Formulation Advice for Your Sleeping Mask

It sounds like you're working on a complex sleeping mask formula with many active ingredients! Let's break down your questions and the issues you encountered.

Dissolving Luxury Cream Maker

You were right to add Luxury Cream Maker to the water phase. The difficulty in dissolving it and the time it took is a common issue. The recommended method is to slowly add the water phase to the Luxury Cream Maker powder/cream, rather than adding the powder to the water. Stirring continuously while adding the liquid bit by bit helps the powder hydrate and disperse more easily, preventing clumps and speeding up the process significantly. Using slight heat (50-60°C) can also aid dissolution.

Cream Thickness and DMAE

Your initial observation was correct. The high concentration of DMAE (SkinTight MD™) in your formula is likely why the cream wasn't thick initially, even with Luxury Cream Maker. DMAE is an electrolyte, and electrolytes can interfere with the thickening ability of some polymers and emulsifiers, including Luxury Cream Maker and Pro Polymer. Adding more of these thickeners, as you did, was the right approach to achieve the desired viscosity.

Reducing Stickiness/Tackiness

The sticky or "หนึบๆ" feeling you experienced is also likely due to the high concentration of active ingredients, particularly DMAE and potentially the increased amount of Pro Polymer. While these ingredients provide benefits, they can contribute to a tacky skin feel. To reduce this, you can incorporate ingredients that improve slip and reduce tackiness without significantly thinning the formula. Options include:

• Light Emollients: Such as LipidSoft Lite. These are lightweight oils that provide a smooth feel without being heavy or greasy.
• Silicones: Such as Cyclopentasiloxane or SiliSilk. Silicones are excellent for reducing tackiness and providing a silky, smooth finish. SiliSilk is a silicone powder that can also help absorb oil.
• Powders: Such as PowderCream. These powders can give the cream a more powdery, less sticky feel upon application.

Adding a small percentage (e.g., 1-5%) of one or a combination of these ingredients can significantly improve the texture and reduce the stickiness.

Mixing Procedure

Your approach of separating water and oil phases before combining them is generally correct for emulsion formulations. Ensure all water-soluble ingredients are fully dissolved in the water phase and oil-soluble ingredients (if any, though your current list seems mostly water-soluble except perhaps Coenzyme Q10 depending on the type) are in the oil phase before combining the two and mixing to form the emulsion.

pH Adjustment

A pH of 3+ is quite acidic. While skin can tolerate a pH slightly below 5.5, adjusting it closer to the skin's natural pH (around 5.5) is generally recommended to minimize potential irritation, especially in a product used as a sleeping mask. You can absolutely adjust the pH to 5.5 using Triethanolamine. Add it very slowly, drop by drop, to your formula while stirring and continuously measuring the pH until you reach your target of 5.5. Do not exceed the recommended usage rate for Triethanolamine (typically up to 2.5%).

Pore Tightening Ingredients

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride) is effective for pore tightening, but primarily by controlling excess oil production, making it most suitable for oily skin. If pore size is not solely due to oiliness, or if you are looking for additional options, consider ingredients specifically known for their astringent or pore-minimizing effects. PoreNin™ (Natural Extracted Tannic Acid) is one such ingredient that helps tighten pores.

By adjusting your mixing technique for the cream maker, incorporating texture enhancers, and carefully adjusting the pH, you should be able to achieve a more desirable consistency and feel for your sleeping mask while maintaining the benefits of your active ingredients.