ingredients

Another source of a cost savings is the claims ingredients that you've put in

your formula for the marketing story. These natural ingredients are

frequently more expensive additions than standard ingredients so you can

save a relatively high amount of money by reducing the levels. If you are




using an extract at 0.5% or even more, you're probably wasting money. Verify

it yourself by doing a knock-out experiment. On a blinded-basis, see if you

can pick out the one that is missing the extract. If you can't, then you can

reduce the level to almost nothing. For example, using a level of 0.01% of an

extract in the formula is not unreasonable when you're looking to cut costs.

Eliminate unnecessary ingredients

Speaking of reducing ingredients, there may be some ingredients that are

completely unnecessary. These represent a great cost savings not only in

terms of formula cost but in terms of storage costs for additional raw

materials. To figure out if an ingredient isn't necessary, you should do a

knockout experiment and compare the formula with and without the

ingredient. If you can't tell whether a missing raw material is in the formula

or not, you don't need it.

Find less-expensive alternative ingredients

While you may love your specialty emulsifier or ultra soft emollient, you may

be able to replace them with a less-expensive but approximately equal

alternative. It is surprising how few differences non-trained beauty product

consumers notice. I once created a two-in-one shampoo formula and

compared it to a basic shampoo formula that looked and smelled the same.

14 out of 15 panelists didn't notice any difference. To me, the differences

were night and day. So, remember, just because you can tell a difference,

your audience may not.

Water it down

The last strategy to reducing the cost of a formula is to just add water. This

only works for aqueous formulas, however, that is the majority of personal

care products. When you add water, you reduce the overall concentration of

all the other ingredients. This reduces the cost of the entire formula.

Depending on the formula, you can add up to 5% more water and not notice

any difference. This could be a significant cost reduction. A word of caution



with this approach however, be sure not to decrease the level of

preservative. Adding more water increases the chance of microbial

contamination so you want to maintain a good level of preservation. (Note:

For anhydrous formulas you can use mineral oil or propylene glycol as the

less expensive diluent).

Cost saving and the cosmetic chemist

Reducing cost is all part of being a cosmetic chemist and if you can find

hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost savings, you will be a company hero.

When you first develop formulas, don't worry so much about optimizing

them. When the product is successful, your business partners will no doubt

ask you for a less expensive alternative. If you've already optimized it up

front, it will be much more difficult to optimize it later.



Three Ways to Make Surfactant Free Emulsions

Emulsifiers are great for keeping mixtures of oil and water together but they

do have a number of downsides that has prompted researchers to look for

alternatives. Some of the problems include skin irritation, questionable

stability, cost, environmental problems, regulatory issues and difficulties in

production. There are a few options you can try to remove your emulsifier

from your formula. These technologies are relatively new and haven't taken

over the industry but this may represent the future of emulsification in

cosmetics.

Polymeric emulsions - The basic idea in a polymeric emulsion is that the

polymer is able to tie up a number of different particles so an emulsion can

be created. But since polymers are such large molecules they are not able to

penetrate the skin and cause any of the problems typically associated with

emulsifiers. Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose or Acrylic Acid polymers like

Carbomer can be used to create these emulsions. I expect polymeric

emulsions will eventually take over in the cosmetic industry since they are

easy to use, highly stable, and can be done via cold processing.

Acoustic emulsification - If you don't want to use a chemical method for

creating an emulsion you might try a physical method. Acoustic

emulsification is a method by which you mix water and oil then use

ultrasound to break up the immiscible particles into particles that are so

small that they stay suspended in the solution. Thus you have a stable

mixture of oil and water without an emulsifier.

Shake before use - Of course, you can also make a formulation that is a

mixture of water and oil but requires the user to shake the product before

using it. Mechanical mixing like this can lead to short term stability which

may be just long enough for your purposes. This is a rather crude method of



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formulating but it will work in some cases. The oil and water phases just

have to have some level of compatibility. You can get this by using an oil

that has a high HLB.

So you want to formulate sulfate free?

Somewhere along the line surfactants which contain the name “sulfate” got

a bad name. It’s difficult to say exactly how this negative reputation was

developed but I suspect it was the result of a clever salon shampoo marketer

who was looking for a way to make their higher priced brands stand out from

the more popular store brands. Since they couldn’t compete in terms of

formulation performance or advertising, highlighting the negative aspects of

the competition was a logical strategy.

Nothing moves alternative products like fear of conventional ones.

Anyway, this idea was spread to salon stylists (who get commissions from the

sale of salon brands) which then spread to consumers. Now, it’s pretty firmly

established in a high percentage of people’s minds that sulfate containing

surfactants are harsh, more color stripping and bad for your hair. There’s

little evidence for this but it persists. So, cosmetic formulators have to learn

how to formulate sulfate free.

The challenge of formulating sulfate free

The reason we traditionally use sulfate surfactants is because they are

effective, inexpensive, easy to formulate and easy to thicken. Sulfate free

alternatives lack many of these characteristics. Realize that you are going to

have a greater challenge to make formulas that foam the same way, clean,

and meet cost goals. It’s likely that you’ll need an additional thickening



system as salt doesn’t thicken many of these alternative surfactants.

Options for sulfate free

There are a number of options for making a sulfate free shampoo. Here are

some strategies various companies have used.

1. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate free - since SLS is the big objection one simple

solution is to use Magnesium Laurel Sulfate and then advertise your product

as Sodium Lauryl free. This is technically true and might be appealing to

some consumers. However, it still contains the term ‘sulfate’ so this won’t

be effective for most people.

2. Sodium something else - Some alternatives to SLS include

Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate

Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate

Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate

Sodium Lauryl Methyl Isethionate

Sodium Lauroyl Taurate

Sodium Lauroamphoacetate

3. Try a non-sodium name - If you want to get rid of the sodium from your

label completely, there are some other options.

Decyl Glycoside

Lauryl Glucoside

Coco Glucosides

PEG 40 Glyceryl Cocoate

Potassium Laureth Phosphate

4. Alternative detergent systems - One other option is to offer a dry

shampoo based on starch. You can easily call these formulas sulfate free.

While science may not agree with the notion that sulfates are inherently bad

for people’s hair, you have to make products that both your marketing



department and ultimately, your consumer wants. Sometimes this means

ditching the traditional surfactants for other options. To be a complete

cosmetic chemist you need to know these options.



Strategies for formulating green products

Previously, we talked about how sustainability will effect the formulating

efforts of cosmetic chemists. In this article, we'll discuss some of the

different formulation strategies you might use to implement the

sustainability principles.

Cosmetic Green Washing

Since there are no set standards, one of the easiest ways to appeal to

consumers who care about sustainability is to practice green washing. This

involves adding non-functional ingredients with natural sounding names to

your formula that look good to nave consumers and can support a natural

story told by your marketing group. For some consumers just adding words

like 'Natural' or 'Organic' on your label is enough to convince them your

product appeals to their sustainability notions. Companies can even make

aerosol products sound sustainable with the right green washing story. Many

companies take this route because it is the least expensive and relatively

effective on consumers.

Minimalist formulation

While the green washing technique can be effective, as a scientist and

formulator you'll likely find the strategy less-than satisfying. A better

approach is to incorporate the principles of sustainability into your

formulation efforts. To do this I recommend a minimalist formulation

approach.

The guiding philosophy of minimalist formulating is that less is better. This

means while formulating you should strive to use

+fewer ingredients

+lower levels



So instead of ending up with an ingredient list that has two dozen ingredients

you should try to get one that has less than a dozen.

Using fewer ingredients in your formulas has the benefit of reducing

inventory storage, reducing transportation energy, and reducing formula

costs. It also may reduce the overall chemical exposure of consumers to

potentially sensitizing ingredients making them safer for more people.

Formula optimization

The key to implementing a minimalist approach is to optimize your formulas.

You should be constantly scrutinizing which ingredients you put in your

formulas and finding exactly how much you need. This means testing them

out at different levels until you find the best performance at the lowest

level.

Knockout formulas

One of the simplest ways to begin optimizing is to conduct a knock-out

experiment. In biochemistry there is the notion of knock-out mice where

they remove a gene and see how it affects the animal as inspiration for the

name of this experiment. In a knockout formulation experiment you make a

series of batches in which you completely leave out one ingredient then test

to see how it effects the formula. Many of these batches will be completely

worthless but some of them will perform just as well without the ingredient.

And if the formula works without an ingredient, there is no good reason to

leave the ingredient in the formula.

One of the problems with knockout experiments is that it doesn't do much

good showing you synergistic effects of raw materials. A more sophisticated

version of this experiment is to run a formula through a DOE. DOE also

involves creating a series of batches and adjusting the levels of ingredients

to determine the effects on the formula. It's just much more complicated,



can require many more batches and doesn't always give you much more

useful information than a simple knock-out experiment.

Synergistic ingredients

In addition to optimizing your formulas, another important strategy in

minimalist formulation is to look for synergistic ingredients. These are

ingredients that interact with each other to create even greater beneficial

effects. The problem of course, is that these are difficult to find. In fact, if

you do find some unique synergistic ingredients, you'll have the basis for a

patent. This is an added bonus of a minimalist approach.

The job of the formulator is changing

You can no longer focus on just the end performance of a product and you

have to take in consideration notions of sustainability. Following a minimalist

approach and looking for synergistic ingredients are two primary strategies

for creating sustainable formulas.



Becoming an excellent cosmetic formulator

I saw this infographic by George Deckner titled “how to excel as a

formulator” which lists 9 things you need to achieve that goal.

Unfortunately, the infographic doesn't go into much detail so I thought I

would expand on it here.

Be an innovator not an inventorAn inventor makes a new product and hopes the benefits are so obvious it sells itself. Sometimes they do, but usually they don’t. An innovator takes anexisting product and makes it better. Since most cosmetic formulation types have already been invented, to be a great formulator you need to focus on innovation.

Partner with suppliersIt used to be that formulators tried to keep their projects a secret but this doesn’t make much sense these days. You can get much more accomplished if you outsource as much of your research as you can. Getting suppliers to assist your lab work will help you screen more materials and develop better products faster. Don’t worry about secrecy. The formula does not sell the product! Your idea is not unique and the thing that will make it successful is your marketing efforts. Great formulations are important but there are lots of excellent formulas that never achieved market success.

Develop raw material expertiseBeing a cosmetic formulator is like being a cook, you just use different ingredients. To become a great formulator you need to know all the ingredients at your disposal. You should make it a point to create & test samples of any new raw material you encounter, even if it is not obvious when you would use it.



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Kill bad prototypes quicklyDon’t waste time on technologies that don’t have great promise. Whenever you get a new raw material test it at the highest concentration level suggested. If you can’t see a performance difference at the highest use level, don’t bother testing it at lower levels.

Sell your ideasAs a scientist and formulator you probably didn’t get any sales training. However, in the business world people don’t really care which surfactant youused or about the clever emulsion technology you developed. They want to know the benefits of your technology and why they or anyone else should want to use it. Learn to tell stories that inspire people to get behind your ideas. And try not to get discouraged. The ideas from R&D people are often ignored in the cosmetic industry.

Benchmark your formulasExcellent idea. There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to create a formula that works as well as the best performing cosmetic products on the market. Here you can learn to benchmark cosmetic formulas.

Quickly identify killer issuesThink through the entire production process and address potential issues. Know whether your suppliers are going to be reliable or whether your lab formulation can still be produced on a large manufacturing scale.

Archive your knowledgeYou are going to learn a lot over time and you are going to forget most of it. You should have a way to relearn information and keeping a digital archive isa great way to do that. Write notes about what you learned from every project. Keep copies of articles you found particularly helpful. Using a service like Dropbox or Evernote is a great way to keep your information online and secure.



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Section 3 : Post Batching

What are cosmetic product specifications?

When you create a formula in the lab it's rather easy to create batches that are consistently the same in terms of their physical and chemical characteristics. This is because you use sensitive balances, you work with smaller amount and you are not typically under pressure to get something made on a specific schedule. These same conditions are not true of production and for these reasons (and others) you need to set specifications for your finished formulas.

What are cosmetic specifications?

Specifications are a range of values assigned to a formula which dictate the

physical and chemical characteristics of any batch that are acceptable for a

quality product. If some characteristic of a batch is found to be outside of

the specifications the batch is either adjusted or discarded before it can be

sold. In this way, specification ensure that every consumer will have a

consistent experience every time they use the product.

Who sets specifications?

The specifications are initially set by the product development

team.Traditionally, R&D takes the leading role in this process but they also

get input from the marketing and market research departments for factors

that will affect consumers. As the lead product formulator, you are

ultimately responsible for setting specifications.



What characteristics?

The product specifications for any cosmetic formula will vary depending on

the type of product it is, but there are some commonalities. For example,

all products should have an appearance specification. When the batch is

done it should be checked for color, clarity, or any other unique appearance

that the formula is supposed to have. If your product is a blue body wash

but the final batch appears green, it would fail the specification test.

Another common specification (or spec) would be odor. Product batches

should always be checked against an odor standard to ensure it has the

proper odor.

Other key characteristics that get listed in the specifications would include

pH - A range should be set for every aqueous based formula

Viscosity - A range should be set for any liquid formula. Also, the test

should be done using a standard spindle and speed.

Of course there can be other specifications that are measured including

product performance tests, penetration tests, moisture % tests, and more.

Ideally, you'll set specifications for the least amount of testing required to

ensure that the product is consistent. Production people are under a time

crunch and often don't want to wait for intensive testing before releasing the

final batch.

Who tests the product?

Normally, the specification testing is done by the Quality Control group at

your company. In this way there is an independent verification of the quality

of the final product. The production group is under pressure to release as

many batches as they can so if they were responsible for the testing, they

might pass batches which are borderline.



What happens when a product is out of spec?

Since there are numerous reasons a product could have characteristics

outside of specifications there are numerous answers to this question.

Sometimes adjustments are made. For example, if the pH is too low or high

and acid or base is added to adjust the pH. If the viscosity is off sometimes

the batch is reprocessed (heated, mixed and cooled again) or an ingredient

known to increase or decrease the batch is added.

If something like the color or odor is off often the batch will be blended off

with another batch in a small enough proportion that the mistake isn't

detectable. But sometimes, and production people hate when this happens,

a batch is too far out of spec to be saved and it has to be discarded.

Specifications are an important aspect of formulating and as a cosmetic

chemist you need to be familiar with why they are used and how you set

them.



Controlling Cosmetic Product Quality

One of the most important thing you can do when making cosmetic formulas is to produce cosmetic products and formulations that are of high quality. But you might be wondering how you do it. The short answer is probably thesame whether you are making cosmetics, cars, or computers...Consistency. Let's expand on that.

Use consistent raw materials

When you make a formula you need to use the same ingredients every time

you make a batch. Ideally, you would use ingredients that are even from the

same batch of raw material produced by your supplier. However, this isn't

possible because you will eventually run out of that lot. What you should

keep consistent is who you get the raw material from (supplier) and the

specifications of the cosmetic raw material that you get. If you have a

consistent supplier and specification for a raw material you are well on your

way to producing a consistent product.

Consistent ingredient levels

Using the right ingredients is important but equally important is using the

right levels of these ingredients. When you weigh out the amount of raw

material you're going to use to make the formula you have to be consistent in

how much you use. This can be challenging as some raw materials tend to

stick to the side of weighing containers and sometimes you just pour too

much onto the scale. One of the most common reasons for a batch not

turning out the way you expect is because of inconsistent weighing. Ideally,

you will have no more than a 5% error in your ingredient weighing.



Consistent procedures

How you make a batch is almost as important as which ingredients you use.

To have a consistent, high quality product you need to combine the

ingredients in the same way every time. You should keep track of the mixing

speeds, the equipment, and the time for making the batch. These should be

the same every time you make a new batch. Also, the temperature should

be consistent too as should when you add ingredients. To get the best

chance of making a repeatable product you should make the product the

same way every time.

Consistent filling

Another thing to consider is after the batch is made. You need to be

consistent in the way that you fill the product into containers. You can

effect the viscosity if you send the product through a small nozzle or you try

to fill it too quickly. The method of filling can definitely affect the final

product.

Cosmetic product testing

Finally, you need to do some consistent testing to ensure that your batches

are indeed consistent from batch to batch. This would be things like

viscosity and pH measurements plus color, odor, and appearance

evaluations. Do the testing at the same temperature using the same

equipment.

Creating a high quality cosmetic product is not difficult but it can be made

much simpler if you do one thing...be consistent.



How to save a cosmetic batch

As a cosmetic formulator you will undoubtedly run into a situation where you

screw up a batch. Or maybe the batch just gets ruined through no fault of

your own. Most of the time you should simply throw the batch away and

start over.

Of course, I am speaking from the point of view of a cosmetic chemist who

worked for a large corporation and usually had access to a nearly unlimited

supply of most of the raw materials I was working with. The only negative

thing about pitching most batches was the extra time required to make a

new one. But for most cosmetic formulators pitching a product and starting

over is a luxury and saving every batch is important. So, here are some

tricks I've used (for the times I couldn't discard a batch) to save a batch.

When is a cosmetic batch bad?

Before we give tips on saving batches, it makes sense to consider how to

decide whether the batch is really bad. Since every cosmetic formula should

have a set of specifications these can be used. If a value such as the pH,

viscosity, color, odor or consistency is "out of spec" then the batch is

considered bad. While this does not guarantee that every in-spec batch is

good, it is a reasonable filter for most cosmetic chemists to follow. The

other way a batch can be considered bad is that it doesn't perform the way

it's expected but that is a much more complicated situation which we will

ignore for this post.

Figure out why it went bad

Once you've decided a batch is bad, you should figure out what went wrong.

This will depend on which characteristic is out of spec. For example, if the

pH is too low maybe you added too much acid or not enough base. If the



color is off perhaps the wrong amount of dye was added or one of your

starting raw materials was a different color than usual. Go through your

batch notes and identify what the possible problem could have been.

Sometimes you just can't know but it does make fixing things easier.

How to save a bad batch

Here are some tips and tricks on how to save a cosmetic batch. The specific

tactic you use depends highly on the type of formulation you are making.

Remix & Reheat

If your product is thin or has the wrong consistency one of the first things

you can try is to reheat the product and mix it again. Often an emulsion

won't form properly during the cooling phase and remixing at a high

temperature can reset and fix things. If you do try this however, be sure to

add back more of your heat-sensitive ingredients like preservatives and

fragrances as these can breakdown when heated for a significant period of

time.

Add more of the missing ingredient

When you notice an obvious error in the amount of an ingredient, you can

often add more of the ingredient at the end of the batch to make things

come out properly. This usually only works with liquid raw materials.

Add adjustment ingredients

If the pH is off you can add ingredients like acids or bases at the end to get

the batch in spec. This is where doing something like a formulation knockout

experiment is extremely helpful. By doing a knockout experiment you can

determine the effect that every ingredient will have on the end

characteristics of your formula. Some of the ingredients will have a

significant effect on thickness or pH even if you wouldn't expect them to.



Dilute with a new batch

Sometimes you can't adjust a batch for a variety of reasons such as adding 10

times too much dye. In those cases, you can make a second batch where you

leave out the color and then blend the two batches together to make one

that is the correct color. This can work for pH and viscosity too. However,

you should know that while this technique can lead to a fixed batch, it can

also lead to two broken batches! So, use it with caution. There were times

when we would have to dilute a production batch over months and many

other batches just to save it.

Sometimes you have to throw things away

While there are often ways to fix batches, there are times when things are a

lost cause and you should pitch the product. For example if your batch is

microbial contaminated you should not use it. Granted you can do things to

kill off any contamination but certainly on a lab scale it is more safe to just

discard these batches. Remember the time and effort required to save a

batch is sometimes not worth it.



7 Tricks for Saving a Bad Body Wash Batch

This will happen to you at some point in your career as a cosmetic chemist.

You'll either get a call from the QA people telling you a batch is "out of spec"

or the huge batch you made for a consumer test is not right. Now, you have

to figure out how to fix it.

How you do this depends on the type of formula but in this post we are going

to focus on things you can do to save body wash and shampoo systems. We'll

cover other types of formulas in the future.

Note: sometimes a batch is just too far out of spec that you have to just

dispose of it.

Common problems and possible solutions

1. Problem: pH is too high

This can be solved by adding some type of acid to reduce the pH. Typically,

something like Citric Acid or Lactic Acid works best.

2. Problem: pH is too low

This common problem can usually be solved by adding a base like Sodium

Hydroxide to increase the pH.

Note - You should always fix pH problems BEFORE trying to fix a viscosity

problem! Sometimes fixing the pH problem will solve the viscosity problem.

3. Problem: Viscosity is too thin

This is the most common problem you'll have. The easiest way to fix most

formulas is to put additional salt into the formula. As we've written about

previously, salt will affect viscosity. Don't add too much however, as that can

push the solution to the other side of the salt curve and make it permanently

thin. Another remedy is to add some additional secondary surfactant like



Cocamidopropyl Betaine. This may change the micelle structure enough to

make the batch thicker.

4. Problem: Viscosity is too thick

This is another common problem for body washes and shampoos.

Unfortunately, it's a little tougher to fix. While salt addition could make it

thinner, that is too difficult to control so it is not recommended. Better is to

put in additional nonionic surfactant or a lipophilic ingredient. Diluting with

water is another possibility but that will dilute all the ingredients in the

formula and could lead to a lower quality product. One other option is to

make a completely new batch but withhold the salt. Then blend the new

batch with the old in the correct ratio to get the right viscosity.

5. Problem: Color is wrong

This can happen for a number of reasons but often it is because the

surfactant you are using is more yellow than normal. One solution is to add

additional color to the batch. You can take a small sample of the batch and

mix in the appropriate amount of color until it matches a standard. Then

calculate the amount that should be added to the full batch and make the

adjustment. If the color is completely off you can either discard the batch,

get marketing to approve it, or blend off the batch in such small increments

that it doesn't spoil the color of future batches.

6. Problem: Odor is off

Sometimes the surfactant or feature ingredients will smell slightly different

and make the whole batch smell wrong. Adding more fragrance is one

possible solution. Another trick is to blend the batch with an unfragranced

one, then add back the original fragrance to bring it back to an acceptable

level. Often, fragrance problem batches have to be discarded.

7. Problem: Appearance is grainy

If you have a pearlized formula that is supposed to look elegant but it is

grainy, one way to fix it is to heat the batch back up, mix it until it is clear,



then rapidly cool it. This will make the particles reform in a better

configuration and might solve the problem.

Remember that each formula is different and these solutions might not work

for you particular system. However, these tricks have saved many a batch

and they may just save yours too.



Salt Curve Analysis

When you formulate an anionic surfactant based cleansing formula, you don't

normally have to include a separate thickening system. This is because salt

will thicken surfactant systems. This is a pretty handy phenomena as it

reduces the cost of your formula and can give you better control over the

final viscosity. However, to get that control you need to do a salt curve

analysis. Here's what you do.

Salt Curve Analysis

The fundamental idea behind a salt curve analysis is that the concentration

of salt predictably affects the viscosity of the system. Therefore, you can

create a plot of the salt concentration versus the viscosity which can then be

used to determine the final salt concentration of your formulation. It can

also be used to adjust a batch if the viscosity is too low. Here is what you

do.

1. Make a large batch of your formulation but do not add any salt. Record

the initial viscosity.

2. Pour off samples (100g ) of your batch and create different salt

concentrations for each. Use the following salt concentrations. (0.2%,

0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1%, 1.2%, 1.4%, 1.6%, 1.8%, 2%) You may want to go higher

in salt concentration.

3. Remove any air from the samples, let them equilibrate at 25C and take

viscosity measurements.

4. Plot the concentration of salt versus viscosity on a graph.

5. Choose the most desired viscosity level and set that as the salt

concentration of your formulation.

6. Create a new batch of the formulation using the new salt curve

determined salt concentration.



http://chemistscorner.com/why-does-salt-thicken-shampoos/

http://chemistscorner.com/why-does-salt-thicken-shampoos/

7. Measure viscosity and compare to predicted salt curve level.

Using the salt curve

You should have no problem creating a salt curve for your system. Since it is

dependent on the composition of the entire formula, you should do this for

any new formula. Even if you simply change the fragrance it could have a

significant impact on the salt curve.

For most systems, the salt curve will max out at 2% and viscosity will actually

start to decrease. When you are formulating you'll want to set your salt

concentration on the left side of the salt curve. That way you will have

some room to add salt if the viscosity is too low. If you set the salt

concentration at the peak of the salt curve, your compounder might put in

too much and you will have no way to adjust the viscosity except blending

with a new batch.

To use the salt curve in production, just look up the viscosity of the final

batch, estimate where it is on the salt curve, then add just enough salt to

the batch to thicken it up. You should try this in the lab first as you want to

make sure it works.

And for a more detailed and complicated discussion of what is going on with

the salt curve, see this excellent article by Kevin Penfield.



http://bit.ly/SkGWXA

Section 4 : Product Evaluation

Cosmetic Chemists Should Always Try Their Products

The number of people I've known who work on products that they've never even tried has always amazed me . They miss so much when they don't have direct experience with a product. Perhaps it's understandable if you are not in the target market for your product, but anyone can safely use most any product and the information you'll learn from the experience will be invaluable. Here are 5 reasons cosmetic chemists should be trying every cosmetic formula they work on.

Learn the most important characteristics

When I first started working on the cosmetic industry, I was making hair care

products. While I always used shampoo, I rarely used conditioner. It seemed

like a waste of time. But when I was given the task to make a new hair

conditioner formula, I needed to figure out the most important

characteristics.

Reading about slip, spreadability, and hair conditioning properties didn't

make sense until I tried the product. After using it a few times, I figured out

what these terms meant and why they were important. This gave me a basis

for evaluating new formulas allowing me to know when I made something

better.

If you don't try a formula, you can't make it better



Build your powers of observation

Many of the formulas you will work on are ones you've tried all your life. But

most of the time you use them without thinking. Your mind has become

dulled to the experience. When you try a product thoughtfully, you can build

your powers of observation and discover all sorts of details you never

noticed.

For example, you might start to notice the ease at which your hands slide

while applying a lotion, or the length of time it takes to "work into the skin".

You might notice the bubble density of your body wash or shampoo. In short,

using a product frequently and mindfully can make you an excellent

evaluator.

You can't make formulas better if you don't know what to change

Figure out formula problems

Sometimes your Market Research data will come back suggesting there is a

problem with your formula. This will be surprising to you because companies

do not like to field consumer tests with formulas they know will exhibit

problems. Even if all your lab testing shows your formula is good, there may

be some subtle things you miss if you don’t try it.

For instance, the product might sting or cause another unpleasant sensation

during use. There might be a foul odor which you only smell when it’s

exposed to skin, hair, or moisture. You might feel tiny particles that

interfere with the experience.

Trying a product identifies unseen problems

Learn the effects of raw materials

A great benefit to trying your formulas is that you learn quickly how

different raw materials change the experience. You can read all you want



about a raw material but until you actually experience it from a formula,

your knowledge isn’t useful. Every cosmetic chemist should have a standard

“blank” formula which they can incorporate a new raw material in and try it

to determine the effects. This is the best way to learn. Even if the raw

material isn’t meant to affect performance, it can have a subtle impact that

you would never notice unless you used it.

The fastest way to learn about a raw material is to use it

Inspire new product ideas

Finally, trying cosmetic formulas is an excellent way to inspire new ideas.

When you think about the different products while using them, you may start

to notice common problems. For example, maybe all the skin lotions you use

feel too greasy or don’t last long enough. You should write down these

observations and try to come up with new solutions. Product brainstorming

while you’re in the act of using a product leads to much more useful ideas

than sitting in an office just trying to think.

If not you, who?

As a formulator, you should take pride in everything you make. And if your

formula is not good enough for you, how can it possibly be good enough for

anyone else?



Becoming a cosmetic evaluation expert

To become an expert cosmetic chemist, it is not enough to learn the science of cosmetic raw materials and which ones are compatible or not. Indeed, thisinformation is critical but another part of the cosmetic formulator job is justas important. Evaluating your prototypes.

Evaluating cosmetic prototypes

We've previously written about the importance of trying your own

formulations. However, we did not get into the details of what to observe

while doing that. Here is a system that you can follow which will help make

you a formula evaluation expert.

Step 1 - Pick a benchmark

It is almost never the case that you will be working on a product that is

completely new to the market. There is always a market leader that you

should be comparing yourself to. This can be a competitive product or one of

your own formulations. You just need to pick some product as a starting

point. This is the thing you are trying to beat.

If you're looking for a benchmark, it is always a good idea to look at sales

information and see which ones consumers are buying most often. This is a

good place to start.

Step 2 - Develop your baseline skills

In 2005, I believe that I had the most shampooed head in America. That year

I was working on a new shampoo formula and a conditioner formula. I

washed my hair over 1500 times. Yikes! While I did develop some redness

and an itchy scalp, I always developed keen senses to differences between

formulations. To be able to tell differences you have to experience the

products.



Each formulation will be different and you may want to focus on some

specific aspect however, there are some general things to start noticing.

For hair products the most important characteristics include...

1. Rinse time - how long is takes to be removed from hair

2. Flash foam - how fast the foam forms

3. Lather feel - does the lather feel creamy or loose

4. Feel in hair - how does the product feel in the hair

5. Spreadability - how easy is it to move through hair

6. After feel - what does hair feel like after using it

7. Dry feel - when hair dries how does it feel

8. Lasting feel - how does hair feel later in the day

For skin products...

1. Rub in time - how long it takes to disappear

2. Greasiness - how does it feel on skin

3. Tackiness - does skin feel sticky

4. Overall feel - after you've applied it how does it feel

5. Whiteness - how does it effect skin color

6. Reapplication time - how long does moisturizing effect last

For each of these characteristics you should develop a rating scale (1-5 or 1-

10 works well). Then use your benchmark formula and give ratings for each

important characteristic. It's good to repeat this process and see if your

scores stay consistent.

Step 3 - Make prototypes

Once you've gotten your baseline skills down, test out one of your

prototypes. Ideally, you have created a prototype in which you've changed

only one variable. This will make it easier for you to identify which

ingredient can create a significant change. If you continually test radically

different prototypes it will be more difficult for you to get formulating

direction from the results of your test.



Step 4 - Test prototype alone

Just as you did with the baseline sample, you should test your prototype a

few times and then rate it for the most important characteristics. Be sure to

try and forget what your scores are for the benchmark product. At this point

it is not that important to be blinded however, as you're just trying to see if

your new prototype is worth further testing.

Step 5 - Compare samples

Once you find a protytpe that you want to explore further, set up a blinded

test and do your evaluation. The key to a blinded test is that you have no

way of knowing which samples are which. So, if there are color differences

keep your eyes closed when evaluating the product. If there are odor

differences try to hold your nose. Ideally, you could match fragrances to

eliminate this variable.

You can give ratings for the samples or you can just decide which you like

better. If you like your prototype better, great! But don't celebrate just yet.

Re-run the test a couple of times to see if you consistently pick the

prototype over the benchmark. If you can't, then you don't have an

improvement.

Step 6 - Get opinions from others

If you are satisfied that your testing shows your prototype is better, then try

it out on a few colleagues. Give them samples of your prototype and the

benchmark and ask them if they notice any differences. Also, have them pick

which they like better. Make it a forced choice.

Step 7 - Revise prototypes

Make revisions to your prototype based on the response you get from your

own testing and that of the other people who have tried your cosmetic

formulation. You really should try at least half a dozen revisions before being

satisfied with any results.



Step 8 - Performance tests

If you are satisfied with your in-use tests, it's time to do some laboratory

performance tests. The specific tests you do depends on the type of product

you are making. For cleansing products you'll want to test foam. For

moisturizing products, test moisturization. Color products you test wear.

There are just innumerable number of tests you can conduct.

Once your prototype outscores your benchmark, it's time to move forward

and push the product along to development. Congratulations!

Now, just one other thing...don't forget to do an early stability test.



When should you reformulate?

I was just alerted to this article that said J&J will be reformulating their sun cream formulation after receiving 150 allergic reaction claims. It turns out that one of the ingredients, Methylisothiazolinone (a preservative) is a skin sensitizer in some segment of the population. In fact, it is so predominant that the EU recently announced it was restricting its use in leave-on cosmetics. J&J is smart to reformulate. But the story made me think of all the other times when a cosmetic chemist might have to reformulate. Here are the most common reasons.

1. Consumer complaints - As J&J found out, consumer complaints are a

significant reason for reformulating. If enough consumers don't like your

product or they are having a reaction to it, then reformulating is the only

reasonable option.

2. Regulatory requirements - Sometimes you can't sell your formula any

more because regulations in a country have changed. This is particularly

true of preservatives since countries are banning them all the time.

3. Cost savings - Perhaps the most common voluntary reasons for

reformulating is that you are trying to reduce the cost of your cosmetic

formula. Since most formulas are not optimized, there is almost always ways

to reformulate and make them less expensive.

4. Raw material is discontinued - Sometimes you are forced to reformulate

because a raw material supplier stops producing a raw material. This can be

very annoying and demonstrates why you should always have a second

supplier for every raw material that you use.

5. Inconsistent supply - There are often situations where your supplier is

unable to get you the raw material you need when you need it. This is

especially true if you are a smaller cosmetic company and one of the

supplier's bigger customer needs more attention.

6. Acquiring a company - Acquisitions in the cosmetic industry are quite

common. In fact, the company I used to work for acquired a couple of

companies while I was there. They also got acquired themselves and



http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Regulation-Safety/J-J-s-sun-cream-reformulated-after-150-allergic-reaction-claims

subsequently shut down. Anyway, whenever you acquire a company you

often have different raw material suppliers or your company does things

different. To integrate into the new company, you usually have to

reformulate all the purchased formulas.

7. Marketing reasons - Another time to reformulate is when your marketing

group wants to sell products in a different way. Suppose they want to

relaunch and add the phrase "new and improved formula." You have to

change something about the formula to make that happen. There are other

marketing reasons such as adding an ingredient consistent throughout the

line or claiming your products are all-natural. All will require some

reformulation.

8. Production efficiencies - Sometimes your production people find a faster

way to do things such as moving from a batch process to an inline,

continuous process. Whenever something like this happens you'll have to

reformulate to ensure that you can make a product that matches the new

process.

9. Stability problems - On occasion your formula will start to exhibit

stability problems. This can happen if there is some subtle ingredient

change that you didn't know happened. In these situations, you usually have

to reformulate to fix the problem.

10. Claims support - Sometimes your regulatory department will look

through the claims being made about your product and discover that the

product has to be reformulated to meet the performance claims. Or maybe

you try to sell your product in another country that has different claims

support requirements. Usually, only a product reformulation will help in

these cases.

While reformulating can be annoying, overall it is a good thing because it

keeps cosmetic chemists employed and working. These reformulations have

to be done so don't get used to any one formula. No doubt, in a few years

you will have to change it.



How do you know if a cosmetic raw material works?

I saw a science article that indicated in a mouse study that a compound in

apple peals (ursolic acid) was good for helping build muscles. After I

"tweeted" this fact, one of my followers responded that Uroslic Acid was also

good for skin care. She even included a link to research published in the

Archives of Dermatological Research.

According to the abstract skin wrinkling and xerosis associated with aging is a

result of a reduction in collagen and ceramide content. In their study, they

found Uroslic Acid was able to increase both ceramide and collagen

production. So, it logically follows that this might make a good topical skin

application. In fact, a raw material marketing department would seize on

this research and start selling the promises right away.

Unfortunately, they would be jumping the gun.

There are two things that strike me about this study and raise red flags about

the viability of this raw material. First, the study was done on cultured

normal human dermal fibroblasts, or more simply, cultured human skin. This

is decidedly different than actual human skin. Sure the cells might be the

same but the structure of the thing is completely different. Just because a

raw material is shown to do something in the lab doesn't mean that it will

work on a real person or when delivered from a real cosmetic.

Just because a raw material is shown to do something in the lab doesn't

mean that it will work on a real person or when delivered from a real

cosmetic.

The second thing is that the study was published in 2002. That was over 9

years ago! If Ursolic Acid had the ability to increase ceramide and collagen

production in skin, why hasn't any more work been done to demonstrate an

effect when applied topically to human skin?

To be fair, I did read that Ursolic Acid is currently going through clinical

trials to see whether it works as an antiwrinkle ingredient. No results are



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21417964

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21417964

published yet.

However, it seems to me that it would be a remarkably simple test for some

cosmetic company to have already done. This would suggest to me that

someone has already done it and were not able to get any results that were

worth publishing or even launching a product around.

This view may be a bit skeptical but "extraordinary claims require

extraordinary evidence."

How do you know?

This brings us to the question of how a cosmetic chemist can know whether

the raw material that your supplier is bringing you really does the things it

claims. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Be skeptical but open minded. It's hard to make something new. That is

why there are so few new things. The raw material you are being presented

probably doesn't work as claimed. It is an easy matter to give only the

evidence that supports your case when you are trying to sell something. Of

course, you don't want to filter out too much. If you can easily test a raw

material for its claims, you should do it.

2. Get independent testing. While the testing of a supplier is a good start,

you should never rely on supplier testing to prove a claim. They have an

incentive to find information that supports the product they are selling. I'm

not suggesting they make up data. However, they certainly aren't going to

show you negative data. I like independent data generated in-house.

3. Do blind testing. The first rule of science is to not fool yourself and you

are the easiest person in the world to fool. If you don't want to believe in a

raw material, you'll find data to support that belief. Conversely, if you want

to believe in a raw material, you'll find data to support that. This doesn't

lead you to the truth. When evaluating a raw material for a claim, you

should do a double blind study. To do this, it helps to have a technician who

can label all the samples, do all the testing and give you the data for

analysis.



As a cosmetic chemist, you are going to be inundated with information from

suppliers demonstrating that their new raw material is the most excellent

thing since sliced bread. Use a little skepticism and testing to ensure that

what they say is true.



Demonstrating a cosmetic benefit

The following quote relayed to me by Jonah Berger struck me as relevant to

cosmetic formulators.

Figure out how to show people the benefits rather than tell them

Cosmetic product benefits

The first step to showing people the benefits of your cosmetic formulation is

to figure out just what those benefits are. This can be tricky because

product benefits are not always obvious. It's much easier to come up with

product features and people often mistake the two.

Product benefits are the perceived value or advantage that a consumer

derives from using your product. Product features are descriptions of the

actual product (e.g. color, size, price, etc). When you are trying to market

your product or idea, it is always best to focus on the product/idea benefits.

So how do you identify the benefits of your product? A typical way is to list

all the features of your product then answer the question...

So what?

Skin lotion example

If you are formulating a skin lotion and want to figure out the benefits, first

list the features. For example, a skin lotion might have the following

features

Appealing fragrance

Thick lotion

Moisturizes skin

Lasts for 24 hours

White lotion

Pump delivery system



Then answer the question "so what?"

Appealing fragrance - Makes you feel happy when you smell it

Thick lotion - Does not make a mess you try to apply it

Moisturizes skin - Makes you skin feel better

Lasts for 24 hours - You won't have to apply it as frequently

White lotion - Will not stain clothes or your skin

Pump delivery system - You don't have to think about how much to

use

When you are marketing your product, always explain the benefits of any

feature. But as the speaker's quote who started this post suggests, showing

your product benefits is better than just telling what your product benefits

are.

How do you show a benefit?

Showing a product benefit is done in a number of ways which depends on

how you are communicating with your consumer. If you are face to face

with a consumer you can show the benefit by giving a demonstration of the

effect. For example, there is a commercial where they make the claim that

the product “softens hands while you do dishes.”

The consumer actually soaks their hand in the dishwashing liquid. If you are

face to face with a consumer you can engage the sense of smell, touch,

sound, as well as sight.

But in most cases you will be communicating via some audio/visual medium

like television, magazines, or the Internet. For this you will have to come up

with demonstrations to show your benefit. For example, when I was working

on a technology to stop hair color from fading, we came up with a

demonstration involving three tresses that showed where the color started,

what it looked like after washing 20 times without the treatment and what it

looked like after washing 20 times with the treatment. It was an impressive

visual.

Videos are also great for showing a benefit. TV commercials do it all the

time. If you want to communicate that using your product will make you



look beautiful and feel happy, you can show a beautiful happy person using

your product. For a person in the lab, you could come up with a

demonstration that shows your hair conditioner makes hair easier to comb by

showing one untreated tress is much more difficult to comb than your

treated tress.

If you can come up with a great demonstration for your product, it will make

it much easier to sell your product to both the consumer and to your

marketing group. So spend some time listing the features and benefits of

your product, brainstorm some ways to demonstrate the benefits, then do it!

This really can be one of the more fun aspects of product development and

formulation.



Cosmetic formula testing – Triangle Test

As a cosmetic chemist, one of the most basic things you need to be able to

do is to evaluate formulas and new raw materials. This is one reason we

highly recommend that formulators try EVERY product they make. But just

haphazardly trying a product will only give you so much information. If you

really want to know if a cosmetic formulation is different, you'll have to

conduct a triangle test.

What is a triangle test

Simple put, a triangle test is a study in which you compare 3 samples and

pick out the one that is different. Of the three samples, one is actually

different while two are the same. If you can consistently pick out the

different one, there is a pretty good chance that there is actually some

difference that you're picking up on. You might not always know what the

difference is but sometimes that doesn't matter. The key is that if you can

notice a difference then there is probably something different about it.

When to conduct a triangle test

Triangle tests are useful whenever you need to determine whether a change

in the formula is noticeable or not. So, they work well for...

Fragrance evaluations - When you have an odor change and you want to see

if there is a noticeable difference.

New raw materials - To see if there is some performance effect by using a

raw material

Cost savings - Remove a raw material and see if anyone can tell a difference

Formula development - See if changes you've made actually improve your

results



Triangle test basics

A triangle test can be done by one person or by an entire panel of people.

The former is best when you are making new prototypes and evaluating raw

materials. The later is better for making final decisions as it will give you

some statistics and numbers to show your boss.

Step 1 - Design your test

The first thing you have to do is figure out what test you'll run to compare

the samples. For odor evaluations this can be a simple "sniff test". Just put

your formulas in a small jars, label them and smell. I like to keep my eyes

closed for odor evaluations or do it in a dark room so you can't be influenced

by color. For other products you can use any number of tests such as foam

tests, moisturizing tests, combing tests, etc. It really depends on what you

are testing and what characteristic you want to notice.

If you are doing a test in which you want to get some useful statistics, you

need a panel of about 30 people before you get meaningful data. However, if

the differences are significant you'll be able to make decisions on many

fewer test subjects (say 15).

Step 2 - Make your samples

To do a triangle test you need to make two batches of a product. Be sure to

create enough to pour off multiple samples. One batch will be your control

while the other will be your test. When you are making your samples, flip a

coin to decide which batch will be the one you take two samples from and

which will be the odd one out. Flipping a coin (or other random process) is

important because you don't want to always conduct the test in which the

odd sample is always the test sample.

Ideally, if you are going to test the samples, you should have someone else

make and fill the samples. At the very least you should have someone else

fill and label them. That way you can be singly blinded and won't be able to

trick yourself.



Step 3 - Test your samples

After the samples are made & labeled, run the test. Evaluate the products in

the order they are presented and give an initial guess as to which is the odd

sample. It is useful to write down your answer at this point.

Once you've tested the samples, it is helpful to re-run the test. This time you

should randomly mix the samples and evaluate them without knowing which

sample is which. Try to hide the labels. If you are unable to pick out the

same sample then the first time was probably a fluke and you'll want to

rerun it a few more times until you can consistently (or not) pick out the

same sample.

Step 4 - Reveal the codes

Once you are certain you've got the odd sample, look at the codes to see if

you picked out the odd sample. If you did, then you can have some

confidence that there really is a difference. If you didn't, there probably isn't

any real difference and the new raw material or the formulation change you

made was likely inconsequential, at least for the characteristic you tested.

Step 5 - Determine significance

If you were conducting the test with a panel of people you need to

determine if there were statistically significant differences. For people who

like statistics you can figure out the Chi squared distribution. X2=? (|O-

E|)2/E, where O=observed and E=expected. Or you can use a chart.

The triangle test is one of the key tools that a cosmetic chemist has at her

disposal. You should practice it often because the more you use it, the

better you'll get and the more useful it will become.



Section 5 : Resources

Cosmetic Formulating Checklist

Whenever you begin a formulating project there is a variety of information

you need to establish before doing anything else. Some of these things will

be obvious and easy but others might be challenging especially if you have to

get your marketing department to make a decision.

Remember, on some level formulating is a team sport.

But here is a handy checklist that any cosmetic formulator could use to

speed up their formulating efforts and ensure that they have the best chance

for success.

Cosmetic Product Profile

The product profile is intended to establish the goals that you are trying to

achieve with your product. It should include information about Aesthetics,

Performance, Cost, Claims and Packaging.

Cosmetic aesthetics

The specific characteristics will depend on the type of formula you are

making, but in general you should have targets for all the following

parameters. Since your marketing people will typically be the ones guiding

the development you will need to work with them on picking the benchmark

and most of these other characteristics.

1. Benchmark standard - A product that you are trying to match.

2. Color

3. Intensity of color

4. Clarity - (opaque, clear, hazy)



5. Special effects (e.g. pearled, glitter or not)

6. Consistency - Liquid, Gel, Solid, etc.

7. Rheology / viscosity

8. Product odor (fragrance benchmark)

Cosmetic performance

These characteristics depend on what you want the product to do. Your

ability to come up with measurements or targets depends on your ability to

test these characteristics. These can be instrumental tests or trained panel

tests. We can't list them all but here are some standard characteristics for

most types of products.

Cleansing products

1. Foam volume

2. Foam height

3. Foam density / feel

4. Level of cleansing

5. Feel of surface after cleansing (hair or skin)

6. Level of moisturizing / conditioning

7. Drying rate

8. Other...

Moisturizing products

1. Feel upon application (greasiness, dryness, tackiness)

2. Speed of rub-in

3. Immediate moisturizing level

4. Shine

5. Skin moisturization score

For hair products

6. Ease of combing

7. Flyaway levels

8. Hair breakage reduction

9. Speed of rinsing



Styling products

1. Hair workability

2. Level of hold

Formula cost

Before you start any formulation work, you need to know how much money

you have for creating the product. Typically, you will cost a formula out in

terms of how much it costs per pound (kilogram) or how much it costs per

unit (depends on package size).

1. Total formula cost limit

Cosmetic claims

An important thing to consider while in the early stages of formulation is the

types of claims you want to make. This will help you choose feature

ingredients and make you decide what characteristics you need to build into

the formula.

Some of this work can be done after formulating but the more you can get

done before you actually start to work, the easier your formulating efforts

will be.

1. Ingredient claims

2. Performance benchmark claims

3. Competitive product claims

4. Product claims demonstrations

Packaging

When formulating it is imperative that you know what type of package the

product will be put into. This will affect many of the aesthetic

characteristics you choose in the first section.

1. Primary container form

2. Size

3. Type



4. Material of container

5. Container pigment

6. Package supplier

7. Type of closure

8. Material of closure

Formulating checklist

For each product you could come up with a specific list that is applicable.

This checklist provides a starting point which you can expand upon. Putting

together this list prior to formulating and getting your marketing or

management to agree to the decisions made will greatly improve your

chances of creating an excellent formulation that pleases everyone in your

company. And hopefully, it will please your consumers too.



Formulation tool kit

Recommended Additional Resources for Cosmetic Chemists.

Getting Started

If you want a refresher on basic chemistry, the following is a good

introductory textbook. Virtual Chemistry Textbook

Learn the vital vocabulary. Cosmetic industry jargon.

Here's a list of websites that any cosmetic chemist will find useful. Cosmetic

Science web resources.

Books

Chemistry and Manufacture of Cosmetics Formulating, 4th Edition

This is one of the original, complete set of books about cosmetic science. It

is packed full of technical information covering cosmetic science,

formulating and cosmetic ingredients. Almost every industry expert has

written a chapter for this 4 volume book series. If you have a question about

cosmetic chemistry, no doubt this book will have the answer for you.

Harry's Cosmeticology 8th Edition

The first edition of this classic book on cosmetic science was first published

in 1940. It is now in its 8th edition and is one of the most comprehensive

tomes on the subject. It covers all aspects of cosmetic science in 5 sections

including the substrates (skin, hair, nails), formulation approaches,

ingredients, specific formulations, and production. As a formulation chemist,

you will find this single volume book an indispensable resource that you

frequently reference.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0820603724/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebeautybrai-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0820603724


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkSUhZU6sB22dFZUNnluTDBTSmE1VWZwMlloR2g3OXc&hl=en_US#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkSUhZU6sB22dFZUNnluTDBTSmE1VWZwMlloR2g3OXc&hl=en_US#gid=0

http://chemistscorner.com/cosmetic-chemist-jargon-%E2%80%93-acronyms-of-the-industry/

http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/virtualtextbook.html

Handbook of Cosmetic Science and Technology, Third Edition

Much like Harry’s, the Handbook of Cosmetic Science & Technology attempts

to cover as many aspects of cosmetic science as it can in a single book. This

880+ page work covers everything from the biology of hair, skin and nails to

cosmetic formula types, cosmetic ingredients and even cosmetic claims. Of

all the books mentioned thus far, this one does the best job of covering

cosmetic claims and testing. It’s definitely worth having on your bookshelf.

A Short Textbook of Cosmetology

I don’t know where I got this book but it is a nice, short volume that covers

the basics of cosmetic science. It was written by an author from Switzerland

so it has a more Euro-centric view of the cosmetic industry. Other books

discussed many focus on the North American cosmetic industry. I particularly

enjoyed the extensive historical section in this book. The book is significantly

shorter than others weighing in at only 435 pages, but it packs a lot of

information in those pages.

Surfactants in Personal Care Products and Decorative Cosmetics, Third

Edition (Surfactant Science)

This book is a bit more technical about the science of surfactants than any

others on the list. It has chapters written by a variety of cosmetic industry

experts and is an excellent resource for the advanced cosmetic chemist. It is

probably not one you want to start with but after a few years of formulating,

you’ll definitely want to have it in your cosmetic science library.

Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair

This is the most specific of all the books on this list and its inclusion is more

reflective of the fact that I spent most of my time formulating products for

hair. However, if there is anything you want to know about the science and

biology of hair, you need go nowhere else but this book. It explains all

aspects of human hair and is based on the latest research. In the hair care

world, the book is so ubiquitous it is simply referred to as “Robbins”.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/144192874X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thebeautybrai-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=144192874X





Buyer's Guides

In the cosmetic industry, Buyer's Guides list the names and contact

information of companies where you can buy raw materials and lab supplies.

It also list places to have products formulated, produced, tested and filled.

INCI Directory - This is an excellent resource which lets you search raw

materials by trade name, INCI name, and supplier. It also provides you with

formula suggestions, news about the materials, and spec sheets. A great

resource!

GCI Directory - contains a searchable listing of a variety of raw material, and

packaging suppliers for the cosmetic industry. Requires registration but it is

free to use.

Happi magazine buyer's guide - Contains information about raw material

sources, packaging and equipment, and testing services. It has a limited

number of companies that are indexed.

Cosmetic Bench Reference - the most comprehensive free guide to

ingredients and suppliers around the world. It provides the data you need to

select the best ingredients for your formulating challenge. With more than

18,500+ ingredients and more than 600 raw material suppliers, the CBR

online directory is a must-have research tool for industry buyers and

chemists. Requires free registration to use.

Personal Care Products Council buyer's guide - This is a good source for

finding suppliers of various INCI approved raw materials on an International

level. It is searchable by raw material name, trade name, and mixture name.

It only provides listings for raw materials.

Formularies

Prospector - Over 5000 different formulas. One of the most extensive

collections available. Requires free registration to use.

Happi Formulary - Not a bad collection of starting formulas. Searchable too.

Cosmetics & Toiletries - A listing of over 100 starting formulas.



http://prospector.com/

http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating?filter=formulas

http://www.happi.com/formulary

http://buyers.personalcarecouncil.org/jsp/BGSearchPage.jsp

http://dir.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/main/login.html

http://www.happi.com/bg

http://dir.gcimagazine.com/main/login.html

http://www.specialchem4cosmetics.com/services/inci/index.aspx

Free starting formulas - A list of over 50 sources for free starting cosmetic

formulas.

Formulating Software

Mar - Kov Chemical Management software - Get a free trial here

Excel Formula template spreadsheet - This is a standard formula template

that you can use and modify for your own needs.

Lab Supplies

Sigma Aldrich - You can get test raw materials and pretty much any lab

equipment you need.

VWR - If you can't find a lab supply here, it probably doesn't exist yet. Over

400,000 scientific products.

Job sources

Careers in Cosmetics

This is a site that helps connect employers with job seekers. You can post

your resume and search for cosmetic science jobs by job title, company, and

location. If you're searching for a job in the beauty industry, you should be

looking here.

Indeed.com

This website takes aggregate results from a variety of online job search sites

and puts them conveniently in one place. You can search by job title or

location. It also gives you alternative terms which will help you expand your

search. For example, if you search for cosmetic chemist, it will suggest

cosmetic formulator.

Regulatory

FDA Cosmetic Info — Everything you need to know about the rules governing

the sale of cosmetics in the United States is here. Some say the cosmetic



http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/default.htm

http://indeed.com/

http://www.careersincosmetics.com/

https://www.vwrsp.com/

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/sigma-aldrich/home.html

http://chemistscorner.com/downloads/Formula_template.xls

http://www.mar-kov.com/?show=rmpro2010&gclid=CKDeqLy93qECFQ8MDQod5DajHw

http://chemistscorner.com/where-to-find-free-cosmetic-formulas/

industry in the US is not regulated but it is, by the FDA. You can find

information useful to both the consumer and cosmetic business owner.

European Commission — In the EU, cosmetics are regulated by a document

called the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC. At this website you can find the

full-text version and also some important commentary on the implications of

the rules. An excellent website for all things EU regulatory.

Health Canada — While it’s not as big a market as the US or EU, Canada is

still a significant player in the cosmetic industry and their government wants

to have their say. At this website you can find all the rules (current and

proposed) that will govern how you can sell your products in Canada.

Ministry of Health (Japan) — While all governments have access to the same

science, they don’t always come to the same conclusions about what is safe.

At this site you’ll find out what compounds are restricted in cosmetics sold in

Japan.

Cosmetic Ingredient Review Board — This one isn’t a governmental agency

but an industry agency that reviews safety data about cosmetic ingredients.

They report to the FDA and provide an excellent guide as to what ingredients

you can and can not use when formulating cosmetics.

Complete list of worldwide cosmetic organic standards

A compilation of all the various organic and natural standard agencies. There

is no single standard for the world so you must choose which is most

appropriate for you to follow if you are creating natural cosmetics.



http://www.cir-safety.org/

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/cosmetics/index.html%22

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/person/cosmet/index-eng.php

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/cosmetics/index_en.htm

http://chemistscorner.com/cosmetic-chemists-guide-to-natural-and-organic-cosmetic-standards/

For more information see our web page: http://chemistscorner.com/members





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