Why to opt for Specialty Chemical Companies

 With each passing day, packaged goods are becoming more and more popular. People are preferring them to other natural products because of the affordability, the availability and the long shelf life. Where there is shelf life there are preservatives and where there are preservatives, there are chemicals. In such a scenariospecialty chemical suppliers have come to the forefront. No matter what the product is, these speciality chemical companies can cater to the specific demands of their clients. All that needs to be done is that they are to be approached with a very clear idea regarding the requirements.

What is so special about these suppliers?

Specialty chemical suppliers not only ensure that your needs are catered to the level best, but they also look into the fact that the whole thing becomes very affordable. In short, they are one of the wisest choices that a manufacturer could possibly make.

•    It is this client specific approach that actually makes them so popular.
•    A little example might throw some light on the matter.
•    Household detergents and cleaners generally contain alkylbenzene sulfonic acid in them. Now, the downside to the products containing LAS acid is that being synthetic, it causes a lot of environmental pollution.
•    Run offs containing this chemical causes immense water pollution.
•    If someone wants to manufacture a detergent with some difference, then these chemical companies can come to help in such cases.

How do these firms function?

•    What these companies would do is that they would recommend an affordable and yet a more environment friendly alternative to their client.
•    They could recommend something like the amino acid based surfactants in place of the LAS acid.
•    This choice would not just save the environment but it would also make the final product more appealing in the market since it uses a comparatively natural derivative in it.

The use of Phenoxyethanol as a cosmetic preservative

 The use of preservatives in cosmetics is needed to prevent cosmetic products from spoiling. Cosmetic products use a range of ingredients, some organic and some chemical. It is possible that these ingredients may spoil with time or in adverse weather conditions, thus rendering the product waste. To prevent this, cosmetic manufacturers use preservatives to protect the product. Phenoxyethanol in cosmetics is used as a preservative.

Phenoxyethanol preservative is a solvent known as glycol ether. It is a sticky and oily liquid that has a rose-like scent, which makes it ideal for use in cosmetic products. Cosmetic products can spoil, deteriorate, or lose their effectiveness due to the nature of ingredients used. Using a preservative helps to stabilize the product and prevent its spoilage or deterioration.

The use of phenoxyethanol in cosmetics is common and it is used in products like perfumes and fragrances, foundation products, lipsticks, soaps, and other products. It is also used in the preparation of hand sanitizers. Phenoxyethanol preservative not only stabilizes and preserves the product but it also has other benefits. Studies have shown that when used in a cream for acne, it can help in reducing acne.

Safety issues

The use of preservatives in cosmetics has been marred by safety concerns. Chemicals like parabens have had a bad record and there were concerns about its safety. This is why many cosmetic manufacturers prefer using phenoxyethanol. It is safe for use and is permitted for use by the FDA in the USA. Studies have shown that when used in a concentration of less than 1% it is safe and does not cause any harm. Even people who have skin allergy issues will not face any problem as long as the concentration of phenoxyethanol in the products is less than 1%. It is thus a safe cosmetic preservative.

Strong Preservative Action of Phenoxyethanol in Modern Cosmetics

 The use of preservatives in soaps and cosmetics is necessary because there are a few ingredients in household products that deteriorate rapidly. One can use phenoxyethanol in cosmetics to get the best result. The use of unfriendly products has caused many people to suffer from a variety of medical afflictions. It is safe to use phenoxyethanol in concentrations up to 1% in any cosmetic. In normal cases, its concentration is even lower because they add substances like ethylhexylglycerin.

High Utility Value of Phenoxyethanol

They use phenoxyethanol in cosmetics because it is a very versatile agent with wide-ranging properties. It functions in all pH ranges and a wide range of formulas. It exhibits wide spectrum activity against many pathogens. This makes your skincare product stable. Also, it is compatible with lots of other preservatives.

The Action of the Preservative

Through the use of the phenoxyethanol preservative, many food and cosmetic items that would deteriorate within a few days will remain stable for weeks if not months. They act to contain the destabilizing forces and create a more conducive working environment for preserving the cosmetic item. Phenoxyethanol is now widely recognized as the most important ingredient in skincare products. It is very important to use clean ingredients because otherwise there will be worms, dirt, heavy metals, and fertilizers in the product.

Check and Be Safe

The concentration of the phenoxyethanol preservative must remain less than 1% to be safe. If not, it will cause skin rashes and other allergic reactions. If a product contains atypical concentrations, it will become dangerous to even inhale it. Apart from phenoxyethanol, other preservatives in cosmetics include formaldehyde, propylparaben, benzoic acid, and sodium salicylate among many others.

It will be a good idea to check whether your soap or shampoo has this reagent in it. If yes, then you are getting a good product and so you can be happy. This holds for all products having surfactants.

The secret of fatty alcohol ethoxylate

 Clean clothes are a symbol of a good household. It is tough to clean clothes, isn't it? Which is why we have so many detergents and washing products available in the market. When it comes to washing products, there is a wide variety available in the market. You can use the one normal one, or you can easily upgrade to the washing machine friendly one. But if you notice fatty alcohol ethoxylate is one of the most common chemicals to be used in detergents.

Why do you think fatty alcohol ethoxylate and fatty alcohol sulphate are used in detergents. Before you understand their role, it is crucial that you understand the function of detergent as a whole. Do you know how does a detergent clean your clothes?

How do detergent work and the role of fatty alcohol sulphate?

Detergents have certain chemicals which allow then to attach to the dirt particles on your dirty clothes. They gather around the dirt particles and separate it from the surface of your cloth which would have been difficult to remove just with water.

The combined action is what makes detergent work. In a detergent, fatty alcohol complexes act as surfactants. These are important for micelle formation, which further contributes to the eliminates of dirt from cloth surface. Fatty alcohol complexes are the base of the detergent industry.

Other applications

Detergents are not the only thing which uses fatty alcohol compounds. In reality, fatty alcohol complexes have applications in many different industries. Their purpose remains the safe- cleansing agent.

Other industries which use fatty alcohol complexes are cosmetics, agriculture, textile, paper and oil industry. The form might be different, but the purpose is very much the same. Another great thing about fatty alcohol complexes is that it is skin safe. Researchers have discovered that fatty alcohol compounds do not induce any mutation, neither are they carcinogenic in nature.

Foam Booster Ingredients and Zwitterions for Personal Care

 The well-dressed fashionable man dictates the rules of society. And, his supreme power comes from the use of superior agents for his care. These are his shampoo, toothpaste, and bath soap. The common thing about all these products is the way they foam. This happens due to the foam booster ingredients they add to the product. Foam boosters are zwitterionic.

Two-Natured Action

To understand the action, one must know how the foam booster ingredients such as zwitterion work. The zwitterion has two functional groups, one with a positive charge and the other negatively charged. In an amino acid, the basic group H2N gets linked to the carbon atom (valency 4) which is then linked to three other atoms or atomic groups. These include a hydrogen atom, an amine group, and an acidic group COOH.

Breaking the Surface Tension

The intermolecular forces between the surfactant and water are low. This results in lowering the surface tension making it easy for the detergent to remove the dirt. The action of surfactants in sunscreen lotions are different. In the formulation of sunscreen lotion, the main action is to block the harmful rays of the sun. There is no cleaning action needed. The sun protection ingredients are either oil in water or water in oil emulsions.

Observe Safety Always

While preparing the formulation of sunscreen lotion one should make sure the ingredients are safe. Users may inhale the vapours of the sunscreen or even ingest the lotion applied to the lips. If they contain harmful compounds, they could cause damage to the internal organs.

Active Ingredients in Sunscreen Creams

Chemical UV filters are the active ingredients in sunscreen lotions. The other ingredients include lubricants, thickening, and emulsifying agents, and perfume. Preservatives, colour, and absorbing agents like zinc oxide are present. The particle size will determine the completeness of dispersion.

Use of Foam Booster Ingredients in Hair and Skin Protection Products

Many household products use foam as one of its ingredients. To increase the amount of foam, we use foam boosters. They use surfactants as foam booster ingredients because of their intrinsic nature of decreasing surface tension. This helps improve bonding with the material in the solution. Manufacturers use it in bubble soap and shower gels other than shampoos. The addition of the surfactant will help the detergent or shampoo remove dirt with ease.

Foaming and Blowing Agents

The common foaming agents include Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate. Adding secondary surfactants will help increase the amount of foam the shampoo or shower gel produces. Blowing agents used in the foam booster ingredients include natural gases and carbon dioxide. When the surface tension between the oil, dirt, and grease and the water solution decreases, the grease and dirt drop out of the solution. The amount of surfactant present will determine the efficacy of the detergent or shampoo.

Process of Making the Lotion

The formulation of sunscreen lotion is straightforward and simple. There is one delivery agent. This carries the active ingredients that absorb the sun’s UV rays and give us protection. The performance parameters are sensitive and need careful handling. Blocking out the harmful rays from the sun sounds simple to do. But, how to do it? It begins with the choice of the right ingredients. One is the substance that can absorb the UV rays. Then, we need to mix them with the other substances that keep them all together.

Ingredients Used in Sunscreen Lotion

For the formulation of sunscreen lotion, we need a water-based emulsion. We dry blend the various ingredients - cetyl alcohol, soap flakes, and stearic acid. In the water phase, we mix the emulsifiers and stabilizers. Then, we mix the two phases after which we heat it. We carry on mixing until the mixture becomes smooth and homogeneous.

Phenoxyethanol use in cosmetic products

Phenoxyethanol preservative is extensively used in cosmetics and some other personal products. This is a chemical that is safe to use in products applied on to the skin. It is a liquid that is sticky and oily in nature. It has a scent that resembles the scent of a rose, making it naturally suitable for use in cosmetic products. It is used in a range of products from skin care products, blushers, fragrances, lipsticks, bath soaps, and eye makeup.

The use of phenoxyethanol in cosmetics is as a preservative. Just as in the case of food products, cosmetic products also be spoilt due to the growth of bacteria and fungi. Not only do the cosmetics spoil but the microbes on it can make the product unsafe for use. This is the reason why a preservative is needed to preserve the product by preventing growth of bacterial, fungi, yeast, and mold.

Phenoxyethanol preservative is used in cosmetics for the following benefits:

•    Cosmetic products have water content in them. This allows the growth of microbes and needs a preservative to contain its growth.
•    Apart from microbes, cosmetics with water can develop an odor over time. It also can become discolored. This is another reason why phenoxyethanol in cosmetics is used – to prevent such discoloration or odors.
•    In the absence of a preservative, cosmetic products affect the skin and can cause harm. Cosmetic products used on the eye can cause an eye infection. This makes it essential to use a preservative to ensure safety of the product.
•    The preservative ensures that the shelf life of the product is increased.
•    The overall looks, smell, appearance, feel, and performance of cosmetic products can be improved through the use of Phenoxyethanol preservative.

Phenoxyethanol has been tested in lab studies and certified safe to use. This is the reason it is widely used in the cosmetic industry.

Growth and Use of Specialty Chemical Companies

The use of specialty chemicals helps diverse industries make use of the varied properties of the chemicals for manufacturing their line of products. The specialty chemical companies might have involvement in activities like making perfumes, food additives, paints, flavors, elastomers, surfactants, and lubricants. Other applications include industrial gases, construction chemicals, adhesives, cleaning material, and agrichemicals.

Diversified Uses of Specialty Chemicals

The specialty chemical companies might be from industries such as cosmetics, food, aerospace, textile, and manufacturing. Because of the effect, these chemicals have people call them performance chemicals and formulation chemicals. The end products depend on the special individual property of the specialty chemical. The choice of the chemical depends on what the manufacturer wants to make.

Method of Manufacture

The specialty chemical suppliers use batch processing techniques to make these chemicals in batch processing plants. They use a fixed input of material for a measured amount of time. During this process, we see a combination of processes such as heating, mixing, cooling, distillation, separation, and crystallization following which other measures such as storage and transportation take place. These processes might get outsourced to various service providers as needed.

Use of Many Processes

In the manufacturing process, allied processes such as quality testing, logistics, and warehousing are in place. The specialty chemical suppliers make known their need for a specific grade of material made through a predefined process. The manufacturer undertakes the project and once the product is ready, it will undergo quality checks. If the final product passes muster, the supplier will place an order for a specified amount of material.

Growth in this Sector

The chemical industry will become a $100 billion sector within the decade. There are no boundaries to this industry because of the huge demand for specialty chemicals. The specialty chemical suppliers produce organic chemicals mostly and these go into the making of items we use daily in our homes such as soaps and cleaning agents.

Choices of Emollient Hair Products in Daily Use

The predominant use of emollient hair products is due to its ability to prevent the hair and scalp from drying. Our daily beauty products contain a lot of substances designed to care for our sensitive skin and protect us from within. It keeps the hair intact because of its protective action. The intrinsic property of the emollient helps give the beauty product its goodness. Due to this, the hair product helps your hair remain healthy always.

The Ease of Use

The use of emollient hair products like lotions is easy because they have water mostly with a little oil. Some emollients contain a lot of oil. These are occlusive agents meaning they coat your skin with a coating of oil. This coating protects the skin and hair from drying and damage from harsh chemicals. You need protection from drying because many agents may cause it.

Causes for Dryness

Dryness might occur because you use hot water for your bath. Or, you sit out in the sun for long spells. Dryness might also occur when you expose your skin to some source of heat like a space heater or an air conditioner. The top emollients in hair care include the following:

• Lanolin
• Hydrogenated vegetable oils
• Lecithin
• Petroleum jelly
• Castor oil

Lanolin is a good alternative to petroleum jelly. They collect it from sheep’s wool. It has a thick and sticky nature. So, it is best to use it in combination with other oils. You can use carrier oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, or almond oil.

Other Options for Hair-Care Emollients

Another way you can use emollients in hair care is to opt for hydrogenated vegetable oil. It works well for fine hair and supplies enough rigidity for coarse, unmanageable hair. And if that doesn't work for you, try lecithin. They make this from egg yolk, rapeseed, soybean, sunflower, marine sources, and milk. It has the same characteristics as castor oil.

Skin Conditioning and Protection Agents in Sunscreen Formulation

Every person who wants protection from the rays of the sun knows the importance of choosing the proper ingredients for the sunscreen formulation. These ingredients could be herbal or synthetic but they must give effective protection for the skin. Harmful UV rays penetrate the skin surface, and destroy vital components of the skin. This causes deterioration of skin health.

Signs of Skin Damage

When skin damage occurs, we lose the beauty of the skin. The main signs of skin damage are these:
●    Rough skin texture.
●    Dilated pores.
●    Blotchy skin color.
●    Skin laxity.
●    Telangiectasia.
●    Sallowness.
●    Brown spots.
●    Wrinkles.

Youthfulness and elasticity of the skin get replaced by fine lines, crows feet, and discolored skin. Repeated ultraviolet exposure will cause this kind of damage. Use of creams and lotions having Sunscreen Formulation give protection to the skin.     One should take care to choose the skin creams that have natural ingredients because synthetic ones will do more harm than good.

Types of UV Ray Blockers

We see two kinds of blockers - physical and chemical. The physical blockers scatter or reflect the UV rays. It is also possible that they absorb the rays to a small extent. Aromatic compounds form the bulk of the chemical blockers. They conjugate it with a carbonyl group in the Sunscreen Formulation.

Ingredients Used in Sunscreen

During the sunscreen product formulation, they make use of many ingredients including Glycerin, Aqua, Sodium Benzoate, glucose stabilized vitamin C, milk protein, lactose, and soybean seed extract among others. They function as UV filters, repairing agents, revitalizing agents, protective agents, moisturizing agents, and anti-stress agents.

Check the SPF of the Sunscreen Lotion

The sunscreen product formulation acts as an ultraviolet ray sponge and absorbs the harmful rays. An SPF of at least 15 will give you enough protection from the sun. A cream with an SPF of 2 will give 50% protection from the sun’s rays.

Foam Booster Ingredients to Improve Beauty Products

As with a surfactant, a foam booster helps make foam in shower and bath products. Shower gel, bubble soap, and shampoos have foam booster ingredients. Surfactants reduce the surface tension between two substances such as oil and water. This improves the foaming capacity of the soap. Using bath products having surfactants helps remove the dirt from the surface of hair. Gases present in its natural state like carbon dioxide or resulting from a chemical reaction such as from bleach are examples of blowing agents.

Use of Foaming Agents

Blowing agents and foam boosters are essential ingredients in soaps and shampoos. Adding foam booster ingredients to ordinary liquid soap will change it to a special one. Common foaming agents in use include Ammonium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. To get the best result, they often add secondary surfactants such as betaines to the primary anionic surfactants.

Protection from the Sun’s Rays

The action of the sunscreen lotion is simple. It has a delivery agent for the active sunscreen ingredients that absorb the harmful UV rays from the sun. This helps protect the skin from harm. The method is simple enough but the formulation of sunscreen lotion is quite complex. We need it to control sensitive performance parameters and pack it all in one package. Chemical fillers are the most common ingredient in sunscreen lotions. Mineral sunscreens usually have titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.

The Action of Zinc Oxide

These inorganic substances deflect the sun’s rays to provide protection. Some may have organic compounds that absorb the UV rays and decrease the intensity.

You can see the sun protection factor on the label of the sunscreen lotion that tells you how long the formulation of sunscreen lotion will protect you. These are white, opaque ointments optimized to give good protection from the sun. You can get them in the form of gels, sprays, and oils other than lotions.

The Wonder of Phenoxyethanol Preservative

Phenoxyethanol occurs in a variety of substances such as chicory and green tea. This clear, colorless liquid preservative is a biocide that exhibits its strongest nature against gram-negative bacteria. You find the phenoxyethanol preservative in many personal care products and cosmetics. It is soluble in most oils and remains stable up to 85ºC. Being soluble in water and having an activity range between pH 3 to 10, it finds use as preservatives in cosmetics.

Typical Properties of Phenoxyethanol

The phenoxyethanol preservative is oily at room temperature, has a faint, aromatic odor, and is easy to use. They use it as preservatives in cosmetics because it stabilizes soaps and shampoos. They permit the usage of this preservative in the EU and Japan as long as it is less than 1% in the product. Another way to refer to phenoxyethanol is as glycol ether as per its chemical formula. When some ingredients or preservatives deteriorate, they use glycol ether to help stabilize the mixture.

Dependable and Safe Preservative

You find many preservatives in cosmetics such as parabens, formaldehyde releasers, and organic acids. Parabens and formaldehyde are best avoided because they are possible carcinogens and could cause irritation if used to a great extent. The use of phenoxyethanol in cosmetics is a safe alternative. This chemical is mild and very useful for the longevity and usability of the product.

Extensive Use in Cosmetics

In a study, they found that the phenoxyethanol in cosmetics was the safest preservative in use. You find it in many personal care products such as blush, foundation, perfume, hand sanitizer, soap, and lipstick. While acting as a stabilizer in soaps and cleansers, glycol ether serves as a preservative or antibacterial in many other cosmetics.  In most cases, using a product with less than 1% concentration of this preservative is safe. Women who are breastfeeding or pregnant, and people who have an allergic reaction to this chemical, will do well to avoid it.

Important Criterion for Sunscreen Formulation

What is a simple matter of blocking the sun has become complicated due to the restrictions on permitted substances along with demand for a higher sun protection factor. This leads the onus to the manufacturing technique using those permitted substances to make a good quality sunscreen. The sunscreen product formulation is ageless since people used sunscreens for centuries. But, the emphasis is now on preserving skin health using the least amount of chemical interference.

Types of Skin Damage Possible

The Sunscreen Formulation relies on a delivery vehicle that places the active sunscreen ingredients in the path of the sun’s rays. Repeated exposure leads to damage of the skin in both long-term and short-term considerations. For short-term exposure, we see a reddening of the skin due to the activation of melanocytes. The long-term exposure will result in a loss of skin elasticity. In extreme cases, it could lead to skin cancer.

Ingredients in the Sunscreen Product

The best kind of sunscreen product formulation possible is water in oil formulation. A typical formulation will have lubricants and emollients, colour, perfume, and thickening agents, and emulsifiers along with absorbers, UV filters, and preservatives. An increasing number of people have taken to sunscreens as awareness of the dangers posed by the sun’s rays increases among the people.

Process of Making the Lotion

During the manufacturing process of the Sunscreen Formulation, we prepare an emulsion using a water base and a powder ingredient. Stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, and flakes undergo dry blending. Stabilizers and emulsifiers form the water phase. We bring the two phases together and heat it. Absorbers, UV filters, and preservatives get mixed in. Mixing will carry on until the mixture is homogeneous.

Good Quality Product is Got

Due to the improvement in technology, modern sunscreens are high in efficiency, produce a wonderful aesthetic appeal, and have a good amount of safety. Protection from the UV rays of the sun is paramount and so the choice of a suitable blocking agent is important while preparing a good sunscreen lotion or cream.