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- Sensory enhanced alkanes: the alternative, and extender, of silicone for personal care products
When supply issues or pricing becomes a challenge, it’s vital to be aware of alternatives that can replace key products and components in custom formulations. For personal care products, where product performance and customer satisfaction are crucial, finding replacements that offer the necessary high quality can be difficult. A clear example of this is the current global silicone shortage and its impact on the formulation and manufacturing of many different personal care products. Providing a silky feel, silicone has typically been a key ingredient for many haircare and body care products.
As silicone availability continues to be a challenge globally, this Q&A provides insight into how sensory enhanced alkanes can be used to replace or extend low viscosity silicone fluids in personal care products.Read the Technical Q&A
Sensory enhanced alkanes are highly versatile and cost-effective alternatives to silicone in many applications, such as hair and skin care products. HollyFrontier Lubricants & Specialties (HFLS) Sonneborn branded alkane products, LILAC™ (INCI Alkane C14-C22) and IRIS™ (INCI Alkane C12-C17) are pharmaceutical grade high quality solutions and have proven skin and ocular undiluted test results that offer peace of mind for both personal care product formulators and end customers.
With similar sensory profiles to Dimethicone, 5cSt, or Cyclopentasiloxane (D5), these alkanes can be incorporated into formulations for skin and haircare products, antiperspirants and sun care products.
Alkanes also offer an effective delivery system for other key ingredients. When considering using an alkane for your formulation, it is important to work with your HFLS representative to support you in finding the right product for your application.
Alkanes are highly compatible with common ingredients in personal care formulations, making them suitable for use in a wide range of applications, such as moisturizers, antiperspirants, waterless hand soaps, hair repair treatments and many others.
The unique ingredient provides a quality sensory finish by providing a dry, soft and powdery after-feel, which is essential for the consumer. In addition, the protective qualities of alkanes enable them to also act as an emollient to moisturize and soften the skin.
The unique molecular structure of alkanes also provides flexibility for the formulation to be soluble with more ionic, anionic, polar and non-polar substances such as fragrances, shea butter, olive oil, fatty alcohols, capric/caprylic triglycerides and glyceryl stearate.
Alkanes are highly compatible with common ingredients in personal care formulations, making them suitable for use in a wide range of applications, such as moisturizers, antiperspirants, waterless hand soaps, hair repair treatments and many others.
The unique ingredient provides a quality sensory finish by providing a dry, soft and powdery after-feel, which is essential for the consumer. In addition, the protective qualities of alkanes enable them to also act as an emollient to moisturize and soften the skin.
The unique molecular structure of alkanes also provides flexibility for the formulation to be soluble with more ionic, anionic, polar and non-polar substances such as fragrances, shea butter, olive oil, fatty alcohols, capric/caprylic triglycerides and glyceryl stearate.
Yes, alkanes can be used to extend the use of silicone, so that less silicone is needed in personal care products. In periods where silicone availability is a challenge, HollyFrontier Lubricants & Specialties customers have benefitted from the formulation flexibility that using alkanes provides.
By using an alkane to replace part of the silicone component in a formulation, formulators can continue producing finished products in larger amounts – significantly reducing the risks associated with a key ingredient shortage on the manufacturing process and supply chain, and ultimately, the end consumer.
In fact, alkanes have been proven as effective extenders of silicone ingredients such as Dimethicone, 5cSt or Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) in formulations for nail polish remover, foot creams, eye make-up remover and many more skin and body care products.
Yes, an alkane can be used as a complete alternative to silicone in personal care products. Sonneborn branded IRIS™ or LILAC™ are ideal alternatives to silicone.
However, when adding a new ingredient into a formulation or exchanging one for another, it's vital to seek support from an expert. A technical services advisor, for example, will be able to provide their insight into the most suitable alkane for a formulation based on the silicone it will be replacing, the product and its use, as well as the desired finish for the end product.
The inherent benefits of the alkane molecular structure means that they are compatible with many common formulation ingredients and offer high solubility. This makes incorporating an alkane in an existing formulation to replace or extend the use of reduced silicone a simple process.
As with any formulation change, it’s vital to work with your alkane representative to find the right product for your specific application.
HollyFrontier Lubricants & Specialties Sonneborn branded alkane products LILAC™ and IRIS™ are high quality, versatile alkanes that are a cost effective and readily available alternative, or extender, for silicone in personal care formulations, particularly for Dimethicone, 5cSt or Cyclopentasiloxane (D5). The products both benefit from favourable skin and ocular test results, as well as proven safety and performance.
LILAC™ and IRIS™ alkanes are clear, odorless and inert as well as UV and thermally stable. This makes them an ideal alternative to silicone, as they offer a comparable sensory profile, solubility and volatility properties.
LILAC™ alkanes (C14-22) and IRIS™ alkanes (C12-17) are available globally and provide formulators with a diverse range of quality solutions that can extend, or replace, silicone in personal care products.