Innovate & Formulate: Suspension Solutions for Personal Care Products
At Nordmann, we provide cutting-edge ingredients designed to create exceptional suspension properties, allowing brands to develop personal care products that stand out in the marketplace. Our featured materials help you craft formulations that maintain the right consistency, texture, and appearance, with minimal risk of separation or sedimentation. Here’s a closer look at some of the most effective suspension agents we offer, and how they can transform your product formulations.
Vita Naturgel: Natural Suspension with Superior Texture
Vita Naturgel is a water-soluble natural hydrocolloid derived from selected species of red seaweed. Known for its remarkable ability to enhance the natural feel of cosmetic products, it’s the perfect ingredient to provide smooth, creamy textures in emulsions and surfactant systems. It’s especially beneficial for those looking to replace synthetic products in shampoos, bath gels, lotions, and other personal care formulations.
Benefits:
- Gelling, thickening, and stabilising agent that enhances texture
- Suitable for use in emulsions and surfactant systems, providing smooth, creamy results
- Can replace synthetic ingredients in a variety of cosmetic applications
Formulation Tips:
- Fully dispersible in cold water (up to 2%, depending on mixing equipment)
- At temperatures below 20°C, Vita Naturgel forms a gelatinous gel that recovers when warmed to room temperature
- When exposed to temperatures above 35°C, it becomes a fluid gel and reforms upon cooling, preserving its original strength with minimal loss
Vita Catiogel: Perfect for Hair Care Suspension
Vita Catiogel is a natural ingredient derived from the seeds of the carob tree, cultivated in the Mediterranean region. It’s an excellent option for hair care formulations, providing enhanced sensory properties and compatible with cationic agents. This versatile hydrocolloid can also improve the stability of emulsions and gel formulations, making it a great choice for shampoos, conditioners, and styling products.
Benefits:
- Adds a natural, luxurious feel to hair care formulations
- Compatible with cationic agents, improving compatibility in hair care systems
- Can act as an emulsion stabiliser, enhancing gel strength when combined with other hydrocolloids
Formulation Tips:
- Dispersible in cold water and fully soluble at temperatures above 70°C
- Jellification occurs once the solution has cooled
- When combined with other hydrocolloids, Vita Catiogel can enhance gel strength and improve the stability of emulsions
Vita Retigel: Cold Processable Suspension with Added Stability
Vita Retigel is a versatile suspension agent made from a blend of high molecular weight polysaccharides obtained by biofermentation, combined with a hydrocolloid extracted from brown algae. This ingredient is perfect for cold-process formulations, offering excellent stability and ease of use. It’s especially effective in stabilising water-based systems without the need for a neutralisation step.
Benefits:
- Cold-processable and easy to use, with no neutralisation required
- Forms stable suspensions and emulsions without compromising texture or performance
- Ideal for water-based formulations and natural personal care products
Formulation Tips:
- Simply add the powder to water with rapid mixing to create stable suspensions
- No need for neutralisation or high temperatures
- Ideal for adding to emulsions, creams, and gels
Laponite Range: Synthetic Silicates for Ultimate Suspension
Laponite additives are synthetic layered silicates known for their extraordinary rheological properties, including shear thinning and pseudoplastic behaviour. These additives excel in water, where they hydrate and swell to form transparent or translucent gels and colourless colloidal dispersions. Laponite additives are especially effective in stabilising oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions and preventing sedimentation of suspended particles.
Laponite is highly valued for its unique ability to provide a lightweight, non-sticky texture, while also enhancing the overall stability of the formulation. It’s especially useful in cosmetic applications where transparency or a non-greasy feel is desired.
Benefits:
- Highly efficient thixotropic thickener that provides excellent suspension stability
- Stabilizes O/W emulsions and prevents sedimentation of suspended particles
- Forms transparent or translucent gels, ideal for aesthetically pleasing formulations
- High temperature stability and suitable for cold process applications
Formulation Tips:
- Laponite should be dispersed in water for about 20 minutes to achieve the desired effect
- During the dispersion process, the "doughnut" effect should be observed for best results
- After preparing the dispersion, a colourless, low-viscosity gel can be obtained, making it perfect for lightweight, non-greasy textures
Offering innovative solutions
The key to developing visually striking and functional personal care products lies in selecting the right suspension agents. Whether you’re formulating a luxurious gel, a smooth emulsion, or a suspension with visible particles, the ingredients featured in this article -Vita Naturgel, Vita Catiogel, Vita Retigel, and Laponite- offer innovative solutions for your formulation needs. By leveraging these advanced raw materials, you can ensure that your products not only perform well but also captivate consumers with their texture, stability, and aesthetics.
For more information on these suspension solutions and how they can elevate your formulations, please contact:
Our UK Personal Care team on personalcare-uk (at) nordmann.global. Our experts are here to help you create the next generation of market-leading personal care products.
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