Teach Soap

Hi Y'all,

I have this recipe for making a hair spritz for my dry hair. Because I will be using oil, water and aloe gel I believe I need to use a preservative.
I have some Optiphen, that I use for my body butters, but I have been reading and now I am not sure if I need another type preservative. I was thinking I could use Sodium Benzoate and one of the polysorbates 20 or 80. Someone said grapefruit seed extract, or vit e would also work. Or have you heard of the preservative called suprapein?

Moisturizing Hair Spritz

Aloe Vera Gel or Aloe Vera juice
Oil (olive oil, jojoba, grapeseed, etc...)
Water (preferably distilled water)
2 - 3 Drops of Peppermint Essential Oil (optional)

Fill the empty spray bottle with approximately 25% aloe vera gel, 25% oil, 50% water and sometimes I'll add a few drops of peppermint oil. Shake until mixed well.

It will separate because there's no emulsifier. Leaving that aside, sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate won't work too well because they need an acidic pH. Maybe you could include some citric acid to get the pH to, say, 5, which is what hair likes, then you could use 0.5% sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate.

Suprapein has an extremely strong odor which is hard to mask. Grapefruit seed extract, or vit e are anti-oxidants, not preservatives. If your hair is that dry, I would make a hair mask instead.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Hi soapbuddy,
I am not sure what a mask is.
My hair is dreadlocked, and I have to be careful of product build up.
I will definitely need something for the winter though

I just knew I was right not using those products as preservatives. Thing is in the hair group I am in people swear by those products for preservation. I would rather be safe than sorry later. So, I am going to buck the crowd and be safe.

Optiphen"s website says it can be used for aqueos/anhydrous systems as wll as emollients. So, I am wondering if I should use Optiphen D. Their website is quite confusing though.

Another question on my Zum Mist the ingredients say purified water, pure EO, fragrance oil, aloe and veg. glycerin. It doesn't mention a preservative at all. Why don't they have to mention one?

Frankly I don't think you can trust what it says on labels.
Oh, reading your original post I see you're probably looking at using Polysorbate as an emulsifier? You'd have to use as much of it as you have oil.

It's possible that the label doesn't mention a preservative because it's already a part of another ingredient. It could be the aloe. A hair mask can be made from oils, herbs and clays, then rinsed off.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

FYI
I love adding Honeyquat to my hair products
If you put 2 capfulls in one bottle of aloe gel, it turns
the gel to sprayable liguid with no water. The jojoba would keep
from being crunchy and soften...along with aloe and the honeyquat.
It would, of course, add to cost, but it's great stuff and you just need a little.

I use Cosmocil CQ at 0.2 - 1.5% but it's for my own use.