TONY O’LENICK¹, DAVID ZHANG²
1. Nascent Technologies Corporation, Lawrenceville Ga, USA
2. Siltech Corporation, Toronto Ontario Canada

Abstract

In 2015 we have started using a concept we refer to as minimally disruptive formulation (MDF) as an effective approach to product development.1 This approach allows for the formulation of products that offer very different aesthetics and at the same time are the result of small changes to the formulation. Since product aesthetics are a key attribute of personal care products, the ability to alter product aesthetics to provide a different consumer perception with minimal change to the formulation is a very cost effective way to develop new products2. We have suggested a number of formulations in which addition of different types of silicone polymers to existing formulations in low concentrations ( 1-5% by weight) has resulted in a range of modified formulations with very different aesthetics. We have expanded this approach to include polymers other than silicone which will also provide such differences. In this article we investigate the possibility of replacing one type of organic chemistry with a completely different type of product ( a silicone polymer). This approach we have been dubbed “Functional Formulating” approach.

I have been given the good fortune to present a portion of a course to graduate students with my friend and great chemist Dr. Ricardo Diez. Having a background in organic chemistry, I have often considered the chemistry to be the most important factor in looking for replacements of ingredients in formulations to give improved properties. During that lecture Professor Diez asked about a particular product by INCI name and structure. I suggested it was an ethoxylated fatty ethoxylate, to which he replied, yes but more importantly it is one of the best emulsifiers ever invented. 

I have often said that structure is the salient consideration in determining a molecules properties (3), but it became clear that it is also true that structure determine functional in formulation and that the similarity in chemistry of a raw material is less important that functionality in formulation of that material. The concept of “Functional Formulation” was born.

There has been a felt market need for a shampoo that is sulfate free long need for a mild surfactant that a mild sulfate-free surfactant that is gentle on skin and hair and prov ...