Tips

Q&A: Is there a way to identify powder and liquid ingredients?

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In this month’s Q&A, Susan asked, I am wondering if there are any patterns within your formulations which might help me determine whether powdered or liquid ingredients are called for. For instance, I’ve noticed that powdered extracts tend to appear as 0.5% whereas liquid extracts appears as 5%. Additionally, panthenol appears as a powder in...

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Q&A: How can we avoid incorporating air or increasing the volume of emulsions?

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In this month’s Q&A, Michael asked, I’ve got a question about equipment or technique. I’ve been enjoying the Newbie Tuesday and Formulating Friday series, however I notice I’m incorporating air into my thicker creams, I don’t mind the air but sometimes I want to reduce it. What I am doing is firstly using a stick blender to emulsify the...

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Q&A: How do we know if an ingredient is water or oil soluble?

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In this month’s Q&A, Cass asked, then followed up with another comment. hello, beginner here. I’m sorry if this is glaringly obvious but I am someone who has to triple check myself. How can I know if an ingredient is water or oil soluble? I feel so silly looking at the comments because they’re all so...

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Tips & techniques: Quick look at active surfactant matter (ASM)!

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What’s active surfactant matter (ASM)? This is the percentage of the surfactant as presented, the actual foamy, bubbly, lathery™ surfactant in a liquid or solid ingredient. Liquid products can range from 10% active to 60% active, but most fall in the 25% to 40% range. The rest of the ingredients will consist of water and...

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When making lotions, should we pour the water into oil or oil into water?

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This is a question that’s been asked for longer than I’ve been formulating: When we combine the heated phases when making lotions, do we pour the water into the oil or the oil into the water? How fast should we add one phase to the other? And why does any of this matter? The short...

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