Duplicating post: Deva Care's Low Poo No Fade Shampoo

I have to start this post off with two points of interest. One, I can't get onto the site for this product, so I have to rely upon Photoshadow's ingredient list (which I'm sure is accurate). I either get a 404 message or a warning that the site isn't safe for my computer. Weird. Two, why do people want to call shampoo "poo"? Are we not aware what this word means in other settings? Is it really so hard to say the syllable sham- that we're willing to use a word that doesn't usually associate well with the idea of being clean. Let's all make the effort to include the sham- part of the word and we'll all be happier for it.

Okay, now that those things are off my chest, on to the ingredient list!

Oh wait, another point of interest! What the heck does "aqueous extract" of something mean? I see it all the time in place of water. It basically means one of two things (and I am generalizing here): The water has had something dissolved into it or the water is a hydrosol or distillate. By definition, if I dissolved the various powdered and liquid extract I used into my water before adding it to the product, I would be using an aqueous extract. So that's what that means! Okay, on to the ingredient list.

Aqueous Extracts...
Achilea Millefolium: Yarrow: Reported to be good for oily hair and skin and might have anti-inflammatory properties. Or it might be good for dry or damaged skin by reducing flaking. This report from 2001 (found in PubMed) found that there wasn't enough evidence that Yarrow was safe, and it is known to cause photosensitivity and irritation. And Cosmetics Info re-iterates this report.

Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria): Chamomile: A good anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-irritant. Could be an extract or the essential oil as a fragrance.

Cymbopogon Schoenanthus: Also known as camel grass or West Indian lemon grass. An astringent ingredient.

Humulus Lupulus (Hops): Can offer anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory and soothing properties. Hops have been used in hair care products in beer for quite some time.

Melissa Officinalis (Balm Mint): An astringent ingredient, it has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties,

Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary): Great for oily hair, it offers a ton of polyphenols and anti-oxidizing properties.

Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel: This is advertised as keeping the colour in your hair. I'm not really sure how orange peel extract can do that, but it can be good for oily hair.

Cocamidopropyl Betaine: An amphoteric surfactant used as a secondary surfactant to create mildness in our products.

Propylene Glycol: Our humectant, it draws water from the atmosphere to our hair to offer moisturizing (but isn't great for frizzy haired people) and it reduces the temperature at which the product will freeze or reach its cloud point during transit.

PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil: An ingredient that forms emulsions and helps other things dissolve. Can increase the sensitization potential of other ingredients (according to CosmeticsInfo)

PEG-75 Lanolin: A polyethylene glycol ether of lanolin, it works as a skin emollient and conditioner. It will make your skin and hair feel more moisturized after use. And it can be a secondary emulsifier.

PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate: An emollient, emulsifier, and thickener that will increase the viscosity of the product and make it feel more moisturizing.

Benzophenone-4: Used as a sunscreen in products. (Click here for slightly more information.)

Polyquaternium-10: A cationic polymer used to condition our hair and thicken products, it works well in surfactants. It comes as a powder that can be used at 0.25% to 0.5%, but it's okay to go as high as 2% without incurring irritation.

Hydroxyethylcellulose: Our thickener for this product. Very like hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), it's added to our products to make them thicker. Generally used at low levels, like 0.1% to 0.3%.

Polyquaternium-7: A liquid cationic polymer we can add to surfactant mixes at up to 5%.

Diazolidinyl Urea, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate: Preservatives.

Ascorbic Acid: Also known as Vitamin C, it can behave as an anti-oxidant.

Fragrance: Smells pretty.

Red 40, Yellow 5: Colours.

Before you move on, ask yourself this question - what makes this low foaming? What makes this product safe for coloured hair? (The point of these posts is to help you learn to formulate, so this is an important question.)

The answer for both questions is the same - the low level of incredibly mild - gentle, even - surfactants in the product. The only foaming surfactant is the cocamidopropyl betaine, which we would normally use as a secondary surfactant to increase mildness. It's a very very gentle cleanser. We also see mildness enhancers like PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate, which is technically a surfactant, but not a lathery one. We see lots of emollients in here - the PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate and PEG-75 lanolin - both of which might interfere with the foam (which isn't that much to start off with!).

There isn't anything inherently colour protecting in this product. We make our products more colour protecting by ensuring we have a good pH level, that we aren't using harsh detergents, and we are using low levels of gentle and mild surfactants. The extracts are good for our hair and scalp - especially if you have oily hair as there are tons of astringent ingredients - but they aren't necessary for making a good product. Think of them as icing on the proverbial cake: Cake is awesome without icing, but it's even better with a little flower or heart on top.

Where do you think the 1% range starts? I think it's with the sunscreen, but a lot of these extracts will be used at 0.5% or lower, but are included at the top because they're being used in the water, which makes up the bulk of the product.

How would we make this product? We know the cocamidopropyl betaine will be used at low levels - maybe 10% to 20% - and the water will make up most of the product. I'm thinking about the propylene glycol at 3% or so (use glycerin if you don't like this ingredient), and the two cationic polymers at 0.5% each. I'm going to include PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate at 1%, and I think I'll use a water soluble emollient like water soluble shea or olive oil (as I don't have PEG-75 lanolin and don't know where to get it) at 1%. The fragrance will be around 1%, and I'll definitely need a thickener.

For the extracts, I don't know where to get yarrow, hops, or West Indian lemon grass, so I'll leave those out. I could use a hydrosol for the chamomile, melissa, rosemary, and orange (I have neroli hydorosol), use an essential oil for all three, or use a powdered extract for the rosemary and chamomile, a hydrosol for the orange, and an essential oil for the melissa or chamomile. It's really up to you on how you choose to combine these. Since chamomile essential oil is really expensive and since I hate the smell, I'll go with the hydrosol for this and the rosemary. I don't like the smell of melissa either, but I could use it in combination with orange essential oil at about 0.5% of each.

We have a grand total of 17.5% ingredients and 82.5% water here. I'm going to be using hydrosols for the water (I'm thinking 20% chamomile hydrosol and 20% rosemary hydrosols) and 1% in powdered extracts, so I need to use 40% water. The remaining 2.5% will be the thickener. You can use the hydroethyl cellulose, but I'm using Crothix because I'm not the biggest fan of using cellulose in my products. I have to wait for it to hydrate then add it in and it always seem to feel a bit...well...I'll use the words gooey and stringy without having to resort to references to mucous.

Let's take a look at a possible recipe for this product...

POSSIBLE DUPLICATION OF DEVA CARE'S LOW POO NO FADE SHAMPOO
HEATED WATER PHASE
20% chamomile hydrosol
20% rosemary hydrosol
40% water
10% cocamidopropyl betaine
3% propylene glycol or glycerin
1% water soluble oil
1% PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate
0.5% polyquat 7
0.5% polyquat 10

COOL DOWN PHASE
0.5% preservative
1% essential oil
2.5% liquid thickener like Crothix (optional, and don't add it in before the product cools)

Heat the heated water phase to 70˚C and hold for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, let the product cool to around 45˚C, then add the cool down phase. Wait for it to come to room temperature before changing the viscosity. This is going to be a very very very thin product, so you'll definitely have to thicken it, but we don't want to add too much. Use the liquid Crothix at 0.5% at a time and mix well before adding another 0.5%.

Join me tomorrow for more fun duplicating products!