Now that I have my fancy new pH meter, I can finally do some formulating with disodium cocoamphodiacetate (pH 9 according to the data sheet, but mine tested at 7.7) and decyl glucoside (pH between 7 and 9, I forgot to test it). I thought I'd throw a little polyglucose/lactylate blend into the mix because it does feel really nice and moisturizing on my skin!
I decided to make my usual body wash but switch the disodium cocoamphodiacetate for the cocamidopropyl betaine, and the decyl glucoside and polyglucose/lactylate blend for the other surfactants. I've kept every other ingredient the same - including my usual fragrance, lemon curd - so I could see what each ingredient brings to the mix. I accidentally added 1% more than I wanted of the decyl glucoside and I only had 30 grams of polyglucose/lactylate blend left, hence the amounts I used in this recipe. Next time I'll make the body wash with esters - which is my new favourite recipes - with just the disodium cocoamphodiacetate in place of the cocoamidopropyl betaine.
EXPERIMENTAL BODY WASH RECIPE
10% disodium cocoamphodiacetate
21% decyl glucoside
10% polyglucose/lactylate blend
10% aloe vera
10% chamomile hydrosol
28.5% water
4% glycerin
3% polyquat 7
2% hydrolyzed oat protein
2% panthenol
0.5% liquid Germall Plus
1% fragrance oil
I mixed it all together, then tested the pH - 8.6! That's way too high! So I mixed up 0.2% citric acid with a titch of warm water to dissolve and added it to the mixture. New measurement - 7.74. Still too high. We want 6.5 or lower. So another 0.2% citric acid with a titch of water and added to the body wash. Success - we have 6.51!
As a note, it seems like 0.2% citric acid will take the mixture down about 1 pH level (give or take), so if you make this recipe and don't have a meter, 0.4% will bring the levels down to a reasonable level. The main ingredients that mess with the pH are the decyl glucoside and disodium cocoamphodiacetate as the polyglucose/lactylate blend has a pH of 5 to 7. So if you use the first two surfactants and use any surfactant with a pH between 5 and 7 as your third surfactant, then the 0.4% should bring the pH down enough.
What's the viscosity like? It's thin. Very very thin. I could put this in a foamer bottle and not have to thin it out at all! Normally the Lemon Curd fragrance oil thickens it quite well, so I need to add a little Crothix. I added 1%. Not enough, so I added another 0.5%. Still not enough, so I added another 0.5% for a total of 2%. It's still on the thinnish side and could use a little bit more, but I don't like to go over 2% because it's so easy to turn it into Jell-O, so let's leave it there.
How does it feel? It feels really nice. I think thanks in part to the polyglucose/lactylate blend, but I did find it to feel very moisturizing. It foamed and lathered very nicely, and I think this would be a great product for someone with normal to oily skin. If I were to make it for my dry skinned friends, I'd increase the polyglucose/lactylate blend to 20% and reduce the water amount by 10%.
FINAL RECIPE FOR EXPERIMENTAL BODY WASH
10% disodium cocoamphodiacetate
21% decyl glucoside
10% polyglucose/lactylate blend
10% aloe vera
10% chamomile hydrosol
28.1% water**
4% glycerin
3% polyquat 7
2% hydrolyzed oat protein
2% panthenol
0.5% liquid Germall Plus
1% fragrance oil
0.4% citric acid
**Save about 5% of your water to dissolve the citric acid.
Add Crothix or salt as necessary to increase viscosity. I used 2% and it wasn't really thick enough!
As a note, I think this would make a fine 2-in-1 body wash and shampoo for those inclined as it has all the goodies you'd put in a shampoo!
As a note, I coloured it pink despite its lemony deliciousness so I would know that it wasn't my usual body wash because the labels tend to fall off in the shower and I don't make anything else that's pink!
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