Welcome to the D - I - Y Corner!
This is the place for all you kitchen chemists to congregate, compare ingredients, ask questions, and submit recipes. I learned a great deal from forums on various DIY websites, and from asking questions there. So carry on DIYers!

	D I Y LINKS: Learn about ingredients, recipes, skin care and more.
	THE HERBARIE:   www.theherbarie.com GREAT SITE!!! Angie is extremely helpful-call if you have any questions, she’s always willing to answer! Good site to pick up surfactants, preservatives, and emulsion systems. She’s got ‘em all! The Formulary is wonderful as well—lots of easy recipes for beginners. SOMERSET COSMETIC COMPANY, LLC:   www.makingcosmetics.com Another great site. Check out the recipe section-there are some really great ones! Good selection of actives, and ingredients such as specialty emollients and micronized zinc oxide can be found here. SKIN ACTIVES SCIENTIFIC, LLC:   www.skinactives.com Dr. Hannah Sivak is the founder of this DIY company, and she really knows her stuff! Great advice about the cellular mechanisms of the actives she sells. The forum is great too. This site is a great place to pick up actives for formulating, as she sells them in very small quantities. www.thepersonalformulator.com: Great website for picking up the basics. Some of the actives are a little pricey, but then some of them are incredibly good deals. I love their May Chang Essential Oil. TEXAS NATURAL SUPPLY:   www.texasnaturalsupply.com AMAZING selection of carrier oils and herbs! Plus, they carry some specialty butters that are hard to find elsewhere, like citrus butters. www.essentialsupplies.com: When you’ve got the perfect formula, you need a bottle to put it in, and this is the place to go. NEW DIRECTIONS AROMATICS USA:   www.newdirectionsaromatics.com A good supplier for fragrance oils.

Emulsions:
If you’re going to make any kind of lotion, cream or gel, you have to start with an emulsion. Simply put, an emulsion is a stabilized mixture of oil and water. Mayonnaise is an emulsion everyone is familiar with. Since oil and water don’t mix, it is necessary to use an emulsifier to create a link between the oil phase of your formula and the water phase. The best way to start is to make a simple oil-in-water emulsion, with no actives added. Pick an emulsifier that is simple and easy to use, like Polawax, or a blend of Cetearyl alcohol and Ceteareth-20. There are lots of fancy emulsifiers out there, and many of them require extensive experimentation before formulating with them. Once you’ve got the hang of making simple emulsions, you can try the more interesting emulsion systems. To make a simple emulsion, try this recipe:

	SIMPLE EMULSION RECIPE
	5% Emulsifier 12% Oil (any oil will do, since you’re experimenting) 83% Water

Heat the emulsifier and the oil in a small pan, preferably a chocolate melter. Heat the water phase in larger pan, preferably a soap melter. Once the emulsifier is melted and the water phase is hot (~140 degrees F), add the oil/emulsifier mix to the water phase, and mix with a motorized milk frother. Once a creamy consistency is reached, let it cool to room temperature. Voila! An emulsion!

Preservatives:
It is important to pick a preservative that provides broad-spectrum protection, meaning it kills bacteria, fungi and viruses. DIY cosmetics newbies often find themselves with a very irritated face because they did not preserve their creams well enough, and have applied the contaminated concoction to their face! Be sure to read the INCI names of the compounds in your preservatives. Parabens may be great for broad-spectrum protection, but they are one of the “12 Killer Chemicals”, so they should be avoided. Products such as Germaben II, LiquiPar Optima, Methylparaben and propylparaben should be avoided. Besides parabens, other preservative ingredients to avoid include DMDM Hydantoin, Diazolidinyl Urea, and Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate (Germall Plus liquid contains some of these ingredients, and should be avoided). Be sure to pick a preservative that is compatible with your emulsion system. Some preservatives, such as Cosmocil CQ are incompatible with anionic systems. Some are not compatible with surfactant-based systems. Just make sure that whatever you are using is effective. There are several small companies who will do microbial challenge testing on your preservative systems, if you don’t have access to a lab.

Surfactants:
Surfactants are cleansers. They provide cleansing action and foam for facial cleansers, shower gels, shampoos, etc. Surfactants can be tricky. Like emulsions, it’s really necessary to play with your system before trying to make something. A good rule of thumb is to practice with Surfactant 40% + Water 60%. Measure out your surfactants and mix them in slowly by hand. Do not use a hand mixer unless the beater is completely submerged or you will have a layer of foam on top. When you have a good combination of surfactants, you can play with adding actives. To begin, I suggest using pre-made surfactant blends; it’s a lot easier than trying to find the right one yourself.

Oils and Butters:
Your choice of oils and butters is up to you. Each one has different properties; so depending on what your are making, you choose accordingly. For example, if you are formulating a face cream for someone with oily skin, you would NOT want to use avocado oil, since it is very heavy and greasy. You would want to use oils that are easily absorbed and non-comedogenic, like jojoba, hemp seed or emu oils. Similarly, if you are making an anti-aging cream, you want to use moisturizing, regenerating oils or butters like shea butter, meadowfoam seed oil, evening primrose oil or borage oil. A list of oils and butters and their associated properties may be found here.

Actives:
Your actives are up to you. After all, half the fun of making this stuff yourself is trying out new combinations of actives! Do your research, find out what actives do what, and go from there. Note: botanical extracts are not all alike: some are specially made for cosmetics, and some are not. You need to determine whether your extracts are fully soluble in anything, and if insoluble particles remain, you need to filter them out, or find a different supplier. Don’t use too many actives at once, in case you have an allergic reaction. A list of actives used in my products and their activities may be found here.

Colors and Fragrances:
Fragrance oils can be very toxic. Ideally, you can use small quantities of essential oils for fragrancing products, but essential oils can be tricky, and often can affect the viscosity of your emulsion. If you use fragrance oils, make sure you get them from a supplier who will provide toxicity data. A good supplier for fragrance oils is New Directions Aromatics. As for colorants, I would advise against artificially coloring your products. It’s not necessary, and colorants can be extremely toxic.