Formulation Review

The shampoo formulation you've provided is a good starting point for a sulfate-free shampoo, incorporating suitable ingredients for cleansing, conditioning, and thickening.

Here's a review of the formula:

• Cleansing System: Using a Sulfate Free Shampoo Base with Coco-Betaine is appropriate for a gentle, sulfate-free cleanse.
• Conditioning: Poly-Conditioner Pro and WaterLock are good additions for hair conditioning. Note that the recommended usage rate for Poly-Conditioner Pro is typically lower (0.2-0.5%), so using 2% might affect the final texture or feel. You may want to test and potentially reduce this amount.
• Thickening: SugarThick is a suitable thickener for this type of base, and your usage rate is within the recommended range.
• Fragrance: Flora Solve Clear is correctly used to solubilize the fragrance.
• Preservation: This is the main area of concern. Phenoxyethanol SA (Optiphen Plus) is most effective as a preservative in formulas with a pH between 2.0 and 6.0. Your Sulfate Free Shampoo Base has a pH of 6.5-7.5, which is outside this optimal range. This means the preservation system might not be fully effective. Thyme Kill is a preservative booster and should be used alongside an effective primary preservative. You should consider using a preservative system that is effective in the pH range of your shampoo base (6.5-7.5) to ensure adequate preservation.
• Total Percentage: The total percentage of your ingredients adds up to 101%. The water percentage should be adjusted to 58.9% to bring the total to 100%.

INCI Name Questions

Regarding your questions about INCI names:

• Phenoxyethanol SA (Optiphen Plus): The correct INCI name for this ingredient is Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol (and) Sorbic Acid. You should list all three components in the ingredient list.
• Sulfate Free Shampoo Base: The trade name "Sulfate Free Shampoo Base (pH 7, Clear, Foaming)" cannot be used as the INCI name. This base is a blend of ingredients. You will need to obtain the INCI names of the individual raw materials that make up this base from your supplier to list them correctly on your product label.