Formulation Advice

Glutathione + Vitamin C Formula

You asked if you could replace L-Ascorbic Acid with Stabilized Vitamin C in your formula using Double Hyaluronic Gel base, and if so, what concentration to use, mentioning a maximum rate of 33% for the Stabilized Vitamin C.

Yes, you can use a stabilized form of Vitamin C, such as Ascorbyl Glucoside, in your formula. The staff also confirmed this and advised paying attention to the pH, recommending a range of 6.6-6.9 for stability. This pH range is suitable for Ascorbyl Glucoside.

Your original formula uses 1.5g of L-Ascorbic Acid in a 10g total batch, which is 15%. While L-Ascorbic Acid can be used up to 15% in some formulations (with pH 2.0-4.0), stabilized forms like Ascorbyl Glucoside typically have a recommended usage rate of 2-10%. Using 15% of a stabilized form like Ascorbyl Glucoside would exceed its recommended maximum usage rate.

Considering the typical usage rates for Ascorbyl Glucoside and the staff's pH guidance, a concentration of up to 10% would be appropriate. To maintain a 10g total batch size, if you replace the 1.5g of L-Ascorbic Acid with 1g (10%) of Ascorbyl Glucoside, the formula would be:

• Double Hyaluronic Gel: 8.83 g
• Ascorbyl Glucoside: 1.0 g
• Glutathione: 0.15 g
• Disodium EDTA: 0.02 g
• Total: 10.0 g

Remember to adjust the pH of the final formula to the 6.5-6.8 range for optimal stability of Ascorbyl Glucoside, as recommended by the staff.

Facial Cleansing Gel Formula

You provided a formula for a facial cleansing gel and asked for feedback on the ingredients and steps.

The staff correctly identified an incompatibility between the original ECOCERT Organic Natural Thickener and Encapsulated Salicylic Acid. These two ingredients should not be used together in the same formula.

Following the staff's recommendation, if you remove the original thickener (item 8) and replace it with Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, the mixing steps should be adjusted. Hydroxyethyl Cellulose is a suitable thickener for formulations containing Encapsulated Salicylic Acid.

Here are the corrected mixing steps based on the staff's advice:

1. Step C (Revised): Mix Hydroxyethyl Cellulose with water and heat to 60-70°C, stirring for 10-15 minutes until a gel forms. Turn off the heat and add Allantoin and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) to this gel mixture. You will get a liquid gel containing the ingredients from step C.
2. Step A+B (Combined): Combine Lauryl Glucoside, Coco Wash, Propylene Glycol, and Glycerin. Heat this mixture to 60-70°C.
3. Combine the mixture from the revised Step C with the combined mixture from Step A+B. Stir until well combined.
4. Add Encapsulated Salicylic Acid.
5. Add Phenoxyethanol (preservative).
6. The staff noted that the pH of this formula will likely be in the mildly acidic range of 4-5, so adjusting the pH with Lactic Acid might not be necessary.