Making MP Soap with Actives for Acne, Oil Control, and Whitening

You're looking to enhance your MP soap with beneficial properties like acne control, oil reduction, pore tightening, and whitening. It's great that you're considering which ingredients are suitable!

As previously mentioned, many common plant extracts like Centella Asiatica, Pomegranate, Honey, and Silk Cocoon Water are not stable in the high pH environment of MP soap. Adding them will likely render them ineffective and could potentially affect the soap's quality (clarity, lather, hardness). Honey fragrance, however, can typically be added to MP soap.

To achieve your desired properties in MP soap, you need to select ingredients that are stable or tolerant of alkaline conditions. Based on your goals and suitable ingredients, here are some options:

Recommended Ingredients and Usage Rates

• For Acne Control, Oil Reduction, and Pore Tightening:

  • BioSulphur™ EQ: This water-soluble sulfur derivative is effective for reducing oiliness, tightening pores, and helping with acne redness. It is stable in a wide pH range (2-11).
    • Recommended Usage Rate: 1-10% (For oily skin, 4-5% is often recommended in general formulations. Start lower in soap, perhaps 1-3%).
  • Zinc Oxide (Ultra-Fine, USP): Known for its anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, suitable for acne treatment. This ultra-fine grade is less likely to cause grittiness.
    • Recommended Usage Rate: 0.1-20% (For soap, start with 1-3% to assess texture and opacity).
  • QD-365 Anti-Acne Complex: A blend designed to reduce acne inflammation, inhibit bacteria, help with acne scars, and offer some brightening. It is water-soluble.
    • Recommended Usage Rate: 0.5-3.0% (Add when soap is cooled).

• For Whitening:

  • GlyciWhite™: This ingredient helps counteract melanin production for skin brightening. It is water-soluble.
    • Recommended Usage Rate: 3-10% (Recommended 5%. Add when soap is cooled below 60°C).

How to Incorporate into MP Soap

1. Melt your MP soap base according to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Prepare your additives:
   • Water-soluble ingredients that tolerate heat (like BioSulphur™ EQ) can be dissolved in a minimal amount of distilled water.
   • Powders like Zinc Oxide should be dispersed very well in a small amount of water or glycerin to avoid clumps.
   • Heat-sensitive ingredients (like GlyciWhite™, QD-365 Anti-Acne Complex) should be prepared separately and added when the melted soap base has cooled down significantly (ideally below 60°C).
3. Once the soap base is melted and slightly cooled (especially if adding heat-sensitive ingredients), gently stir in your prepared additives.
4. Add your honey fragrance at this stage as well.
5. Pour the soap into molds.

Important Considerations:

• Total Additive Percentage: While individual ingredients have recommended ranges, the total percentage of all additives (excluding fragrance and color) in MP soap should generally be kept low, often in the range of 1-5% of the soap base weight, to maintain the soap's properties like lather, hardness, and clarity. Adding too much can make the soap soft, opaque, or reduce lather. Start with lower percentages and test.
• Testing: Always make a small test batch first to check for clarity, hardness, lather, and any potential issues before making a large batch.
• Appearance: Adding powders like Zinc Oxide will make the soap opaque. Some liquid additives might affect clarity or color.

By choosing ingredients suitable for the alkaline environment of MP soap and using them at appropriate levels, you can create a soap with the beneficial properties you desire.