Shea and calendula facial cream

Calendula is one of my all-time favorites and I use it a lot, I mean a lot, in my hand creams and balms.
We have published several calendula cream and balm formulations here and you can refer to them before going to the formulation for this rich calendula cream

Pequi & calendula balm

You can never have enough balms in winter. With the weather becoming colder, we all need something more pampering and barrier protective than in summer. This is a very simple formulation but quite impressive in terms of skin feel and texture. It looks more like a juicy cream than a

Skinchakra ScienceDr. Elham Eghbali

Soothing calendula cream

A few weeks ago we shared the tutorial for an oil-free emulsion with a very light skin feel suitable as a summer moisturizer. We took that emulsion to the next level by increasing the viscosity and adding more active ingredients to enhance the soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. This is not

Skinchakra ScienceDr. Elham Eghbali

Barriere protective hydrogel serum

I love formulating and using hydrogels. They are fascinating in making and quite pleasant in using. You can apply them day and night under your day/night cream or your suncare or during hot and humid days could be used as a standalone skin food. They are specifically handy when

Skinchakra ScienceDr. Elham Eghbali

Now coming back to this cream, it is by no means a KISS formulation but the procedure is still straightforward. Don't get intimidated by the number of ingredients and phases. We are using a lot of shea butter and then adding layers of oils with different polarities to cut through the richness of the shea butter. The cream is still very rich but not greasy or sticky.

This formulation is buffered. GSC needs a buffering system to avoid pH drift over time which will rapidly happen if you do not buffer the formulation. If you still are confused about the buffers and which formulations need a buffer system and how you can buffer a formulation we have a digital file for you which answers all your questions. This has been a module in our flagship course: measure and adjust the pH like a cosmetic chemist that we are now selling as a standalone file

Formulation:

Procedure:

1- Blend phase A and B in separate heat-proof beakers

2- Heat phase A and B in a water bath between 82-85 C.

3- Emulsify the oil phase in the water phase

4- Disperse the gum blend in the still hot emulsion

5- At a temperature above 45 C add phase D

6- Start cooling down while stirring

7- When the temperature reaches under 40 C add the sensitive phases (Phase E and F)

8- When the emulsion reaches the room temperature prepare a 10% dilution and measure the pH. In our case it was 5,63. This pH is safe for adding the preservative blend in this formulation.

9- Add the two preservatives

10- Reduce the pH by adding lactic acid. If you are making this formulation for the first time add the lactic acid gradually and measure the pH in between.

11- Prepare another dilution of the emulsion and measure the pH. In our case it was 5,37. We are aiming for a pH between 5,3-5,5 with this preservative blend.

12- Take the stability and microkit samples and fill the rest in a suitable container