DIY Skin Brightening and Stretch Mark Cream Formulation & Manufacturing Questions

Hello!

I understand that you want to make a skincare cream for personal use, primarily targeting skin whitening, reducing stretch marks, improving skin smoothness, and slight firming. Based on your revised formula and the advice from the MySkinRecipes team, here is some additional consultation:

Consideration of the Revised Formula (Second Formula):

Your revised formula includes the following ingredients:

• LipidSoft 5%
• Centella Asiatica Extract 5%
• Vitamin B3 4%
• N-acetyl-D glucosamine 4%
• DL-Panthenol 3%
• Activated Resorcinol™ 1%
• Light Cream Maker 1%
• Phenoxyethanol 1%
• Water 57%
• Alpha Arbutin 2%
• MSH White 2%
• French Pine Bark Extract 25 (Liquid) 5%
• Soy Extract 5%
• Ethoxydiglycol 5%

The total is exactly 100%.

• For Skin Whitening: This formula contains several potent whitening ingredients at relatively high concentrations, such as Vitamin B3, N-acetyl-D glucosamine, Activated Resorcinol, Alpha Arbutin, MSH White, French Pine Bark Extract, and Soy Extract. This combination has high potential to help brighten your skin as you desired.
• For Skin Smoothness/Moisture: It includes LipidSoft, Centella Asiatica Extract, and Panthenol, which help make the skin soft and provide moisture. Your reduction of Panthenol and removal of Natto Gum and Glycerin, based on the team's advice, is suitable for combination skin which may not need excessive moisture to avoid stickiness.
• For Stretch Marks/Firming: Centella Asiatica Extract has properties that aid in skin healing and reducing scars, which may help with stretch marks to some extent. Regarding the firming or anti-cellulite ingredients you asked about adding (Carnitine, Slim-Coffee, Slim-Burn), the team's advice is correct that they should not be combined in this formula as it would make the cream heavy and potentially incompatible. It is better to make a separate product specifically for firming.
• Other Ingredients: Light Cream Maker acts as an emulsifier to create the cream texture. Phenoxyethanol is a preservative. Ethoxydiglycol is a solvent/carrier that helps deliver ingredients into the skin, and the team confirmed it can dissolve Activated Resorcinol and MSH White.

Revised Mixing Instructions:

Your revised mixing steps are:

1. Combine Centella Asiatica Extract / Vitamin B3 / N-acetyl-D glucosamine / DL-Panthenol / Alpha Arbutin / Soy Extract / French Pine Bark Extract 25 (Liquid) / Ethoxydiglycol and dissolve in water. Set aside (Water Phase).
2. Dissolve MSH White in Ethoxydiglycol, followed by dissolving Activated Resorcinol, and then add LipidSoft (Oil/Solvent Phase).
3. Add Light Cream Maker to mixture from step 2 and mix well. Then add mixture from step 1 and mix until a cream texture is formed.
4. Add Phenoxyethanol.

These mixing steps seem logical and align with the team's suggestions. It separates the water-soluble ingredients in step 1 and the ingredients soluble in Ethoxydiglycol and LipidSoft in step 2. Then, the water and oil phases are combined using Light Cream Maker as the emulsifier to form the cream texture, and the preservative is added in the final step.

Additional Questions:

• Adding More Natural Whitening Extracts: As the team advised, your current formula already contains several whitening agents at high concentrations. Adding more might not result in a significantly noticeable difference and could be wasteful. It's recommended to try this formula first and consider adjustments later if you truly need stronger results.
• Necessary Equipment and Contract Labs: For making small quantities for personal use, the most essential tool is a digital scale with high precision to accurately measure small amounts of ingredients. A stirrer might not be strictly necessary for simple formulas; you can gently mix with a spatula or spoon. However, if you want a smoother, more uniform cream texture or are making larger batches, a small stirrer is helpful.
  Regarding contract labs that accept ingredients from other sources, this is quite difficult. Most manufacturers have their own ingredient suppliers and quality control processes that require using their own ingredients. Therefore, they usually require you to use their own ingredients. If you plan to produce commercially in larger quantities, you would need to consult directly with manufacturers and may need to adjust your formula to match the ingredients they have available.

Overall, your revised formula is interesting and focuses on whitening as you intended. The mixing method also appears correct for basic cream making. I wish you success with your first attempt at making cosmetics! Experimenting yourself will help you learn and understand the ingredients better.