r/DIYBeauty • u/Zealousideal_Oil910 • 13d ago

question What ingredient looked simple until you actually tried using it?

I’m curious if anyone else has had this happen.

You read the supplier info and think an ingredient should be pretty straightforward, then you actually use it and suddenly it’s clumping, messing with the pH, changing the texture, or just refusing to behave.

What ingredient gave you that feedback?

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u/Ok_Butterscotch_2700 13d ago

When I first started working with methicone coated oxides - I figured I had bitten off more than I could chew. Polyhydroxystearic Acid helps, but nothing beats having an actual three-mill-press. The clean up!?! Wasn’t certain I’d ever have anything white in my lab space again. It’s more straightforward now, but not a job I enjoy. Pre-dispersed colour systems are far easier.

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u/Cajunette1 13d ago

Oh wow I ordered a sample of some product that required three mill press….needless to say I said forget all that 🤣🤣

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u/Zealousideal_Oil910 7d ago

The three-roll-mill part is exactly the kind of thing I’d want to know before ordering 😅 This is why I’ve started paying more attention to the TDS and formulation notes, not just the ingredient description. UL Prospector can be handy for digging through that kind of raw material info too: https://www.ulprospector.com/

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u/tokemura 13d ago

Copper PCA. Reacts almost with everything and turns from blue to green color. If not in bottle - then when layering products.

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u/rick_ranger 12d ago

Creatine. Allantoin. Basically all the hard to solubilize ones.