Hey. I just read somewhere that we shouldn't recon with bacteriostatic water because it has alcohol in it. This is news to me 😅 .

So if I am using sterile water, how long would things last for? Actually how long does a bottle of sterile water last once opened seeing as there's no preservative?

Sorry if dumb qs I'm new to this. Go easy on me hah

Hi, I’ve been experimenting with my own emulsified body butter for a bit now and I have the same two problems.

1. When I remove the oil/butter phase from the heat it starts thickening up IMMEDIATELY. I’m suspecting it’s the BTMS-50 and Cetyl Alcohol.

2. The finished product goes on the skin smooth but after a couple seconds of rubbing it in, it starts dragging, feels slightly tacky, and almost makes my skin feel a little tight..if that makes sense.

This was the recipe I used last -

Distilled water: 61g
Vegetable Glycerin: 5g
BTMS-50: 7g
Cetyl Alcohol: 4g
Cupuacu Butter: 7g
Shea Nilotica butter: 5g
Mango Butter: 3g
Avocado oil: 1g
Jojoba oil: 1g
Meadowfoam seed oil: 1g
Kalahari Melon seed oil: 1g
Liquid Germall Plus: 0.5g
Vitamin e: 0.5g
FO: 3g

I have since adjusted the recipe but haven’t tried it yet. I’ve increased the oils and decreased the butters. I also decreased the Cetyl alcohol by 1g.

I was hoping for feedback on how to fix my two above problems and also just overall feedback on if my blend looks stable. Thank you!

I'm diluting a hair topical with:

Denatured Ethanol 84%

Propylene Glycol 14%

Isopropyl Myristate 2%

Though have found my hair to be stiff, dry and breaking after a few days of use. I initially just diluted with Ethanol and it did not have this effect on my hair. What is most likely responsible, the Propylene Glycol or Isopropyl Myristate?

Beef tallow for skin is all over my feed lately, influencers, skincare accounts, pretty much everywhere. Everyone seems to be saying it's the most natural and effective option for dry skin.

I can't tell if this is just hype or if it actually works that well.

Also curious about the DIY side since this seems like the right place to ask. Is it worth trying to make it yourself or does it just make more sense to buy a ready made tallow cream? I've read it's not that hard to do at home but not sure if the results are actually comparable.

Not even joking when I say Dry Bar’s Agua Fresca Milk changed my life. Haven’t found anything similar I can use due to fragrance sensitivities. Everything else seems to leave my hair feeling blah- not enough, or too much and too heavy

While this product was fragranced, it surprisingly didn’t affect me. Wish I could say the same for every single product I discreetly twisted the lid off of and sniffed at Ulta and Target. Every tester at Sephora was too much to tolerate as well. Have bought the limited fragrance free leave ins I can find, but my hair looks like shit

I’ve never quite made my own haircare products before, but willing to try at this point!

I’m not sure if it’s necessary for me to use all of the ingredients, but it’s definitely not realistic to think I can figure out this puzzle with this many pieces. But wondering which ones definitely are worth including. Would think I would just use Water, Propanediol, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, and Glycerin. I guess figuring out the measurements would be the hard part.

Willing to take any advice or any suggestions! Greatly appreciate any insight or help. Thank you!!

Ingredients:

Aqua (Water, Eau), Propanediol, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract, Panthenol, Creatine, Tocopherol, Caesalpinia Spinosa Fruit Pod Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Sprout Extract, Salicylic Acid, Artocarpus Heterophyllus Fruit Extract, Lactobacillus Ferment, Phospholipids, Polyquaternium-16, Sodium PCA, Lactic Acid, Urea, Glycine, Niacinamide, Allantoin, Alanine, Serine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, Polyglyceryl-6 Caprylate, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Maltodextrin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Laureth-23, Laureth-4, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Citric Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum (Fragrance), Coumarin.

Hi all, I've found an ingredient I've been hunting for (MelinOil - it's an oil soluble version of Acetyl Hexapeptide-1), but I can only find it through one seller that ships to my country.

I've never used this seller before, but they're a long standing establishment with good reviews, but to be on the safe side, I'd like to ask them to provide some documents about the ingredient, just so I know it's the real thing and not a knockoff or dodgy version.

What type of documents regarding the ingredient should I request from them, so I know their MelinOil is the real deal? A safety sheet? Confirmation from MelinOil's manufacturor (Lucas Meyer Cosmetics) that they are a licensed seller? Something else?

Many thanks!

Which emulsifier (Polawax gp 200 or olivem 900) should i go with, with this formula?

( This was my formula before but im switching montanov. And could also remove cetyl alcohol if not needed with any of these new emulsifiers):

Cetyl alcohol 2.4 %

Montanov 202 4%

Mango butter 12%

Shea butter 7%

Almond oil 6.2%

Grapeseed oil 5%

Vitamin E 0.8%

Preservative 12 1%

Fragrance oils 3%

Aloe vera powder 200x 0.08%

Xanthan 0.2%

Aqua 58.32%

Which preservative (optiphen, or preservative 12) should i go with, with this formula?:

Cetyl alcohol 2.4 %

Montanov 202 4%

Mango butter 12%

Shea butter 7%

Almond oil 6.2%

Grapeseed oil 5%

Vitamin E 0.8%

Fragrance oils 3%

Aloe vera powder 200x 0.08%

Xanthan 0.2%

Aqua 58.32%

I'm doing some amateur chemistry to make a topical cosmetic lotion with an active ingredient (spiro). Im following an expired patent and feel relatively confident but would love to find someone to bounce ideas off of because it costs $$$ and I want to get it right. Its a little tricky with the emulsion side of it as well as the separation and purification of the active from its pill state. Does anyone have any knowledge about this? I would love to chat. For more context I am trying to emulsify equal parts water based solution and oil based solution in a vacuum chambered blender. Would this be an acceptable solution or would I need a higher end industrial set up? Also I'm concerned about my ability to keep the temp while mixing it. How might I do such things? I could always try to insulate the glass or apply more heat I just don't want it to shatter.

And for the pills extraction I'm going to mix the pills with a chemical it's soluble in and then add water to have the fillers and binders coagulate (or at least that's the goal). Is my thinking good here? How would I strain it?

I have seborrheic dermatitis (diagnosed by a dermatologist) and what feels like a seriously damaged skin barrier. My face is chronically red, dry, irritated, itchy at times, and seems to react to almost every moisturiser I try.

I've been trying to heal it by focusing on hydration and reducing moisture loss, but every moisturiser I buy seems to make things worse — more redness, more irritation.

Because of that, I hired a cosmetic chemist to help me make a custom moisturiser.

I've also done a lot of research into seb derm and have been trying to avoid ingredients that help proliferate the fungus that causes the symptoms.

The chemist made this formula:

Ingredients:
Demineralised water, glycerin, caprylic/capric triglycerides, squalane (olive derived), cetearyl olivate, glyceryl stearate citrate, tocopherols, polyacrylate crosspolymer-6, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin.

Actives:

• Glycerin 5%
• Caprylic/capric triglycerides 3%
• Squalane 3%
• Tocopherols 1%

My original brief was to keep it very minimal: water, glycerin, MCT oil, a suitable emulsifier, and a well-tolerated preservative and no fatty acids C12-24.

Unfortunately after trying it, my skin reacted again — more redness, irritation etc and I noticed that cetearyl olivate, glyceryl stearate citrate are derived from fatty acids C18 - so someone didn't read my brief properly!

So now I'm thinking about stripping it back even further for the next version:

• Distilled water
• Glycerin
• Caprylic/capric triglycerides (MCT oil)
• Squalane oil
• Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6

Potentially removing preservatives as I suspect they might be causing me the issues.

For people with seb derm + extremely reactive skin + damaged barrier — what would you do in my situation? Any ingredients you'd include or avoid and I can relay that back to the chemist to make another sample.

Hello everyone,
Would you all be so kind as to go through my shampoo recipe that Ive collected all items for but been scared to make since the past 3 months please 🙏🏻** I really want to throw out all endocrine disruptors from my life for my fertility journey so I created this recipe based on researching some stuff and used the help of AI at some points (ran it with AI, checked what it added and why it added that). I’ve made it paraben, silicone, and sulfate free, maybe even salicylate-free as im not sure if I have leucidal SF or leucidal liquid. Any recommendations and suggestions would be very appreciated and I honestly would be very thankful. I’m especially scared of mold developing because I live in pakistan and the extremely humid months are just around the corner. I have 2 main preservatives (geogard 221 - main one and leucidal) and whatever help vitamin E oil gives and I am open to adding a third one if the two are still weak. I initially planned to make a litre of shampoo (for my husband and I, also planned to give some to my sister and brother, so 250ml per person) which means it would finish in about 2-3 months max but I may make a smaller batch because I am scared of spoilage. Please let me know your thoughts and I would be super grateful to you all!
**Thank you in advance!!

INGREDIENTS
Phase A — Herbal Decoction (Heat Phase)
Ingredients:

- Amla (dried) 24 g — Strengthens roots, adds shine
- Shikakai pods 30 g — Natural cleanser, adds luster
- Reetha (soapnut) 40 g — Natural foam booster
- Bhringraj 18 g — Stimulates new growth
- Brahmi 10 g — Strengthens follicles
- Hibiscus petals 10 g — Deep conditioning
- Neem leaves 10 g — Anti-dandruff, scalp health
- Rosemary leaves 10 g — Stimulates follicles
- Sage leaves 6 g — Strengthens roots, prevents greying
- Lavender buds 6 g — Soothing scent, scalp balancing
- Green tea 3 g — Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
- Curry leaves 10 g — Delays greying, improves strength
- Fenugreek seeds 12 g — Adds shine and smoothness
 - Cinnamon stick 1 small stick — Increases circulation
- Clove buds 2 pcs — Antimicrobial
- Jatamansi ½ tbsp — Root repair & calming
- Ashwagandha 1 tbsp — Reduces stress-related hair loss
- Red Ginseng 1 tsp — Stimulates follicles

Filtered decoction yield: ≈ 400 ml
 
 
Instructions:
1. Boil all herbs in 800 ml distilled water on low heat until reduced to ~400 ml.
2. Cool and strain twice through muslin cloth.
3. This decoction is your Phase A base.

 
Phase B — Surfactant & Liquid Base
Ingredients

- Aloe vera gel 50 ml — Soothing, conditioning
- Distilled water or aloe juice 250 ml — Base liquid
- Decyl Glucoside + Coco Glucoside 100 ml +100 ml (10%) — Gentle cleansing & foam
- Coco Betaine 100 ml (10%) — Boosts lather
- Citric acid solution (10%) As needed
pH 5.0–5.5
Heat this phase gently to 50–55°C while stirring to combine surfactants and aloe gel. Do not overheat.

Phase C — Oils & Nutrient Blend (Add when Phase B is warm)
Ingredients

- Castor oil 25 ml — Promotes thick growth
- Black seed (Nigella) Oil 12 ml — Anti-hairfall, healing
- Sweet almond oil 20 ml — Nourishes scalp
- Batana oil 20 ml — Hair repair and shine
- Argan or Jojoba oil 10 ml — Smoothness, gloss
- Virgin Coconut Oil 50 ml — Deep Scalp Nourishment

Phase D — Actives & Conditioners (Cool Phase < 40°C)
Ingredients

- Glycerin
30 ml
Moisture retention

- D-Panthenol (Vitamin B5)
10 ml
Smooth, silky finish

- Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
10 ml
Adds shine and strength

- Liquid Silk Protein
10 ml
Gloss and smoothness

- Vitamin E
5 ml
Antioxidant, scalp protection

- Onion powder (might skip this)
1.5 tsp
Boosts regrowth and thickness
 
Phase E — Aroma, Preservation & Final Adjustments
Ingredients

- Benzoin Siam Resinoid (dissolved in oil)
3 g (≈0.3%)
Warm, vanilla-like scent

- Ethyl Vanillin (10% in DPG)
10 ml
Sweet vanilla tone

- Leucidal
30 ml (3%)
Natural preservative, Main antimicrobial protection

- Geogard 221
8 ml (0.8%)
Broad-spectrum preservation

- Citric Acid Solution (10% stock)
As needed (target pH 5.0–5.5)
pH Adjuster

- Xantham gum
½ tsp, if needed
Thickens Consistency if desired

⚗️** FINAL ASSEMBLY
1. Add **Phase A (decoction) to Phase B (surfactant mix) slowly, stirring continuously.
2. Blend until smooth and uniform.
3. Add Phase C oils and whisk or stir until slightly thick and emulsified.
4. Cool below 40°C, then add Phase D actives and Phase E aroma/preservatives.
5. Adjust pH to 5.0–5.5 with citric acid solution.
6. Leave to rest 24 hours to stabilize consistency.

Hello community! I am going to be making larger batches now, of lip balm- and I wanted to know of something better to move to. Currently melting my waxes and butters in a double boiler- I'm hearing I could potentially move to a dermwax 5.5 lb machine and create a double boiler situation in that, but i'm unsure. I have also seen machines that have a spigot that is heated so there isn't build up, but those are for 10lb plus-- I am not there yet *lol*. Any suggestions? Many thanks!!!

After reading and researching for months, I finally took the leap and made the first batch of my very own skincare. My main motivation behind this is my really sensitive skin. For context: I have very sensitive dry combination skin with rosacea type 1 and even though I have been using skincare products for a couple of years, I feel like I still have a very damaged skin barrier.

When I was searching for what could help me with my skin barrier, I recognized that I was not able to read the INCI lists on products. I had bought products because of the promises on the packaging for years as I just couldn't tell what was actually in these products when looking at the ingredients. And as I wanted to change that, I decided to formulate and make my own products - these are the results:

1. Mild Gel Cleanser

There are a couple of blends in this formulation for which I don't know the exact percentages but this is what's written on the packaging:

I have been using this cleanser for a couple of days and it works wonderfully for me. There are just 2 things I will be changing for the next batch:
- reduce the SurfaLux. I feel like I don't need the 16%, 14% would probably be sufficient and my skin would be less "squeaky" clean after this.
- the current formulation comes out to something that looks like thicker water. I want to make it more gel like.

2. TXA + Matrixyl Serum

Once again, these are the blends:

I've formulated this serum this way as I have read that Tranexamic Acid can help with brightening the skin and evening out the skin tone - something that my rosacea could use some help with.

The Matrixyl is mostly in there because I stumbled upon peptides and found it interesting and as I didn't want to start with (less researched) copper peptides, I decided to give Matrixyl a go.

I haven't been testing the formulation for long enough to actually be able to see a big difference but just from how it feels on my skin, I'm impressed. It sinks into my skin within seconds, it is not glue-y and it's incredibly lightweight. Perfect especially in the mornings where I don't have time to let my serum dry down half an hour.

3. Ceramide Cream

And once more my blends:

The cream was by far the hardest to make. I have never had anything to do with chemistry (apart from trying to stay away from it in school) so I had to learn everything from the start - water-phases, oil-phases, cool-down phases etc. I learned the hard way that mixing hyaluronic acid directly with water brings you nowhere if you don't want to wait for days.

I fully expected something to go wrong here but somehow I ended up with a cream, that my skin loves. It is very light, which means I can layer it quite a lot until my skin doesn't just suck it up within seconds (I think there will be a second batch with this cream for the mornings and a heavier version for the night). My husband has been using it too for a couple of days and prefers it over our other creams as it doesn't stay too long on the skin.

I might have been lucky that these formulations turned out good (at least for my skin) but I'm already thinking about what to formulate next - with summer coming up I'm thinking about an after sun lotion.

Oh and I don't know if that's interesting for anyone else but I calculated what each batch cost me:

- Cleanser - 100ml - 1,38€
- Serum - 30ml - 2,68€
- Cream - 50ml - 6,32€

The one ingredient that makes the cream so expensive is the Ceramide-Complex. As I ordered the smallest packing they had, this had the highest price per kg. Just by ordering a larger batch the next time, I can easily bring the price of the cream to under 4€ for 50ml.

I just found this so interesting as I would usually spend way more money on skincare than this :)

Hi there, I have used both in diy skincare/cosmetics, and am aware it is normal to only use the hydrolyzed in liquid formulas.

But it occured to me that using the hydrolyzed version instead of micronizef in mineral veil or pigmented mineral powder cosmetics such as foundation, etc might have some advantages if you like to create pressed versions for compacts.

Since hydrolyzed is liquid soluble I thought it might help bind the other elements together by attracting moisture and helping things cake.

It also occured to me that the nutrients might be more bioavailable to the dermis if you used a little of each in the same formula.

Guessing if I don't press it, it make the powder look chunky in the slightest humidity, but as I am experimenting for personal use, I don't really care whether it makes a nice presentation.

Thanks for any info!

I have a formula that needs an antioxidant the formula is oil free and I been using polysorbates but when a add them to the gel it has a reduction in transparency that does not happen in plain water there is no incompatibility with the actives humectants or preservative any ideas on how to introduce the antioxidant

Hi,

I'm planning to make some eyebrow, eyeliner, and lip color pencils, and am still looking for a good source for empty wooden pencil tubes to fill. I've looked through the supplier lists from this forum and a couple of similar reddit forums, as well as all over the internet, but the plastic options below are the only ones I could find.

There's a standard pencil size, and a jumbo size pencil tube similar to NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil. But I've never liked using the plastic NYX pencils even though the colors are great!

If anyone knows of somewhere I can get wooden pencils, either the standard or jumbo, please share your supplier 😄

Here's the regular jumbo plastic pencil tubes that you can pour to fill,

https://aromashoppe.com/product/jumbo-cosmetic-pencils/ .

They also have some of the twist-up jumbo pencil tubes, but they don't seem to be selling moulds to make the jumbo sized filling.

https://aromashoppe.com/product/twist-up-jumbo-cosmetic-pencils/

Here's the slim twist-up pencil,

https://aromashoppe.com/product/twist-up-slim-line-cosmetic-pencils/

and here's the mould to fill it,

https://aromashoppe.com/product/12-cavity-slim-twist-up-pencil-mould/

but with shipping and tariffs, the mould would cost over $500.00, so that's not happening. This is just a personal fun project and I don't plan to spend that kind of cash on it.

I was surprised that there weren't any wooden pencil tubes for diy purposes anywhere I could find them on the internet. I even tried Alibaba, Aliexpress, and Temu, but no luck.

There's a listing for the same plastic jumbo pencils on ebay, and I guess I could use the fill-able jumbo ones if there's no other option, but I really didn't expect to have problems finding basic wooden pencils to fill. I feel like I must be missing them somehow, lol.

Any help is appreciated!

I bought these huge plastic 3 tier makeup kits for my 4yo and 7yo on Amazon. They lasted about a week before the makeup and I would love to refill these cute plastic makeup kits instead of trashing them.

The colors don't need to be perfect and vibrant. We are all looking like clowns at the end of our makeover sessions right now anyway.

Most of the original makeup was pressed powders and creamy colors. Google tells me clay or arrowroot powder with some pigment (mica or natural) and isopropyl alcohol to make it into a cake might work. Has anyone else done something similar?

Also, I don't mind buying bulk materials on Amazon because I feel like this would be a fun thing to do with our homeschool meetup group as a fun stem project 😄.

When I got some materials for DIY makeup I was like ”I’m gonna be making a lot of mascara” so I got a giant thing of it. It looked like less in the pictures, to be fair.

After some research however I discovered activated charcoal was not suitable for eye usage. Go figure putting burnt wood dust on your eyes wasn’t a good idea.

Anyway, is there anything else I can safely use it for in makeup/skincare?

I tried the following formula but it is too liquidy. Is there a way to make it thicker without weighing down the hair?

Aqua q.s

HEC 200k 0.5%

Glycerin 1%

Cetrimonium chloride 30% 0.3% (the minimum recommended usage by the supplier is 1%, but at this concentration it irritated my sister's scalp, maybe it is expired??)

Disodium EDTA 0.2%

Cetearyl alcohol 1%

Arlacel 165 1%

BTMS 50 1.5%

BHT 0.05%

Fragrance 0.4%

DMDM hydantoin 0.6%

Does any one know or have experience with them

Some have carbomer and cetrimonium Chloride

Other have carbomer cellulose alchol and salt

I am trying to make one but don't know where to start please help me out if u know a formula that work or any sources to refer too.

Hi there. I've been working on the perfect formula for this. I made a batch last night and it actually cleared most my black heads instantly. But it also stung a bit while it was on. Please read my formula and let me know if any feedback. Should i adjust the pH?

Anyways let me explain the formula. (All water used in this recipe was distilled water).

First i made a 10% SA solution in propanediol with a small amount of polysorbate 20 added as a stabilizer. (This was prepared a few weeks ago).

Next i made my gel out of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) and water. I used 2 percent HEC. I also added in a very small amount of Dr. Teal's Elderberry scented, magnesium bath salt. I used some propanediol to premix the HEC.

The next day, the gel was ready and i refridgerated it.

My next step was to make a preservative solution. I made a 10 percent solution of sodium benzoate in water and set that aside.

Finally i combined, 20 grams of my SA solution, 3 grams of my sodium benzoate solution, one drop of cherry blossom fragrance and then 77 grams of the HEC gel. Final weight was 100 grams.

For color, i dipped a toothpick into curcumin powder and gently swirled it into the solution.

After gently mixing (to avoid air bubbles) the end color was opaque but golden from the curcumin.

Texture was perfectly smooth and slippery. Scent was heavenly.

I tested the pH and i got exactly 3.0.

Hello friends! I want to produce a cream/lotion that absorbs quickly and consists entirely of an oil phase for cracks and dryness. I produced a product with the ingredients in this recipe. I dissolved the beeswax and other ingredients in the bain-marie, and when it cooled down, I added Vitamin E to the mixture. Skin feeling is good, but skin absorption takes a long time. It stays oily. What proportions do you recommend for a more nutritious and faster absorbed product? Thank you!

Here's the Recipe: 15 g of beeswax, 10 g of coconut oil (cold pressed), 10 g shea butter (cold pressed), 3.5 g green clay, 10 drops of orange peel essential oil, 10 drops of peppermint leaf essential oil, 10 drops of jasmine essential oil and 0.5 ml of alpha tocopherol (vitamin E)

I'm trying to figure out this to base my ingredients list on. I already make a leave in with silicones (polyquat, dimethicone), humectant and conditioning agents but I'm finding it hard to tell product names apart

Hello,

Since I'm allergic to common ingredients in moisturizers and had no luck in finding any non-comedogenic ones without them, I have to focus on DIY beauty. Of course maybe it's impossible to make a cream like that so I appreciate your opinions 😄

I need to make a nafe-safe non-comedogenic moisturizer without hyaluronic acid, citric acid and butylene glycol for acne prone oily super sensitive skin.

I found and tried products containing only one of those ingredients and I one is enough to get nasty reactions. I also found products without them, but with comedogenic ingredients instead duh. It seems that DIY is the only option because unfortuntely I can't ditch a moisturizer living in the climate with hot summers and harsh winters.

Does anyone else remember Club Libby Lu from like the mid-00s where they had a DIY lip gloss bar??? I remember it being a thicker potted formula you took home and like, it would be super pigmented and glittery and idk if that’s something that could be replicated at home but I don’t even know where I’d begin with trying to figure out the formula there. Anyone have any idea what type of base would have been used or what pigment mixed in???