Cranberry hair conditioning balm

I have prepared a conditioning balm ages ago and shared the formulation with you. Now I decided to tweak the formulation and add our lovely  cranberry micronized powder as a colourant to the balm.

This is a waterless balm and quite convenient for those of yu who don't feel comfortable with pH adjustment and using preservative or just don't want to have water based products.

If you have fine hair and are not quite accustomed to oil-rich products on your hair and scalp, you may apply this product as a pre-wash conditioner to your hair (from a few hours to the night before if you wash your hair in the morning). If you have curly and fizzy and dry hair, you can apply this balm as a rinse-off conditioner after you shampoo your hair. Either way, I know of nobody who wasn't in love with this product.

About the recipe:

Depending our ambient temperature, you may need to tweak the formulation. You may need to increase the butter content or even add a wax to phase A to improve the consistency according to your climatic conditions. Prepare your first batch in a very small size before you move to bigger quantities.

About preserving:

Quite obviously, this is a waterless product and doesn't need any preservative. However, since this product is packed in a jar, it is inevitable that the consumer adds some water to the product during each application (specially if you apply it as a rinse-off conditioner). If you fill it in a small jar and use the content in a short while, you probably do not need any preservative (challenge testing is needed though). I've only added our antimicrobial CO2 extract and as per our experience we have never had any contamination issue.

Depending on your packaging, ambient temperature and humidity and the raw material you use, you may need to preserve this product. We recommend applying 0,5-0,8% (challenge test needed) of Spectrastat G2-N in case you need any preservative system.

Formulation:

Procedure:

1- Blend phase A,B and C in separate beakers. If you're in a cold lab, your PCA-Glyceryl oleate might be a thick paste. In this case, blend in with phase A. If you're working in a hot lab or in summer, PCA-glyceryl oleate becomes liquid and you don't need to heat it with phase A. You can add it to phase B.

2-Heat phase A in a water bath @50-55 ^oC. As the butters (and pracaxy oil that becomes semi solid) melt stop heating and add phase B.

3- Now start cooling. You can keep your beaker in the fridge and blend the content every 10-15 minutes.

4- As the blend reaches a medium trace add phase C and stir completely. Continue cooling till you come to a heavy trace.

5- You can fill the balm as it is in jars or you can go ahead and start whipping. We decided to whip the balm.

You may need to repeat whipping in several stages with cooling intervals. Continue whipping till you reach the desired consistency.

6- Fill in suitable jars and store them for at least 12 hours in the fridge before removing them.

Enjoy making and using this balm.

BeHappy and have fun