If you like to make skin care products or cosmetics by yourself, there are few things that need to be considered. Most of the experienced formulators know these already but the beginners might not. There are many DIY's all over Pinterest and social media which inspires us in doing skin care products by our self. But not all are safe and some can lead to skin irritation.Do you want to watch this on Youtube, check here.
Let's discuss on the top 10 things to look:
1) Water and Oil doesn't mix. Don't put essential oils in water based products without a solubilizer.
Oils float on top of the oil. Essential oils at a higher usage rate can irritate and damage skin. If it is not mixed properly, there can be a chance of exposure to high concentration of oils.
If you like to make face mists or bath salts or miscellar water and want to include tiny amount of essential or carrier oil, add a solubilizer to mix oil and water. Some of them are Polysorbate 20, Polysorbate 80, Capryl Capryl Glycol, Natural solubilizers like Sepiclear. In bath salts, Natrosorb is generally added.
Also, if you want to include essential oils in facial products, you can make an oil serum.
2) Beeswax is not a complete emulsifier.
Beeswax is a wax which can harden the balms but will not emulsify with water. It can be used as an emulsion with Borax powder but is a bit complicated and needs some experience. Why to make things complex when we have emulsifiers which can get the work done?
There are plenty of emulsifiers like Emulsifying wax NF, lotion Pro, Polawax, natural emulsifiers like Olivem 1000, Dermofeel gsc, Montanov 68.
3) Never use high percentage of E.O's in facial product.Essential oils smell great and have some good healing properties. But the skin on face and body is different. Essential oils are used at a lower rate when using on face and not all essential oils are good in facial products.
Some essential oils that I like using in facial products are Ylang Ylang E.O, Rose Geranium, Tea tree and Sandalwood with usage rate less than 0.3%
4) Do not mix lot of actives/extracts or other ingredients in pre-made base.
Premade base like conditioner base, cream base, shampoo base, gel base are formulated products allowing a bit of customization like Melt and Pour Soaps. Supplier provides the information on how much extract, color or fragrance can be added to the base. Mostly, it is less than 5%. If oils and water is added exceeding the usage rate, it will not be stable.
5) Using L'Ascorbic acid as Vitamin C in products
L'Ascorbic acid is very effective yet not stable when added in water. It decomposes quickly in water, changes color and feel within time. Formulating a product using L'Ascorbic acid is a bit tricky and needs knowledge. I have added 5% of L'Ascorbic acid in distilled water (Adjusted pH) with a preservative and put it in fridge. It changed color to brown in 2 weeks and also has a distinct smell.
There are other forms on Vitamin C which are relatively stable that can be used in formulations.
6) Using Phenoxyethanol with highly ethoxylated products.
Phenoxyethanol is not compatible with highly ethoxylated products (at a higher rate) like Polysorbate 20, Polysorbate 80, Olivem 300, SLES. It will thin out the consistency and may also have issues in preservation. Non phenoxyethanol preservatives (like Liquid Germal Plus, Geoagrd CET) is a better option when formulating with ethoxylated ingredients.
7) Adding Beetroot Powder in Lip products.
There are many DIY lipsticks using beetroot powder all over internet because it is a good pigment.
But, beetroot color is pH sensitive and also fades with time.
It changes to brownish color in few weeks or months.
If you want to make a lipstick or lip balm to gift to others or to store for a long time, this would not be a good choice since it can degrade color.
There are few companies which use beetroot for color, but it goes through lot of process and filtration to make it stable which can not be achieved when doing DIY.
There are many lip safe pigments available which are safe for usage in lipsticks like mica's and pigments. Check with the supplier for lip safe pigments, not all mica's are lip safe. Natural colorants like Annatto seeds or Alkanet root are also good options. They can be infused in oil for color. Oleoresins are also found with these natural colorants.
8) Considering ingredients in formulation that are pH dependent
Actives like Niacinamide and AHA's (Glycolic acid etc) work effectively at a particular pH. Niacinamide at 6 and AHA's between 3-4. If you include both in a same product, there needs to be a compromise or effective combination to achieve good efficacy and stability. Also, preservative is pH dependent .To formulate these type of products, experience and knowledge on these is necessary. Instead product can be formulated with one active or actives which work best in combination at a certain pH.
9) Extracts and Contamination
If you like to make Glycerites, teas or infusions by yourself for skin care products, possible contamination of product needs to be considered. Since kitchen and home are not sterile and all GMP's cannot be followed, sometimes extracts can go bad. If you want to store the product for a longer time or want to sell the product, it is safe to get the extracts from suppliers which are stable and have documents to prove efficacy.
That doesn't mean you cannot make them for yourself or to store for sometime. I like to make Glycerites, Oil infusions for the products I use. You can find some in my blog.
Using Glycerin greater than 80% in a Glycerite and alcohol tincture of 70% are known for less contamination.
10) Always follow GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
This is the last but the most important to preserve products, using GMP.
Some of the GMP are,
- Wearing gloves, hair mask when making products.
- Using respirator when working with ingredients that can be inhaled easily like SCI.
- Wearing Goggles, Gloves, full hand shirt and shoes when making SOAP to protect skin.
- Sanitizing equipment and workbench with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.
- Storing less shelf life ingredients like carrier oils, proteins in refrigerator.
- Noting down the expiry dates and opening dates.
- Cleaning the surface as soon as something spills over.
- Storing in containers that can be less prone to contamination like airless pumps.
Scales are must when making products since we cannot measure essential oils, extracts and preservatives in drops and tea spoons. I tried earlier to calculate using tea spoons but it changed the entire texture. Also, a pH meter is compulsory when making Shampoos, conditioners, creams since pH strip doesn't measure accurately.
There are two more things which I would like to mention- Always use distilled water only.
- Selling products from home (small scale or big scale) isn't allowed in India. Check with local state drug authority for the licensing procedures.
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