Guar Gum in Cosmetic and Hair Care Products

Guar gum (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) is not a gum or sap at all; instead, it is the seed from the guar plant. Guar gum is an elongated, fibrous chain of bonded carbohydrate molecules composed of galactose and mannose. 

Guar gum – also referred to as guaran – is renowned for its viscosity and many manufacturers use it for its binding and thickening ability. Personal care raw ingredient supplier Bell Chem wants you to learn how to incorporate guar gum into your cosmetic and hair care products.

Guar gum in hair care products

The thickening power of guar gum is evident in hair care products. Guar gum thoroughly coats individual hairs in a transparent sheen, leaving a fuller, silkier appearance. This coating serves a second function: it strengthens the hair and protects it from breakage and split ends. Exposure to sun and wind can dry hair, but guar gum protects hair by sealing in moisture. In winter’s dry months, guar gum also protects against frizzy and staticy hair. Unmanageable hair is tamed with guar gum.

Guar gum in cosmetics

Another property in guar gum is its ability to suspend other particles within a mixture, giving a similar amount of each ingredient with every use, such as in toothpaste. Toothpaste tubes generally have little residue once they are used because guar gum resists adherence to the inside of the tube as it aids in easing paste out in measured doses. Add to this guar gum’s natural whitening power, it is no wonder so many manufacturers add guar gum to their toothpastes.

When mixed with either hot or cold water, guar gum powder bonds with water molecules to form a versatile paste. Depending on the use, guar gum can be mixed with a small amount of water for a viscous mixture, such as a face mask, or with a larger amount of water, such as in a shampoo. 

As a skincare ingredient, guar gum seals in moisture and allows skin cells to link closely together. In shaving creams and gels, guar gum decreases friction, giving a smoother, closer shave. It also acts as a surfactant in soaps and shaving creams, producing suds for a better clean as it whisks away debris and grime.

Guar gum goodness

With the push for natural, organic ingredients, guar gum is a star contender. Its gentle formula is hypoallergenic and gentle enough for almost any use. 

Need more convincing? Guar gum is also reported to extend the shelf life of the products in which it is an ingredient. 

Bell Chem is a personal care raw ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including guar gum. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Understanding the Use of Preservatives in Personal Care Products

When most consumers think of preservatives, their mind wanders to packaged foods, not personal care products. Why would manufacturers add preservatives to skin care? Bell Chem, your personal care ingredient supplier, wishes to share information on the uses and reasons preservatives are a vital ingredient in the majority of personal care products. 

Why do personal care products need preservatives?

Water-based products have an Achilles’ heel. Kept in a room-temperature environment in a stagnant container, water-borne bacteria, fungi, mold, and other microorganisms quickly multiply. Think about where you use the majority of your personal care products – the steamy, damp bathroom. This exacerbates an already perilous situation. The answer is preservatives to stanch the microbial growth. Knowing this, the only personal care products exempt from the necessity of preservatives are anhydrous products. Even these are not entirely safe since water can be introduced via wet hands or a steamy bathroom, which invites bacterial growth.

Over time, many ingredients within products begin to break down, which can diminish the usefulness of a product. Preservatives act to stabilize those ingredients, which enhances the product’s ability to last a longer amount of time.

What’s in a name?

Recently many consumers have opted out of products containing a long list of chemical-sounding ingredients, and sometimes preservatives are those very words. However, not all preservatives are artificial. Take, for instance, honey. This innocuous ingredient is a preservative since it extends shelf life of products as it deters microbial growth. 

Natural preservatives

Glycerin, essential oils, and alcohols are all considered natural preservatives. Their advantages are abundant – they can be used by most of the population, including young children and older adults, and deliver peace of mind to the end user. However, they may alter a product’s smell or performance and increase the cost of production since often up to 30% of the product could consist of preservatives. This cost is passed on to the consumer as a higher price than chemical preservatives.

Chemical preservatives

Noted for their ease of production, chemical preservatives keep products free of contaminants even in your bathroom. These preservatives are stable, predictable, sanitary, and have been tested thoroughly to allay most allergic reactions. Benzyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, and potassium sorbate are all examples of chemical preservatives you can trust.

Bell Chem is your personal care ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including preservatives for personal care products. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Hand Sanitizers

In today’s extremely complicated world, many items we have taken for granted are suddenly in short supply. One of these items is hand sanitizer. Your personal care raw material supplier Bell Chem wishes to spotlight ingredients necessary to manufacture hand sanitizer so your company can meet the needs of our ever-changing world. 

99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Renowned for its ability to disinfect and clean, 99% isopropyl alcohol is recognized as one of the purest forms of alcohol available for commercial use. In hand sanitizer, 99% isopropyl alcohol is the primary component with most hand sanitizers consisting of 2/3 isopropyl alcohol by volume. It effectively kills most bacteria and viruses within 60 seconds of use. 

Glycerin 99.7%
Although glycerin is an inactive ingredient in hand sanitizer, it plays an extremely important role by keeping the alcohol in hand sanitizer from immediately evaporating when it is applied. Because of the excessively high number of hydrogen bonds between the molecules, glycerin ensures hand sanitizer remains on the skin’s surface for 30–60 seconds, the amount of time it takes for isopropyl alcohol to kill germs and bacteria.

Aloe Vera Gel
Dousing your hands with 99% isopropyl alcohol leaves hands feeling dry and chapped. When aloe vera gel is added to hand sanitizer, the isopropyl alcohol will evaporate after 30–60 seconds, but the aloe vera gel remains to soothe irritated skin and keep it feeling soft.

Hydrogen Peroxide 35%
Hydrogen peroxide disinfects your disinfectant. In other words, even if all equipment used in the production of hand sanitizer meets every quality guideline, germs may infiltrate at some point along the line. Hydrogen peroxide added to the production of hand sanitizer physically kills the bacteria that can accidentally enter bottles of sanitizer. Within 72 hours, any introduced bacteria are eradicated with the addition of hydrogen peroxide.  

Bell Chem is a personal care raw material supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in its 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including a vast amount of ingredients and chemicals to keep your work areas as clean and sanitized as possible. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Applications of Ammonium Chloride FCC

Ammonium chloride is a white or colorless crystalline salt or white granular powder. It is odorless and has a bitter, salty taste. Food grade ammonium chloride has multiple uses in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, animal nutrition, and cosmetics industries. Read below to learn how personal care raw material supplier Bell Chem’s ammonium chloride is utilized in these industries and more.  

Pharmaceutical

While ammonium chloride is renowned for its role in fertilizers, food-grade ammonium chloride has specific applications in products used and consumed by humans. As a positively charged salt, the body recognizes its function as a catalyst for cell excitability.   

• In the respiratory system, ammonium chloride irritates the bronchial mucosa, causing an expectorant response. Therefore, it is often added to cough medicines.   

• During a metabolic crisis, ammonium chloride’s low pH makes it a perfect choice to return the body to homeostasis. Induced orally, ammonium chloride is given to diagnose renal tubular acidosis, to treat a number of urinary tract infections, and to acidify urine.   

Cosmetics

Cosmetics and personal care products often contain ammonium chloride because it absorbs moisture. This makes products more viscous and the lather the products produce is likewise thicker.   

• Labels of shampoos and conditioners, bath salts and oils, body and facial washes and cleansers, and hair dyes and bleaches often tout ammonium chloride as an ingredient.    

Food and Beverage

Foods and beverages take full advantage of ammonium chloride’s moisture absorption properties, adding it during many different steps in the processing of varied products.  

• Yeast and microorganisms need a source of nutrition, and ammonium chloride meets that need. Added to breads, ammonium chloride stabilizes the pH and strengthens the crust as breads rise to new levels of deliciousness.  

• Beer cannot be processed without yeast, and ammonium chloride functions in much the same manner as it does in baking — feeding the yeast and leading to a more robust flavor.  

• Licorice's bitter flavor is due to the addition of ammonium chloride. This important chemical also flavors chewing gums and vodka.  

• Cattle also enjoy the flavor of ammonium chloride, which acts as a feed supplement.  

Bell Chem is a personal care raw material supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including ammonium chloride FCC. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Menthol Crystals in Cosmetics and Pharmacy

When consumers think of menthol, a cool, refreshing feeling of fresh mint immediately comes to mind, and with good reason: menthol is a derivative of corn mint (Mentha arvensis) or other various mint plants. It causes the skin to react in much the same manner as capsaicin, except cold receptors are activated rather than heat receptors. Since neither menthol nor capsaicin physically changes the temperature of the area they touch, they can be used in ice or hot packs, or together in products such as Icy Hot. Beauty care chemical supplier, Bell Chem, explains this versatile chemical:  

• Menthol crystallizes at -22°C; the new product is known as menthol crystals. These crystals readily dissolve in alcohol or water. Because they have been concentrated, only a minute amount of menthol crystals are necessary for most applications.

• Menthol crystals activate kappa-opioid receptors in the body, and thereby act as an analgesic, a substance that relieves pain. Voltage-sensitive sodium channels also react to menthol; menthol crystals reduce neural activity by raising the action potential in a neuron. Muscles move less frequently and experience less pain, which is why it is often used as an antispasmodic during surgical procedures involving smooth muscles.

• Menthol crystals are an ingredient in many cosmetics because of their soothing coolness and brisk, refreshing smell. They are found in toothpaste and mouthwash to combat hallitosis, shampoo and conditioner promoting “natural ingredients”, perfumes with a rose fragrance since it enhances that specific floral odor, and shaving cream to alleviate razor burn.

• The medicinal properties of menthol crystals place it among analgesics and antipruritics in pharmaceutical products. Salves, lip balms, medicated creams, sore throat sprays and lozenges, decongestants, liniments, compresses, cooling gels and medicated oils all contain menthol crystals.

Call the beauty care chemical supplier professionals at Bell Chem at (407) 339-2355 (BELL) to learn more about menthol crystals or any of our wide variety of chemicals for health, the home, or industrial use. You can contact us online.