Substituting Emulsifier and Adding Actives to Sunscreen/BB Cream Formula

Asked by: loginmymind On: November 08, 2015 Product Type: Cosmetics

Question

Regarding a sunscreen formula intended to be similar to a BB cream, which contains 20% SPF Protect Ultra™ (an oil), the user asks:

  1. Can Easy Cream Maker be used instead of Light Cream Maker?
  2. How to add ingredients for whitening and oil control?
  3. How to add color to make it resemble a BB cream?

The proposed formula is:

  • Distilled water: 70.5%
  • SPF Protect Ultra™: 20%
  • Light Cream Maker: 1.5%
  • Tranexamic Acid (Trans-White™): 5%
  • Rice Vitamin: 2%
  • Phenoxyethanol: 1%
  • Beige Iron Oxides EasyMix™: Quantity not specified (implied for coloring)

Answer

Based on the staff's reply regarding your sunscreen formula:

  1. Replacing Light Cream Maker with Easy Cream Maker:

    • Easy Cream Maker cannot emulsify as much oil as Light Cream Maker.
    • Your formula contains 20% SPF Protect Ultra™, which is an oil.
    • For stability, using Light Cream Maker (Product ID 141) is recommended. The staff mentioned that Light Cream Maker is currently back in stock.
    • Easy Cream Maker (Product ID 533) is suitable for formulas with no more than 10% oil.
  2. Adding Tranexamic Acid and Rice Vitamin and using SiliSolve™:

    • You do not need to use SiliSolve™ (Product ID 408) to help mix Tranexamic Acid (Product ID 260) and Rice Vitamin (Product ID 410), even though they are water-soluble.
    • Light Cream Maker at 1.5-2.0% is sufficient for emulsification in this formula.
    • SiliSolve™ is used for water-in-silicone formulations, which is a different type of emulsion.
  3. Staff's recommendation for Tranexamic Acid:

    • If you haven't used Tranexamic Acid (Product ID 260) before, the staff recommends starting with 3% instead of 5% to avoid potential skin irritation.