Hey all! Happy week three! Thank you all for continuing to follow my blog as I learn more and more about the chemistry and marketing behind dermatology products.
This week I have made a lot of progress in creating my lip product. The goals, as stated earlier, were to be all natural, contain an SPF, deeply moisturize, and leave the user with a thoroughly enjoyable experience. To create a unique product I have been doing a lot of research about specific ingredients in the past weeks. On Tuesday, I brought in a list of ingredients which I wanted to use along with how it would correspond to an existing formula for a lip balm.
Last week, Kerwin had given me a sample formula for a lip balm that I could use to gain inspiration for my own product. I decided that I want to make a lip butter that can easily penetrate the lip’s thin layers, so, over the weekend I did some research on the ingredients that would be going into my own product. And research takes a long time, especially when you want to create an amazing product that you are proud of.
So I walked into Kerwin’s lab on Tuesday and we sat down and talked about my ingredients, and he told me to create my formula! I was a bit shocked, not knowing exact concentrations to use or percentages, but that is what is really cool: to begin, it’s kind of an educated guess of what percentages to use in a formula. So I wrote it down, Kerwin checked over it, we gathered the ingredients, and he let me put everything together in a beaker!
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| At the beginning |
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| 20 minutes in |
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| 40 minutes in |
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| Right before we poured the lip balm into the containers. |
Complete side note: I’m super grateful that I get to work with Kerwin, because he is letting me create my own product which I could have never imagined of doing! Huge shout out to Kerwin for being so involved in my project, way more than I could ever ask for.
Back on track. Thursday, we melted everything down, put in the pigments, and poured the lip balms. They smelled super good, thanks to an essential oil I’m using, but the consistency and color are very off. Of course I cannot tell you what is exactly in my product at this stage, I will tell you that this first round was based in coconut oil which has proved to have too low of a melting point to be at such a high level in my product.
Question for you guys: if you see a pigmented lip balm, would you think of it as unnatural?
Have a great weekend!
I think it is so awesome that you are getting to create your own lip balm formulation and troubleshoot ingredients! Trial and error is sometimes the very best way to learn! I can't wait to see what you and Kerwin continue to come up with!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Scaling! Love trial and error! Thank you!
DeleteHey Lauren! The progress you've made is so impressive, especially in such a short amount of time. In regards to your question, I myself don't find pigmented lip balms to look unnatural, especially if the product itself works. Also, how long does it take, do you think, to find the right amounts of each ingredient to use in your product? As in, how many trials and errors, along with research, generally before one can find the formula to use to make the product they wanted?
ReplyDeleteHey Annalise! Aw thank you! Cool!
DeleteFor me, it's been taking a lot of time, but I'm also completely new to this. Kerwin seems to be able to come up with a new formulation super easily like within a week, especially if he can build on an old one he has in his files.
I don't know how many trials and errors, I just want to make the best formula! And I'm using smaller batches so I don't waste materials :D
Hi Lauren! I'm impressed you are already commencing your lip-butter-making process. I do think that pigmented lip balms look kind of fake and artificial, especially if they are a bright or neon color. Maybe if your lip butter is pigmented you could specify on the container "color from natural sources" or something. Also, since you said coconut oil had too low of a melting point, what oil do you think you will use instead? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey Olivia! Aw thank you! And thank you for following my blog! I appreciate your input! Great idea!
DeleteSo I was just looking into that, and I'm going to try using a different ratio of coconut oil to the natural waxes, and if that doesn't work, I will add in another wax (which is slightly more expensive) to the mix to make the product stick better. :D
I don't really think pigmented lip balm is that weird. In fact, I think having some color makes it slightly more appealing. But then again, I really don't know much about lip balm. You mentioned changing the viscosity of your product. Would this just require to add more ingredients? Are you just going to keep adding to what you have now or are you going to have to start over at some point?
ReplyDeleteHey Justin! Cool! Thank you for your input! Changing the viscosity is all about the ingredients since they all have their own viscosities, but I am just playing with them along with the melting points! I am going to adjust ratios before I start adding in new ingredients and hopefully I won't have to start over because there are limited amounts of safe, natural waxes out in the market currently.
DeleteHey Lauren! It's super impressive that you've already starting developing your product, especially considering it's so early in this project! I personally am not drawn to pigmented lip balms because I find them unnatural, but as a concept I think they're okay, especially to give an evened tone. Is it the exclusively natural ingredients that are causing the awkward consistency of your lip balm? Could chemical ingredients potentially provide a better consistency, and if so what natural ingrediebts could be used to give the same effect?
ReplyDeleteHey Bobby! Thank you! And thank you for following my blog! Ah, thank you for your input! I'm not sure what is causing the different consistency, but hopefully I will find out more about it this week!
DeleteChemical ingredients would definitely create more stability since natural ingredients come with more instability since they are from nature which is fluctuating with different harvests and seasons. I'm hoping different ratios of my natural waxes with my oils will work better! But I will for sure keep you all in the loop!
Hi Lauren! It's so exciting that you were able to experiment with different ingredients to make your lip balm this week! I don't usually find pigmented lip balms unnatural, unless they are an extremely bright color like pink or blue. Was the consistency of your balm too thick or thin? Also, to correct it, do you plan to add in more oils, replace the coconut oil with a different oil, or start your product again with new ingredients? Finally, are most lip products on the market made with natural ingredients, or are balms with chemical ingredients looked down on by consumers? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Esha! Thank you! It is super exciting! Cool! Thank you! It was too thin, and also too hard. I'm going to change the ratios of oil to waxes tomorrow; and most are created with beeswax or petroleum! A lot of news is starting to surround beeswax though because of the improper treatment and potential animal cruelty with bees, so I'm avoiding all animals in mine!
DeleteHi Lauren! I think pigmented lip balm is sort of natural depending on what kind of color it is. If it is more lighter it might seem more normal. Also, what ingredients determine the lip balm's more brighter and pinker shade? How do people make darker colors?
ReplyDeleteHey Spencer! Cool! They are just pigments in oils, I am able to use red, yellow, and black at the lab to create whatever color I want!
DeleteHi Lauren! It's so cool that you've already begun making your product! I think pigment still looks natural if it's not too bright, i.e. if it were a color you could still naturally find. You mentioned you want the consumer to have an enjoyable experience, and I was wondering what your plans are for that. Would that be the smell of the product or some other element? Also, what would an ideal viscosity look like? Thank you! I can't wait to see your product develop.
ReplyDeleteHey Nitya! Aw thanks! Thank you for following my blog! I definitely want the balm to smell good, not be too sticky, yet be thick enough to make a difference! Ideal viscosity would be like room temperature butter, but less oily :D
DeleteHey Lauren! It's so exciting how you got to do the experiment with trial and error as at BASIS most of our experiments are with given parameters and instructions. It is also really exciting how you have already started making your lip balm. I personally feel that pigmented lip balm looks unnatural especially if it is an extremely bright color but I think that the pink lip balm you made is not bad. I think if you were to put this in the market, as Olivia said before, I would also put that the color is made by natural materials. Although the lip balm is pigmented, it does have SPF so some people would say that it outweighs the pigmented color but that is just what I think. Will you be making more products? Can't wait to see your project further develop!
ReplyDeleteHey Christina! It was super awesome getting to run into you last week! Cool! Thank you so much for your input! Right now, I'm just going to be sticking to my lip butter and cleanser since there is so much that goes into researching and creating the products, and I want to be completely proud of what I create along with the packaging!
Delete(Insert generic greeting) Lauren!
ReplyDeleteHOLY MOLY YOU'RE ALREADY MAKING YOUR OWN PRODUCT! THATS AMAZING!
The way you took pictures of each stage made it look awesome (even if the first one looked a bit icky :P)! I'm curious about how you made the product, was it just throwing a bunch of ingredients in a beaker, or was there some kind of contraption? I'm hyped to see what you'll make next week!
ANIL! Hey! Oh my goodness, you're too funny! Drama is so lucky to have you! I researched the ingredients a lot before, then I came up with a formula, based on a basic lip balm formula, and checked it with Kerwin. Then I put all the oil soluble ingredients together except two that I didn't want to get cooked off. :D Thank you!
DeleteHi Lauren! It is amazing that you are already making your product! I do not think that pigmented lip balms are unnatural unless the colors are very bizarre like green or navy blue. After your lip butter and cleanser, what product would you create?
ReplyDeleteHey Divya! Thank you! Just the same as Christina, I think I will stop after the cleanser and lip balm for right now, just because I want to help Kerwin with his own lab materials, and I want to be completely proud of the products I create! :) But I'm so so excited that you're liking my project!
DeleteHi Lauren
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear you are already experimenting with ingredients to finalize your product. Personally, I would not find pigmented lip balms unnatural, and even if the color comes out too bright, it might be appealing to younger kids. Speaking of which, is there a specific group or age range of people you are going to be marketing your product to? Also, when you found the ingredients, did you just mix them together? Thank you. I look forward to reading more!
Hey Zafeerah! Thank you! Awesome! Thanks for your input! I am targeting 14-40 year olds who are searching for natural products.
DeleteAnd I measured out all the oil soluble ingredients together, melted them down, except two which I didn't want to cook off, so I added those last :)
Lauren! It is super cool that you are actually able to make your own lip balm. To answer your question about pigmentation, I don't think it really matters to be honest. If it works well then I think that consumers will buy it. Keep up the awesome work!
ReplyDelete