Calculating Ingredient Percentage and Making Lip Balm

Here's how to calculate ingredient percentages for your lip balm and address your other questions:

Calculating Percentage for Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate)

Cosmetic formulations typically calculate ingredient percentages by weight (w/w). While your base is 400 ml, we'll assume it weighs approximately 400 grams for calculation purposes, as oils and butters have densities close to 1 g/ml. The percentage is based on the total weight of your final product.

To calculate the amount of Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) to add in grams, use this formula:

Amount (grams) = (Percentage / 100) * Total Weight of Base (grams)

For your 400g base, the recommended usage rate of 0.1-1% means you would add:

• Minimum (0.1%): (0.1 / 100) * 400 g = 0.4 grams
• Maximum (1%): (1 / 100) * 400 g = 4 grams

So, you would add between 0.4 grams and 4 grams of Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) to your 400g lip balm base for general use.

Considering the more specific recommendations from the product description:

• For antioxidant in other oils (0.01%): (0.01 / 100) * 400 g = 0.04 grams
• For antioxidant on skin (0.1-0.5%): 0.4 grams to (0.5 / 100) * 400 g = 2 grams
• For very dry skin (>0.5%): More than 2 grams (note that using more than 0.5% may feel sticky on the skin).

Choose the amount based on the specific benefit you want the Vitamin E to provide and your desired texture.

Cocoa Butter vs. Shea Butter

Both Deodorized Cocoa Butter and Refined Shea Butter are excellent choices for lip balm and provide good moisturizing properties. There isn't one that is strictly "better"; the choice depends on your preference for texture, feel, cost, and any subtle scent remaining in the deodorized versions. Refined Shea Butter is very popular in commercial products due to its neutral scent and good performance. You can experiment with both to see which you prefer in your formulation.

Adding a Light Pink Color

To add a light pink color to your oil-based lip balm, you should use oil-dispersible colorants. Products like the ReadyMix™ Liquid Color series are suitable for this. To achieve a light pink, you can use a red oil-based colorant, such as ReadyMix™ Iron Oxides Red, and add it in very small amounts to your melted lip balm base. Mix thoroughly and check the color. To get a lighter pink shade, you can also incorporate a small amount of an oil-based white colorant, such as ReadyMix™ White, along with the red. Add the colorants gradually, mixing and checking until you achieve the desired light pink shade. The exact amount will depend on the strength of the colorants and how intense you want the color to be.