Wednesday, 19 August 2020

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.

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

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.

Wednesday, 1 July 2020

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.

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

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.

Monday, 22 June 2020

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.

Friday, 29 May 2020

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.

Tuesday, 19 May 2020

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.