Today I was in the mood for some experiments and videotaping them, hence,  why not make a simple cleanser with some decyl glucoside, olivem 300, oil, Liquids Lipids and Glycerites.

what I ended up with was –

Switched off phone

wastage (Hopefully Not)

and a priceless lesson, or rather many!

I shall skip the procedures and how to’s and directly jump on the mistakes, and what did I do.

Also, just a warning, the things I did here, or any step I undertook, is just based on my experimentation. I am not claiming it to be the right way, or you should be doing it, but this is just a blog about what I did and in future, you might want to try it, however, I don't guarantee the results.

1. mix your xanthan gum in glycerine and keep it aside for some time. Make sure you do this especially when you are changing the brands of your glycerine or xanthan gum.
2. I have learnt this a hard way, but always have an ingredient list, equipment list right beside your formulae. Keep it detailed. so you don't have to run here and there to grab things. For Safety and Clean

All ready for making a video!

And The major mistake –

The cap of the bottle that gave away!

3. The surfactants which I got from skin fel Brand, were very well packed. I had to basically make a hole in the upper cap and use it. I use a disinfected safety pin to make a small hole in the lid. The surfactant being a thick gelly kind of liquid took its own time to come out,being impatient with it, I kept pumping the bottle harder..AND –

The cap came out, fell in the emulsion and almost half of the surfactant from the bottle was now inside it.

I now know what a mini heartbreak is .

However, one good thing was, may be out of my laziness or wanting to be perfect, I always keep the beaker on the measuring scale, and thats why I knew how much exactly  decyl glucoside was in there !

it was exactly 3x the amount i had to put in there.

I had to something, couldn’t let that entire thing go waste and thats when I did something brave, something stupid, something which I never thought I would do !

Quickly, I made another emulsion, weighing exactly the amount that needs 3x of surfactant and added it to the decyl glucoside emulsion and gave it a good but gentle stir.

I thought that the emulsion would break, it would act weird, however to my surprise, the cleanser is the way it should be.

I am still keeping under observation, checking my pH, and other necessary tests needed for its stability. Fingers crossed.

So here’s the lesson –

Make sure you know how to use your raw material bottles, what are they like, how will u pour or add the raw materials.

If you are in experimenting mode, or using new products, products from a new supplier, or trying a new recipe, always work in small batches. It will help you saving a lot !

Don't hesitate to experiment or follow the guidelines or have fear. Just go with your gut, Your experiment might fail or not, but you would have learnt a priceless lesson !

Few other things to keep in mind –

Always have few empty bottles, or containers kept aside just for your experiments.

Label them with date, time and give them a code. The same code will go in your diary for that particular experiment.

Keep writing notes. the more detailed, the better !

If you are planning to record a video, make sure your phone is well charged. My phone got switched off in middle, I did not realise it, I kept on blabbering, showing off in front of the camera just to realise my phone was off !

All for nothing !!

I love talking about failures and mistakes because thats what help people and you learn a great deal of things and it also makes you a better formulator !

If you have had certain experiences with experiments gone wrong, I would love to hear them !