COSMETICS ADDITIVES

Cosmetic additives: functional raw materials for your own formulations

Cosmetic additives decide whether a formulation turns into a stable, safe and pleasant product. This category holds 706 functional raw materials in 15 sections — from emulsifiers and thickeners through preservatives and surfactants to 201 active ingredients — for making creams, serums, body lotions, shampoos and cleansing products.

How additives build on the basic raw materials

While basic raw materials form the body of a formulation — the oil phase and the water phase — additives give it function. Emulsifiers bring water and oil together into a homogeneous cream, thickeners fine-tune viscosity and texture, preservatives protect water-based formulations from bacteria, yeasts and moulds, and surfactants take care of cleansing and foam. Active ingredients then deliver a targeted effect: hydration, exfoliation or a more even skin tone. The range is rounded out by emollients for a silky slip without a heavy film, conditioners for hair care, vitamins and antioxidants that protect oils from oxidation, mineral oxides, solvents, chelating agents, humectants and dried herbs for macerates and bath blends.

What you need for which product

• Cream and emulsion: an emulsifier to match the type of emulsion, O/W or W/O (Olivem 1000 or Montanov 68, for example), a thickener to fine-tune viscosity, a humectant such as glycerine in the water phase and a preservative at the end.
• Shampoo and shower gel: a combination of surfactants (glucosides, alpha-olefin sulfonate) balances foam, degreasing and mildness on the skin; a conditioner of the AminoSensyl type makes combing easier, and xanthan or cellulose adds viscosity.
• Preservation: every formulation containing water needs a preservative. Choose according to the pH and the type of product — Cosgard, the Euxyl ranges and Spectrastat — and always add it to a cooled base at a temperature below 40 °C.
• Active serum: water-based and oil-based serums alike are built on active ingredients dosed according to the TDS — niacinamide 2–5%, high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid 0.1–0.5%, bakuchiol 0.5–2% into the oil phase.
• Syndet and solid cosmetics: powdered surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (SLSA) form the base of solid shampoos and syndets, mineral oxides provide coverage and colour, and dried herbs work well in natural scrubs and soaps.

Quality and documentation: dose according to the TDS

Every raw material is of cosmetic grade with complete documentation: the INCI name, a technical data sheet (TDS) with the recommended dosage and processing temperatures, a safety data sheet (SDS/MSDS) and a COA certificate. The TDS is the single most important document when working with additives — stay within the recommended ranges, respect both the pH and the phase (water or oil), and choose the lower end of the range when several active ingredients work together. You can trial a formulation on samples from just 1 g; for workshops and production sites we keep over a hundred items in packs from 5 kg or 5 l — including 25 kg sacks, 20 l jerrycans and a 210 l drum. Same raw material, same documentation, different scale. Not sure what to choose? Write to us at [email protected] — we work with these materials every day.