Hello Green Beauty: September 2020

Cosmetic Chemistry: Making Cold Process Emulsion with Novemer EC-2

Traditional cosmetic emulsifiers (a.k.a. hot process emulsifiers) are quite tricky to use for amateur cosmetic formulators like me. I can’t count the number of times that I wasted my raw materials because my lotion has separated after a few days. So when I finally got my hand on Novemer EC-2, making lotions and creams become easy peasy! It is a cold process emulsifier so basically you don’t need to heat your water and oil phases at same temperature and wait for the emulsion to cool down before adding heat-sensitive ingredients. Since it is a liquid emulsifier, there is no need to melt it unlike solid emulsifiers. You can actually make a basic lotion with Novemer EC-2 in just 5 minutes with just manual hand stirring.

What is Novemer EC-2?

INCI: Sodium Acrylates/ Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Crosspolymer (and) Hydrogenated Polydecene (and) Lauryl Glucoside

Manufacturer: Lubrizol

Description: It's a multi-functional, synthetic (pre-neutralized) liquid polymer that can be used to make oil-in-water emulsions.

Functions

It can be used as emulsifier or co-emulsifier in either hot or cold process emulsion.
It helps thicken and improve the texture of the emulsion.
It helps stabilize emulsion.

Features

Can tolerate electrolytes (e.g. aloe vera)
Can tolerate high pH (pH range 5.5 – 11). The ideal pH for more stable emulsion is 6.5
Can suspend inorganic pigments (e.g. iron oxide, titanium dioxide)
Can emulsify broad range of oils
Can make emulsion with excellent skin sensory properties
Has low potential to cause skin irritation or sensitization

Where to Use Novemer EC-2?

Facial lotion
Facial cream
Body lotion
Body cream
Sun care lotion and cream
Gel lotion / Gel cream / Hydrogel

Formulation Guidelines

Usage rate is 0.5 - 5%
Can either be added to water phase or oil phase
Can be added post-emulsion to adjust the viscosity of the final product
Can be combined with Carbopol polymers to form more stable emulsion that is highly electrolyte resistant

Experiment Details

For my formulation experiment, I decided to create two batches of 10g emulsion using 1% and 5% Novemer EC-2, respectively. Basically, the formula will only contain 3 ingredients: water, oil and Novemer EC-2. I used sunflower oil at fixed amount of 5% for both sample batches. I also used cold process method in making the emulsion.

	BATCH 1	BATCH 2
NOVEMER EC-2	1%	5%
WATER	94%	90%
SUNFLOWER OIL	5%	5%

The formulation process is as follows:

In a glass beaker, add Novemer EC-2 to water and mix until homogeneous.
Add the oil into the Novemer EC-2 + water mixture and mix until homogeneous.

Experiment Results

Novemer EC-2 @ 1%

Novemer EC-2 @ 5%

	NOVEMER EC-2 @ 1%	NOVEMER EC-2 @ 5%
APPEARANCE	More translucent (like a hydrogel/gel lotion)	More opaque
SKIN FEEL	Light, non-sticky and absorbs quickly	Light, non-sticky and absorbs quickly
VISCOSITY	Thin consistency	Thick consistency