Hair Care Formula Improvement Advice

Based on your shampoo and conditioner formulas and the issues you've experienced (stiffness after shampooing, conditioner not soft enough), here are some suggestions for improvement. The specific names you used for some ingredients might be trade names, but we can address the functional needs.

For your shampoo, the stiffness after washing is likely due to the primary surfactant ("n8000"). To counteract this and make hair feel softer, you can add conditioning agents suitable for shampoo formulations.

For your conditioner, which uses what appears to be a fatty alcohol ("dehydag wax ab") and a cationic conditioning agent ("dehyquart ac"), you can enhance the softness by incorporating silicones or other potent conditioning ingredients.

Based on our product search, several ingredients can help improve your formulas:

• For Shampoo (to reduce stiffness):

  • Polyquaternium compounds, such as Poly-Conditioner 47, help to coat the hair shaft, providing slip, reducing tangles, and minimizing static electricity.
  • Silicone Emulsions, like Hair-Cond™ SM, are small-particle silicones that can be incorporated into shampoos to provide softness and smoothness without leaving a heavy residue.

• For Conditioner (to increase softness):

  • High-performance Silicones such as Silicone Hi-Cond or Hair-Cond™ XL. These are larger particle size silicone emulsions ideal for rinse-off conditioners to provide significant softness, shine, and hair protection.
  • Lanolin is an excellent emollient that adds moisture and softness. You can consider adding more Lanolin to your conditioner formula.

Recommendations for Adjusting Your Formulas:

• Shampoo: Try adding a small amount of Poly-Conditioner 47 or Hair-Cond™ SM (following the recommended usage rate for each product) to your shampoo formula to help reduce the stiff feeling after washing.
• Conditioner: Consider adding Silicone Hi-Cond or Hair-Cond™ XL at an appropriate concentration (following product guidelines) to your conditioner formula to significantly boost softness and conditioning performance.

When adjusting your formulas, it's best to start with small amounts and gradually increase until you achieve the desired texture and softness.