Hello!! I was having an issue with the diaper cream I have been making. It works awesome! and smells great, but here is the issue... The edges start to turn a greenish color after a while. Any ideas on what might be causing this? It does not smell bad, but it looks horrible and I hate to market a bad product. Here are my ingredients: Shea butter, honey, aloe vera gel, vitamin E, calenula oil, lavender and melalueca essential oils. This is my first post! SO glad I found this forum!!!
Question about diaper cream... Please help!
- Thread starter skinedip
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Welcome to the forum! 
Well, I spot a few problems right off the bat:
1) You have 2 ingredients that are water soluble (honey and aloe gel) which isn't a bad thing, but I don't see a preservative in your list of ingredients. Whenever you have water soluble ingredients in your formula, a preservative is a must because water soluble ingredients are super bacteria magnets. Sometimes you can visually detect bacterial infestations with the naked eye and sometimes it takes lab equipment. Sometimes there's a smell, and sometimes there's not. Before marketing/selling lotions/creams, is of the utmost importance to have them challenge tested in a lab to make sure your chosen preservative system is really and truly working. With all the problems with MRSA and the like running about, selling untested/unpreserved lotions/creams is not something to mess with.
2) Honey. While it's true that honey is self-preserving on it's own, it is very difficult to preserve lotion/cream formulations with honey in them because honey's humectant properties attract water to the formulation. It can be done, but the lotion/cream has to be planned/formulated carefully down to the nth degree, and again, challenge tested in a lab to make sure it will really and truly work consistently with your particular preservative system.
The fact that your cream is turning color around the edges is not a good sign and I would toss it out.
IrishLass
Well, I spot a few problems right off the bat:
1) You have 2 ingredients that are water soluble (honey and aloe gel) which isn't a bad thing, but I don't see a preservative in your list of ingredients. Whenever you have water soluble ingredients in your formula, a preservative is a must because water soluble ingredients are super bacteria magnets. Sometimes you can visually detect bacterial infestations with the naked eye and sometimes it takes lab equipment. Sometimes there's a smell, and sometimes there's not. Before marketing/selling lotions/creams, is of the utmost importance to have them challenge tested in a lab to make sure your chosen preservative system is really and truly working. With all the problems with MRSA and the like running about, selling untested/unpreserved lotions/creams is not something to mess with.
2) Honey. While it's true that honey is self-preserving on it's own, it is very difficult to preserve lotion/cream formulations with honey in them because honey's humectant properties attract water to the formulation. It can be done, but the lotion/cream has to be planned/formulated carefully down to the nth degree, and again, challenge tested in a lab to make sure it will really and truly work consistently with your particular preservative system.
The fact that your cream is turning color around the edges is not a good sign and I would toss it out.
IrishLass
Genny
Well-Known Member
I completely agree with Irishlass.
I also just wanted to add that if you live in the U.S., diaper creams do need to be tested properly and you need to get them approved by the FDA before selling.
Please do not use untested products on babies or children. I don't know if you are, but I just thought I'd throw that in there for anyone else who might be reading this.
I also just wanted to add that if you live in the U.S., diaper creams do need to be tested properly and you need to get them approved by the FDA before selling.
Please do not use untested products on babies or children. I don't know if you are, but I just thought I'd throw that in there for anyone else who might be reading this.
G
Guest
what percentages were your lavender and tea tree? Im asking because the lavender and tea tree are both proven antibacterial and antifungal and can be used as preservatives.
Here is a link to an article written by Anne-Marie Faiola in which she mentions several preservatives.
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... ervatives/
I highly recommend reading Swift's blog about preservatives. Her writings are unbiased and knowledgeable. She also discusses some ingredients which interfere with the efficacy of preservatives. Here are a couple of links to get you started.
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/s ... servatives
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... -free.html
I personally like Optiphen Plus for lotions and creams but it's best to read about them to see what the differences are between them. Swift wrote on her preservative download that OP+ can be inactivated by cellulose derivatives - Methylcellulose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. I don't use these so this wasn't a concern for me. However, you can have separation issues with this preservative if you add too much so always follow the recommended usage amount. My scales aren't the best and I have difficulty with accuracy below 6 grams so sometimes my lotions had a bit more preservative than needed. :wink: For example, 12 oz batch of lotion really only needed 2-3g but I often added more because my scales didn't weigh accurately. Sometimes, this caused my lotions to be not as stable and I occasionally had batches separate.
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... ervatives/
I highly recommend reading Swift's blog about preservatives. Her writings are unbiased and knowledgeable. She also discusses some ingredients which interfere with the efficacy of preservatives. Here are a couple of links to get you started.
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/s ... servatives
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... -free.html
I personally like Optiphen Plus for lotions and creams but it's best to read about them to see what the differences are between them. Swift wrote on her preservative download that OP+ can be inactivated by cellulose derivatives - Methylcellulose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. I don't use these so this wasn't a concern for me. However, you can have separation issues with this preservative if you add too much so always follow the recommended usage amount. My scales aren't the best and I have difficulty with accuracy below 6 grams so sometimes my lotions had a bit more preservative than needed. :wink: For example, 12 oz batch of lotion really only needed 2-3g but I often added more because my scales didn't weigh accurately. Sometimes, this caused my lotions to be not as stable and I occasionally had batches separate.
whs said:
I'll agree with you only so far as you are refering to using them neat or 'as is' directly on the skin, but they are not strong enough to preserve entire, complex, water-containing formulations such as lotion/creams. It would be nice if they were, but that is sadly not the case.
Here is a great link that explains why:
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/20 ... -anti.html
IrishLass
G
Guest
IrishLass said:whs said:
I'll agree with you only so far as you are refering to using them neat or 'as is' directly on the skin, but they are not strong enough to preserve entire, complex, water-containing formulations such as lotion/creams. It would be nice if they were, but that is sadly not the case.
IrishLass
Sorry to disagree, but actually they are effective in concentrations much lower than neat. They are both effective at percentages as low as 0.02% and 3%.
whs said:IrishLass said:whs said:
I'll agree with you only so far as you are refering to using them neat or 'as is' directly on the skin, but they are not strong enough to preserve entire, complex, water-containing formulations such as lotion/creams. It would be nice if they were, but that is sadly not the case.
IrishLass
Sorry to disagree, but actually they are effective in concentrations much lower than neat. They are both effective at percentages as low as 0.02% and 3%.
Please post the source for your statement.
Can you cite your sources and lab challenge results?
IrishLass
IrishLass
G
Guest
sure;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10735256
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... DzZO30u0Pw
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11374358
There are a bunch more if you poke around...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10735256
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... DzZO30u0Pw
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11374358
There are a bunch more if you poke around...
Genny
Well-Known Member
whs said:
Except I'm not seeing where those studies say that those EO's inhibit growth in a water/oil environment. Which is exactly what the OP is working with.
G
Guest
Genny said:
Seriously?
Um, yes, seriously!
IrishLass
IrishLass
Genny
Well-Known Member
skinedip said:
Back to the OP's questions. Are you trying to mostly stay away from parabens? If so, you may want to look into Optiphen ND.
judymoody
Well-Known Member
I use liquid germall plus in my water+oil lotions and creams.
IrishLass said:Can you cite your sources and lab challenge results?
IrishLass
Sorry for the thread jack, but where in the US can one submit a lotion (or other product) to be challenge tested? And anyone have an idea of a ballpark cost? TIA
The SoapDish has a list of a few cosmetic labs. http://www.thesoapdish.com/testing-labs.htm
There is a list of labs on the Society of Cosmetic Chemists site but I don't know if all of them would accept samples from individuals.
http://www.scconline.org/website/referr ... labs.shtml
You could also check for cosmetic test laboratories in the Yellow Pages for your area. I'm sorry I don't have any idea how much challenge testing would cost. Maybe someone else would be able to answer your questions.
eta: FNWL has a page on labs but I don't know when it was last updated. The labs may also be shown on the SCC site, too. http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/libra ... esting.asp
There is a list of labs on the Society of Cosmetic Chemists site but I don't know if all of them would accept samples from individuals.
http://www.scconline.org/website/referr ... labs.shtml
You could also check for cosmetic test laboratories in the Yellow Pages for your area. I'm sorry I don't have any idea how much challenge testing would cost. Maybe someone else would be able to answer your questions.
eta: FNWL has a page on labs but I don't know when it was last updated. The labs may also be shown on the SCC site, too. http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/libra ... esting.asp
I was using Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade essential oils at a .05 concentration. I thought these would be enough to inhibit growth, but apparently not! No - I am NOT selling them YET. I am still trying to get all the kinks worked out. I love the healing power of honey.... what about honey powder? any thoughts on that? Thanks for all the helpful links and suggestions... I will check them out for sure!
