NATURALS
Mastering clean beauty formulation challenges
Clay Rozic, Anna Turner - Sonneborn, US
Sonneborn has led the personal care industry for over 100 years in producing the highest quality petrolatum emollients. The emollient technologies used by many companies today were developed by scientists at Sonneborn, either as a direct response to industry demands, or as proactive projects by the Sonneborn Development Center anticipating future needs. In 2007, the need for a 100% plant-based emollient that performed as a petrolatum was born. From our first day, to today, our team of technical experts are committed to meeting the Clean Beauty formulation challenges in the 21st Century. A petrolatum is a continuum of hydrocarbon
isomers of approximately carbon 20 up to carbon 120. Its composition will change depending on the performance, application, or sensory experience desired by a product formulator. There are literally thousands of combinations of linear, cyclic, or branched carbon chains to create a petrolatum to meet these needs. This is where the challenge started. Given this complexity, how can we create a stable, efficacious, and pleasing all-natural emollient that mimics the performance of petrolatum? Our experience and knowledge of the chemistry and physical parameters of petrolatum were critical to overcome the challenges, and develop an all-natural plant- based emollient that does indeed perform as a petrolatum in a formulation and in the neat form. Along the development path, there were
numerous challenges to formulating an all- natural emollient. All plant-based materials have a finite, defined carbon distribution that could limit the sensory experience. Because of this finite carbon distribution, natural products do not form a fully stable crystalline structure in the solid form without prescribed thermodynamic systems. One could see undesirable polymorphic behaviour in the product or in the finished formulation itself. All triglycerides and fats typically have three crystalline forms: alpha (α), Beta Primed (β’) and Beta (β). Each form of crystallinity exhibits a different
solid-state symmetry and appearance. With polymorphisms present, the material can exhibit several unaesthetic visual, and poor performance characteristics. Fat blooms, oil bleed, graininess, soupiness, crustiness, and emulsion breaking are several of the phenomena that are a challenge when
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dealing with natural products. Each of these phenomena are reversible through heating, melting, and resetting of the crystallinity of the neat product’s structure. It is to be noted that this does NOT change the chemistry of the product, this is only a physical phenomenon. Cooling rates and shear rates while crystallisation is occurring are the greatest factors in controlling the polymorphism and the stability of the product. Rapid cooling rate and shear rates are
the greatest factors in determining a stable, smooth surface. Improper cooling rates could lead to graininess, oil bleed, or fat blooms in a packaged natural product. A slow cooling rate with slow shear typically results in a β’ polymorph (this is a very unstable polymorph that results in oil bleed and graininess). Proper experimentation and process design are critical in properly using natural emollients in order to reach a very stable β polymorph with triclinic symmetry. This creates a very stable and desirable finished product utilising the natural emollient. To clear these innate material hurdles,
hundreds of natural waxes, oils and butters were evaluated to determine how each material acted singularly and in multiple
combinations. Accelerated stability and long- term stability of the emollient were essential in prototype development. Long-term stability in final formulations was also a focus during development. After evaluation of these natural waxes, oils and butters, several hundred potential formulations were focused on for their overall sensory and performance characteristics. A description of key sensory experiences follows:
Hardness and firmness These two characteristics are some of the first that the consumer will experience when they use the neat or formulated product. Our focus is on the final customer to make sure that the needed organoleptic experience was achieved. A related parameter is the material’s resistance to deformation (which can be done with finger or thumb). Hard or firm emollients do not necessarily remain resistant to deformation. At the same time, soft emollients may not break down as much as expected, as the crystalline structure of the ingredients may be more resilient.
Slip and drag Slip and drag is one of the next experiences felt
April 2021 PERSONAL CARE
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