Re: Formulating Philosophy

[Guest guest]

That is very interesting Maurice.

Do you think that because home crafters do not have such a narrow margin for

profit, compared to commercial companies, that we have a bit of an advantage

in being able to use more expensive ingredients? (queen of run-on sentences

here) I keep thinking of sodium lauryl sulfoacetate for instance. I love

this stuff and use it for a few different applications. I've heard you say

its not effeicient for commercial production. For me, I can make shampoo or

other goodies with it...and mark my product up to " fit " that ingredient and

make money on it.

My market is miniscule compared to EsteeLauders for instance. So I am not

risking as much if I goof. I also probably don't have to have the percentage

of profit that EsteeLauder must. (I'm pretty happy if I can sell my stuff

for 5 x cost).

I would imagine, the bigger our markets get, the more risk we assume -the

more we spend on marketing- the more efficient our products must become.

Subject: Formulating Philosophy

>

>

> If you formulate long enough, you'll begin to develop a formulating

> philosophy. When I formulate a cosmetic product, my goal is to create

> a product that is safe, effective and efficient.

>

..................

>

> It is a little more difficult to create a formula that is safe,

> effective and efficient.

>

> When I choose a raw material for a specific task in a formula, I

> consider the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the raw material.

>

> The safety and effectiveness of a raw material can be easily measured,

> quantified and documented.

>

> To measure or quantify the efficiency of a raw material is a little

> more difficult but, nevertheless, important part of choosing the raw

> material for me.

>

> Maurice

[Guest guest]

Sorry...I forgot to sign my post.

Sutton

Re: Formulating Philosophy

[Guest guest]

> When I choose a raw material for a specific task in a formula, I

> consider the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the raw material.

Would you be so kind as to list your top 5 favourite additives for

skincare (lotions and creams) and why you like them. By this I don't

mean the base oils, emulsifier etc that we all have readily available, I

mean the items that are considered luxury, hard to source and/or

expensive additives, proteins, or chemicals for the home or small

manufacturer.

If you get time I would love to hear your 5 favourite additives for hair

conditioners, with the same criteria as above.

You are right, everyone is trying to sell you something and tell you their

product or additive is the best, which is why an independent opinion

would be invaluable.

Thanks :-)

, the brave ;-)

[Guest guest]

> That is very interesting Maurice.

> Do you think that because home crafters do not have such a narrow

margin for

> profit, compared to commercial companies, that we have a bit of an

advantage

> in being able to use more expensive ingredients? (queen of run-on

sentences

> here) I keep thinking of sodium lauryl sulfoacetate for instance.

I would agree. We are not homecrafters, nor are we a large

organisation, turnover 2 million p.a. When a customer wants us to

design a product they usually will have a competitors brand and a

price range to aim for. This usually eliminates most of the more

exotic materials talked about on this site. Occasionally when price

range is not a criteria I can go mad and experiment. These projects

usually fall through! I would say its only the past 3 or so years the

situation has been like this, the previous 15 plus years I seemed to

have more to play with. Maybe its the cut throat business I'm in.

Dave Eastham