Feedback on your Whitening, Dark Spot, Red Spot, and Acne Essence Formula

Thank you for sharing your proposed formula for an essence targeting whitening, dark/red spots, and acne. It's a comprehensive formula with several good active ingredients.

Let's review the ingredients and their roles:

• Ethyl Ascorbic Acid (3%) & Tranexamic Acid (3%): Excellent choices for skin brightening and reducing hyperpigmentation and redness.
• Allantoin (0.2%), Bisabolol (1%), Calendula Extract (2%), Licorice Extract (0.5%): These are great soothing and anti-inflammatory ingredients that help calm the skin and reduce redness, which is beneficial for both acne and red spots.
• Salicylic Acid EZ™ (10%): This is a highly effective ingredient for treating acne and providing exfoliation. However, a concentration of 10% is very high for a leave-on facial essence intended for daily use on normal skin. This concentration is typically used in chemical peels or targeted spot treatments and can cause significant dryness, peeling, redness, and irritation.
• LipidSoft™ Lite (5%) & Light Cream Maker™ (1%): These ingredients are used for texture and feel. While Light Cream Maker is for creating cream textures, using it at 1% along with 5% LipidSoft Lite might result in a texture thicker than a typical watery essence, possibly more like a light lotion or serum.

Suggestions for Adjustment:

The most important adjustment is the Salicylic Acid EZ™ concentration. To make this formula suitable for daily use as an essence on normal skin and minimize irritation, I strongly recommend reducing the concentration significantly. A concentration of 1% to 2% is generally effective and much safer for a leave-on product. Let's aim for 1.5% in the adjusted formula.

To achieve a lighter, more essence-like texture, you could also reduce the amount of LipidSoft™ Lite. Reducing it will make the product less oily and closer to a watery consistency. Let's reduce it to 2%.

Here is a suggested adjusted formula:

• Ethyl Ascorbic acid: 3%
• Tranexamic Acid: 3%
• Disodium EDTA: 0.2%
• Allantoin: 0.2%
• Phenoxyethanol SA: 1%
• Butylene Glycol: 3%
• Bisabolol: 1%
• LipidSoft™ Lite: 2% (Adjusted)
• Licorice Extract: 0.5%
• Light Cream Maker™: 1%
• Salicylic Acid EZ™: 1.5% (Adjusted)
• Calendula Extract: 2%
• Water: up to 100%

Method:

1. Weigh all ingredients accurately.
2. In a clean beaker, combine the water phase ingredients: Water, Disodium EDTA, Allantoin, Butylene Glycol, Salicylic Acid EZ™, Calendula Extract, Ethyl Ascorbic acid, and Tranexamic Acid. Stir gently until everything is dissolved. You can warm slightly if needed to help dissolve Allantoin, but avoid high heat.
3. In a separate clean beaker, combine the oil phase ingredients: LipidSoft™ Lite, Bisabolol, Licorice Extract, Phenoxyethanol SA, and Light Cream Maker™. Stir to mix. Gentle warming might be needed if any ingredients are not liquid.
4. Slowly add the oil phase into the water phase while stirring continuously and vigorously. Use a homogenizer or high-shear mixer if available for a smoother texture. Continue stirring until a uniform, cloudy essence is formed.
5. Check the pH of the final product using a pH meter or pH strips. The ideal pH for this formula, balancing the efficacy of actives and minimizing irritation, is likely between 4.5 and 5.5. Adjust the pH if necessary using a dilute acid solution (like Lactic Acid or Citric Acid) to lower it, or a dilute base solution (like Sodium Hydroxide) to raise it. Add drop by drop and re-check the pH.
6. Once the pH is adjusted and the mixture is uniform, package the essence into a suitable container.

This adjusted formula maintains the key active ingredients for your goals while significantly reducing the potential for irritation from Salicylic Acid and aiming for a more appropriate texture for an essence.