How to Write a Cosmetic Formula
- taralee
- Feb 23, 2022
- 4 min read
When formulating a cosmetic you must write your recipes in percents. This is the accurate way to write a formula so you know you aren't using to much of an ingredient or to little of an ingredient. Some ingredients can actually be harmful to the skin if used at to high of a percentage. On the other hand, if you use an ingredient at to low of a percentage, you may not get the benefits of the ingredient. This is a huge reason we are given "Suggested Usage Rates" by supplies and these Suggested Usage Rates are provided to us in percents. Anytime you are shopping on sites like FormulatorSampleShop.com, MakingCosmetics.com, and LotionCrafters.com on each listing for each item sold you will be given a Suggested Usage Rate, typically somewhere near the bottom of the listing. Check example here. That way you know exactly what percentages these ingredients should be used at.
What can get confusing is that these suggested usage rates can be very broad, so you may still not know exactly what percentage to use them at. This is when experimenting, personal preference, and cost value comes in. For example Strawberry Extract is recommended to be used at 1-10%, so how do you know what percentage to use from there? First you must take cost value into account. If you are concerned with cost use it at a lower percentage like 1-3%. If cost value doesn't matter than use it at 7-10%. If you notice your skin doesn't like it at that amount, use it at 5%. This is all personal preference. As long at you are using an ingredient between the Suggested Usage Rate you are good to go. Another example is Emulsifying Wax NF. It's recommended to be used at 2-25%, usually 3-5% for lotions and 5-10% for creams, but this all comes down to personal preference. You may not like a lotions consistency with Emulsifying Wax NF used at 5%, so try it at 3% or 4%. This is the fun of making your own cosmetics, you get to modify them to your liking!
Let's talk about actually creating a recipe. As most of you already know (if you have watched many of my recipe videos) every cosmetic recipe must equal 100%, no matter how much product you are making, all the ingredients percentages must add up to 100%. Also, recipes are broken up into 3 different phases; Water Phase, Oil Phase, and Cool Down Phase. If you aren't using any oils in a product then there is only a Water Phase and Cool Down Phase. If you aren't using any water, then there is only an Oil Phase and possible a Cool Down Phase as well. If you are using all three phases in a recipe you will most likely have to heat up both the Water Phase & Oil Phase. There are many reasons these phases need heated; to solubilize powdered ingredients, to melt emulsifiers or thickeners, to create a proper emulsion between the Water Phase & Oil Phase, or even just to simple sterilize your ingredients. I always recommend to heat both phases using a water bath, to 158 degrees fahrenheit and hold there for 20 minutes to completely sterilize the ingredients. This is also why I always heat my Water Phase, even if there is no oil phase or anything in my water phase to be melted or solubilize. I just like to sterilize the ingredients, just to be safe.
Now I want to give examples of ingredients that are in each phase.
Water Phase - Distilled Water, Aloe Vera Liquid, Hydrosols, (ex. Rose, Lavender, Strawberry, Green Apple) Hydrolyzed Proteins, Glycerin, & I also dissolve my powdered ingredients that are water soluble in the water phase (ex. Panthenol, Allantoin, Niacinamide) Etc. - If its water soluble and isn't heat sensitive it goes in the Water Phase
Oil Phase - Carrier Oils, Squalane, Butters, Emulsifiers, Thickeners (that need melted. ex. Bees Wax & Soy Wax) Etc. - If it's oil soluble and isn't heat sensitive it goes in the Oil Phase.
Cool Down Phase - Preservatives, Extracts, Active ingredients (ex. AHA, Retinol) - Any ingredient that is heat sensitive goes in the Cool Down Phase.
So if you are wondering how the heck you would transfer a recipe from percents to a weighed out formula watch my video here.
Once you have your recipe written out you can begin experimenting. Most of the time a recipe will need tweaked from the original one you wrote. So if you try a recipe and it doesn't turn out quite right, change the formula a bit and try it again. We all learn from trial and error. Mistakes are only learning experiences!
Now that you know how to write out a recipe, for my next post in this series (how to formulate cosmetics for beginners) I will be explaining how to formulate a face wash. Hope to see you there :)
Watch my video on how to Write a Cosmetic Formula HERE
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