Assessment of Your Face Cream Formulation

Your proposed formulation includes a powerful combination of active ingredients targeting multiple skin concerns, including brightening, anti-aging, hydration, barrier support, and oil control.

Potential Benefits

• Brightening and Even Tone: Ingredients like Alpha Arbutin, Licorice Extract (Glabridin), Artocarpus Lakoocha Wood Extract (Oxyresveratrol), and Safe-B3 (Niacinamide) work together to help reduce hyperpigmentation and improve skin radiance.
• Hydration and Barrier Support: Sodium Hyaluronate, MOIST72, Safe-B3 (Niacinamide), and Ceramide NP are excellent humectants and barrier repair ingredients that will help keep the skin moisturized and strengthen its natural protective function.
• Anti-aging and Skin Renewal: Safe-B3 (Niacinamide) and L-Carnitine can help improve skin elasticity, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and promote gentle skin cell turnover.
• Soothing and Anti-inflammatory: Licorice Extract (Glabridin and Licochalcone A) and Safe-B3 (Niacinamide) have properties that can help calm skin redness and irritation.
• Oil Control: Safe-B3 (Niacinamide) and L-Carnitine can help regulate sebum production.

Important Considerations and Challenges

While the combination offers many benefits, formulating with these ingredients, especially at the concentrations you've listed, presents significant challenges and potential risks:

• High Concentration of Actives: Several ingredients are at or near their maximum recommended usage rates (Safe-B3 10%, Alpha Arbutin 2%, Glabridin 0.1%, Oxyresveratrol 0.5%, Ceramide NP 0.2%). Combining this many potent actives at high levels significantly increases the risk of skin irritation, redness, stinging, and sensitivity, particularly for individuals with sensitive skin.
• pH Sensitivity and Stability: Many of these ingredients have specific pH requirements for optimal stability and efficacy. Alpha Arbutin and Licochalcone A require a pH between 3.5-6.5, while Artocarpus Lakoocha Wood Extract (Oxyresveratrol) is best at pH 4-6. Safe-B3 (Niacinamide) and L-Carnitine are stable in a wider range but perform best around pH 4-7. Ceramide NP and MOIST72 are also stable within common cosmetic pH ranges. To ensure all ingredients remain effective and stable, the final formula's pH must be carefully controlled, ideally within the pH 4.0-6.0 range.
• Solubility and Mixing: The ingredients have different solubility profiles:
  • Water-soluble: Safe-B3 (Niacinamide), Alpha Arbutin, L-Carnitine, MOIST72, Sodium Hyaluronate.
  • Glycol-soluble: Licorice Extract (Glabridin requires Butylene Glycol or Ethanol), Artocarpus Lakoocha Wood Extract (Oxyresveratrol requires Glycol like Propylene Glycol), Licorice Extract (Licochalcone A requires Glycol like Propylene Glycol). These need to be pre-dissolved before adding to the main formula.
  • Oil-soluble: Ceramide NP. This must be incorporated into the oil phase.
  • Creating a stable emulsion that properly incorporates ingredients from water, oil, and glycol phases requires careful formulation expertise and appropriate emulsifiers.
• Stability of Specific Actives: Artocarpus Lakoocha Wood Extract (Oxyresveratrol) is particularly unstable and requires specific stabilizers like Sodium Metabisulphite (0.1%), Disodium EDTA (0.2%), an antioxidant, and protection from light. Alpha Arbutin also benefits from an antioxidant to prevent discoloration. L-Carnitine is very sensitive to moisture.
• Storage: Several ingredients (Ceramide NP, MOIST72, Licochalcone A, Artocarpus Lakoocha Wood Extract) recommend refrigeration for long-term storage of the raw material or finished product to maintain potency.

Recommendation

This formulation is highly active and aims to provide comprehensive skin benefits. However, due to the high concentrations of multiple potent ingredients and the complex stability requirements, it is not a simple formulation and carries a high risk of causing skin irritation.

• If you are an experienced formulator and understand how to manage pH, incorporate stabilizers, and handle ingredients with different solubilities, it is possible to create this cream. Strict pH control (ideally 4.0-6.0) and the inclusion of necessary stabilizers (antioxidants, chelating agents) are crucial. Refrigeration of the final product is strongly recommended for optimal stability and shelf life.
• If you are new to formulating or have sensitive skin, this combination and these concentrations are likely too aggressive. It would be advisable to start with a simpler formula containing fewer actives or use lower concentrations (e.g., Niacinamide at 5%, Alpha Arbutin at 1%, Oxyresveratrol at 0.1-0.2%). Always perform a patch test before applying the final product to your face.

Combining many powerful ingredients at high percentages doesn't always lead to better results and often increases the chance of adverse reactions. A well-formulated product with a few key actives at optimal, non-irritating concentrations can be much more effective and safer for the skin.